Two Belarusian Prison Camps Deprived Prisoners Of Their Right To Make Phone Calls

They are legally entitled to four phone calls and one video call per month.

In the Navapolatsk and Mazyr penal colonies, they banned prisoners from making legally allowed phone calls.

Human rights activists reported, that in penal colony No. 1, located in the industrial zone of the Navapolatsk Oil Refinery, the prison administration tells the prisoners that there is allegedly no guards to take them to the place for making phone calls, since some of the heads of the detachments have gone to training, and many ordinary guards are on vacation and there is supposedly no one to replace them.

Convicts are entitled to four phone calls per month and one video call via Skype (Viber) according to the law. Some prisoners have not been able to talk to relatives for about three weeks.

Prisoners at the Mazyr penal colony No. 20 faced exactly the same situation. The prison camp is located in the industrial zone of the Mazyr Oil Refinery. They explain to the convicts that there are allegedly not enough guards to take prisoners to the meeting room. However, it became known that at least two political prisoners had no phone calls for 4 and 3 months in a row. Political prisoners are also deprived of the right to make video calls.

Until now, it was believed that Navapolatsk penal colony No. 1 is the worst penitentiary institution in the country. However, now the relatives of the convicts testify that the conditions for serving their sentences in Mazyr penal colony No. 20 are the same as the conditions in penal colony No. 1. Both prison camps are located in the environmental disaster zones of the oil giants. In fact, they are located outside the city, away from residential areas.