Amerikanka

The Pre-Trial Detention Centre of the KGB of Belarus (Russian: Следственный изолятор КГБ Республики Беларусь, СИЗО КГБ, SIZO KGB, also informally called Amerikanka (American) is a pre-trial prison in the centre of Minsk, operated by the KGB of Belarus.

Pre-Trial Detention Centre of the KGB of Belarus
Security classPre-Trial Detention Centre (SIZO)
Opened1920s
Former nameInternal prison of the NKVD
Managed byKGB (Belarus)
CityMinsk
Country Belarus

The prison is used for detaining persons against whom investigation is being carried out by the KGB of Belarus, in particular, in cases where state interests are involved.

History

The prison firstly operated as the internal prison of the Soviet secret police, the Cheka. It was constructed in the 1920s as part of a complex of buildings used by the Cheka. The informal name Amerikanka is believed to be referring to the prison's form as a Panopticon, based on the design of prisons in the United States.[1][2]

The building was later used by the Cheka's successor organizations - the NKVD and the KGB.

In 1946, after end of the Second World War and the restoration of Soviet control over Belarus, the building was reconstructed.[3]

Sanctions against Amerikanka prison staff

Following the crackdown of the protests of the democratic opposition after the allegedly falsified presidential election in 2010, several KGB officers were put on the sanctions list of the European Union.[4][5] The sanctions have been lifted in 2016 following an improvement of the Belarus–European Union relations.

  • Colonel Orlov, Alexandr Vladimirovich, head of the Amerikanka: according to the EU, he was personally responsible for "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment of detainees" in the weeks and months after the crackdown on the protests in Minsk on 19 December 2010, on the eve of the 2010 presidential election. He has been on EU sanctions list between 2011 and 2016
  • Colonel Chernyshev, Oleg Anatolievich; he allegedly personally participated in tortures of opposition activists in the Amerikanka in Minsk after the crackdown on the post-election protest demonstration in Minsk on 19 December 2010
  • Lieutenant-Colonel Sukhov, Dmitri Vyacheslavovich, operative of the military counter-intelligence of the KGB; accused of falsifying evidence and using threats in order to extort confessions from detained opposition activists in the Amerikanka in Minsk after the crackdown on the post-election protest demonstration in Minsk on 19 December 2010

Notable prisoners

Victims of Soviet repressions

2010 presidential candidates

Opposition leaders and activists

Journalists

2020 presidential candidate nominees and campaigners

Foreigners

See also

References
  1. Володин, Михаил (17 June 2013). "Призрак в центре города, или Американская историйка" (in Russian). Tvoya Stolitsa. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  2. Прудникова, Ольга (28 January 2011). "Досье на «американку». Как живется узникам КГБ". naviny.by. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  3. Khalip, Iryna (10 August 2011). "Ах, шарабан мой, «американка»!". Novaya Gazeta. Charter 97. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. Поўны спіс 208 беларускіх чыноўнікаў, якім забаронены ўезд у ЕС - Nasha Niva, 11.10.2011
  5. Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus
  6. Сабіла Эрнст - slounik.org

Belarus

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