The Human Rights House Foundation has sent a protest letter to the General Prosecutor´s office, the Belarusian Psychiatric Association and the Ministry of Health in Belarus, addressing two cases of enforced psychiatric treatment of two human rights defenders. To read the full letter, click here or see below. (22-JAN-08)

22 January 2008

Re. the cases of Valeri Misnikov and Kristina Shatikova.

The Human Rights House Foundation is concerned about the situation of Valerij Misnikov, a human rights defender from Vitebsk, who has been kept in a mental hospital in the Braslav region since 16 November 2007.

During the two last decades, Valerij Misnikov has acted as a defender of public interests, disclosed cases of violations in the Vitebsk region and released this information to the public together with his colleagues Anatolij Stambovskij, Konstantin Balandov, Irina Akulenok, and Leonid Zdrestov.

At the end of 2006, the prosecutor of Vitebsk district charged Valerij Misnikov with insulting the state authorities (Article 369 of the Criminal Code). More specifically, he was accused of having dishonored Ms Baleeva, a prosecutor officer, and Mr Tavtyn, an investigator, while submitting complaints on behalf of public interests against officers of local governments and leaders of a few state farms and companies. At the beginning of 2007, a new case was brought against Misnikov, this time accusing him of having stolen the files concerning the criminal case against him from the prosecutor’s office (Article 377 part 2 of the Criminal Code). Misnikov denies all accusations.  So far, there has been no independent investigation. Instead, all investigations have been conducted by officers from the same prosecutor’s office where the files disappeared. Nevertheless, the prosecutor issued a decision to arrest Misnikov, and soon after that, the investigator also appointed psychiatric experts who have concluded that Misnikov suffers from mental illness and needs forcible treatment. Misnikov’s complaints against violations of his rights during the investigations have so far been ignored, due to the Belarusian practice of dismissing such complaints from individuals considered to be in need of psychiatric treatment.

In September 2007, Misnikov’s case was brought to the court of Octajbrjskij district and considered by the judge Ms Zuravkova. The judge denied Misnikov his right to participate in the court procedure. This was done despite the fact that there were no indicators that Misnikov could not participate in the procedure: since he was kept in an ordinary prison without special treatment, his behavior was not dangerous. The judge decided also to let Misnikov’s case be tried behind closed doors and require of  Misnikov’s defence lawyer to promise not to talk about his case in public. The judge further declared Misnikov an irresponsible person, in need of involuntary medical treatment in a mental hospital. This decision was approved by the Vitebsk Oblast Court in November 2007.The next examination of Misnikov’s mental health will be conducted by a commission of psychiatrists in February 2008. The conclusion of this examination can be appealed to the court.

According to Belarusian human rights defenders, there is no doubt in this case that state agencies have used forced psychiatric treatment against a human rights defender. In the Soviet times, the authorities suppressed activists and dissidents by bringing them to mental clinics using medicine and psychiatry as a tool for repression and illegal imprisonment.

Activists and journalists consider Misnikov’s case the second attempt of Belarusian authorities to force psychiatric treatment upon active, critical citizens. The first such case was launched against Kristina Shatikova, a human rights defender from Mogilev. She was kidnapped in the street by governmental agencies, humiliated and taken, with assistance of local psychiatrists, to the Mogilev mental clinic in March 2006.  There, she was subjected to medical treatment without consent. According to Shatikova, the team of psychiatric doctor that treated her, explained that she was kept at the clinic and subjected to the treatment because of her activities as a human rights defender.

Thankfully, Shatikova’s case was disclosed and she was released from the hospital after a few days, following massive pressure from human rights defenders and journalists. However, this could only happen because an occasional witness immediately gave information about her kidnapping to Shatikova’s relatives. Despite Shatikova’s complaints and appeals to bring charges against everyone involved in the illegal activities against her, Belarusian state authorities have not investigated the case.

The Human Rights House Foundation:
· condemns the methods of Belarusian authorities, using psychiatric treatment to suppress human rights defenders.
· urges the General Prosecutor of Belarus to investigate Misnikov’s and Shatikova’s cases and bring those responsible to justice.
· reminds Belarusian doctors about their professional duties and appeal to them to act honestly and in line with international standards on psychiatric treatment and medical ethics
· demands of the Belarusian Psychiatric Association, a member of the World Psychiatric Association, to examine the professional behavior of doctors involved in Misnikovs and Shatikova’s cases.

Yours sincerely,

 

Maria Dahle     
Executive Director     
Human Rights House Foundation

Cc.: World Psychiatric Association
 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
 Council of Europe
 Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
 The Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Norwegian Parliament
 The Human Rights House Network