On March 7, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women published a decision on the complaint of Belarusian citizens Elena Dubovik and Marina Dubina. They complained about humiliating and discriminatory treatment of women in the Detention Center for Offenders in Minsk and in the Temporary detention center in Zhodino in 2017. Both were detained before the “march of non-parasites” in Minsk on March 15, 2017 (the event was authorized by the Minsk City Executive Committee).
The Committee’s decision notes that discriminatory conditions of detention and ill-treatment violated their rights. The constant surveillance of them by male guards, the lack of basic hygiene products, soap, toilet paper and other violations are qualified as ill-treatment that violates the privacy, dignity and rights of the applicants, who “were sentenced to administrative arrest for a period of 12 to 14 days after participating in mass gatherings.”
The Committee noted that both victims were held in poor, unsanitary and degrading conditions in both places of detention.
The Committee recalled that women in detention should be supervised by female staff. He also stressed that the detention of women in institutions that do not meet their special needs constitutes discrimination.
The Committee called on Belarus to ensure full reparation, including adequate compensation, for the two victims, as well as their access to appropriate medical care to eliminate the negative impact on physical and mental health.