Today Belarus has 47 psycho-neurological nursing homes, where about 12,000 Belarusians live. Currently there is no study or analysis of the living conditions and quality of life of those who live there. The reason for this is closedness and obsoleteness of functioning of such institutions.

The presentation “Psychiatry and Human Rights in Belarus: Law and Practice” became the sort of an invitation to dialogue and cooperation in the framework of the necessary systemic changes associated with serious human rights violations in psychiatry. At the beginning of the presentation human rights defender, the representative of the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, Siarhei Drazdouski highlighted the importance of this topic. “People who use psychiatry services are very stigmatized in Belarusian society. Insults and jokes about the state of mental health – this is, unfortunately, casual and widespread phenomenon in Belarus,” – said the human rights defender.

Among the key moments in the human rights situation in the field of psychiatry, which, according to experts require revision and improvement, the involuntary placement of people in psycho-neurological nursing homes and the official recognition of a person incapacitated were mentioned. Siarhei Drazdouski stressed out that the already difficult process of returning to normal life in society after nursing home, becomes almost impossible because of administrative and procedural difficulties. “The system is designed so that the appointed guardian of the person, who is recognized as incompetent and placed in the psycho-neurological nursing home, in most cases is the director of the nursing home. The director can be a guardian for 200-300 people, which, of course, does not benefit to his participation in the process of renewal of capacity, “- said human rights defender.

During the international practical meeting of lawyers, human rights defenders and experts in the field of psychiatry, which was held on the eve of this presentation, the legislation, law enforcement practices and particularly the Belarusian reality were analyzed. The discussion was attended by lawyers and human rights practitioners, who have working experience with human rights violations in psychiatry, and psychiatric practitioners, that assess the real situation from the professional perspective.

According to the psychiatrist, MD, Tomasz Szafrański (Poland), most modern countries to a greater or lesser extent face such difficulties as closed, inaccessible, inadequate systems. Dr. Szafrański (left) said the need for a special program at the national level, which would be aimed at systemic change and improving the human rights situation in the field of psychiatry. According to the expert, such a program should include measures for strengthening the safeguards for the protection of human rights, for establishing of an open system, for removal of unnecessary restrictions and facilitation of monitoring process.

The need for reform was also stressed by Éva Szeli (left), the Hungarian-American psychologist, a lawyer specializing in human rights of people with mental disorders. She has prepared and submitted a list of recommendations for the reform of the legislation on mental health care in Belarus. Éva Szeli’s recommendations deal with the organization of service delivery system and limitations of freedom in the field of mental health, questions about the viability of the concept of legal capacity as well as with guarantees of equivalent conditions to protect the rights of people with mental disorders. However, the lawyer stressed that mental health service recipients themselves must have access to and be directly involved in the reforms and only this approach will avoid bias.

Presentation “Psychiatry and Human Rights in the Republic of Belarus: Law and Practice” was organised by the Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House (Lithuania), the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland), the American Bar Association (USA) and has become an invitation for the civic activists and human rights defenders to come together to work on the improvement of the situation and compliance with standards in psychiatry in Belarus.

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