Brytsikava given seven days in punishment cell after dispute with prison administration

The Viasna Human Rights Centre has published new details about pressure on Volha Brytsikava in Women’s Penal Colony No. 4 in Homiel. Following one dispute with the prison administration, the former trade union leader was given seven days in a punishment cell.

In early 2026, after one prisoner attempted suicide, disposable razors were taken away from women in the colony. At first, they were still handed out once a week for a few hours, but from April they were banned altogether. Instead, women were offered depilatory creams sold in the prison shop, which caused burns.

Several weeks later, the administration demanded that prisoners write statements agreeing to the destruction of their razors. Volha Brytsikava refused, saying that no such requirement existed in the regulations and that disposable razors were included on the list of permitted items.

According to a former prisoner, the pressure intensified after her refusal. Brytsikava was subjected to more frequent inspections, made to carry boxes of her belongings for searches, and prison staff began looking for minor violations. During one such inspection, a razor was found among her belongings, even though razors had previously been confiscated and prisoners’ possessions were regularly searched.

Prison staff tried to reach an understanding with Brytsikava, but she replied that the administration itself was failing to follow the laws it demanded prisoners obey.

“How can we possibly come to any agreement with you when you imprisoned me allegedly for violating the Constitution, while you yourselves do not abide by that same Constitution?”

Brytsikava was then brought before a disciplinary commission and given seven days in a punishment cell.

After leaving the isolation cell, she filed a complaint stating that she had not been medically examined before being placed there and had not been given an opportunity to provide a written explanation. According to the former prisoner, the complaint never left the colony, and Brytsikava was later transferred to another unit.

Following her refusal, the entire unit was also punished. The women were taken outside and forced to read the internal prison regulations, while Brytsikava was made to stand in front of the others. The administration was trying to turn the other prisoners against her.

“We faced a blatant and very harsh provocation: they were trying to turn ninety people against one woman,” the former prisoner said. However, no open conflict followed. According to her, Brytsikava was respected by the other women in the unit.

Knowing that she could be sent to a punishment cell again, Brytsikava and another political prisoner memorised poems so they could recite them while in isolation. Among them was Anatol Sys’s poem In This Country I Have No Home.

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