By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, United Kingdom – During the trial of nine men who are accused of offences including rape, trafficking, and child prostitution, a young women revealed that when she was 12 years old, she was branded with the one man’s initials so other men would know she “belonged” to him.

The jury learned that the young woman, now 19 and who remains nameless, was sold to Mohammed Karrar as an 11-year-old. She told the court she was also brutally raped by various men until she was 15.

Appearing to the jury through videolink, the young women cried as she stated that Karrar struck her with a baseball bat after she threatened him with a knife after he forced her to have sex.

She said, “At the time, I thought he loved me and it was a mistake he made. I thought it was my own fault that I threatened him with a knife.”

She continued, “I was at home with Mo [Mohammed Karrar]. We had a slight argument and I think we had sex, and afterwards, the hairpin, he scraped the paint off and lit it. He bent it into a letter “M”. After heating it for a little while, he stuck it on my bum … so it would say ‘Mo’.”

The girl believed she was branded “so that people knew that I was his if I ever had sex with someone else.”

However, the girl also explained that Karrar, despite branding her, would take her to hotels and private properties to serve drink, drugs and provide sex services. Her abusers would speak in different languages and laugh at her. She said there were at least 15 men at the parties, and the parties would happen up to four times a week.

Furthermore, the child was forced to participate in “weird fantasies” and was sexually assaulted with knife handles and meat cleavers. If the girl refused, the two men would go “mad”. The witness said, “If I kicked off, I would be restrained.” Lastly, the men would pay Karrar when everything was finished.

Mohammed Karrar, 38, and Bassam Karrar, 32, are amongst nine men currently on trial for 51 sex and drugs charges. The men deny the 51 counts, including rape and trafficking from 2004 to 2012.

For further information, please see:

BBC – Oxford Exploitation Trial: Girl ‘Branded with Hairpin’ – 22 February 2013

The Guardian – Oxford Child Abuse Trial: Women Says She was Branded at Age of 12 – 22 February 2013

The Independent – Sex Gang Leader ‘Brand Girl Slave, 12, with a Heated Hairpin’ – 22 February 2013

Oxford Mail – Teenager “Branded” by Alleged Abuser, Old Bailey Hears – 22 February 2013

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MINSK, Belarus – Last November, authorities in Vitsebsk, Belarus arrested Andrei Haidukou, 23, an opposition activist, on suspicion of espionage activity.  In the months since then, the government has failed to bring forth evidence of the alleged spying, and yet Haidukou’s family is not permitted to see him and his attorney has repeatedly been denied access to him since December.

The Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) claims that Haidukou “gathered and passed political and economic information on the instructions of a foreign intelligence agency,” possibly the U.S. C.I.A., and was caught making a dead drop.  Haidukou, a mechanic at the Naftan Oil refinery, has been charged with “state treachery in the form of intelligence activities”–high treason–under Article 356, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which carries a sentence of 7 to 15 years in prison.

However, Haidukou, supported by fellow activists, has written that the charges are “huge falsifications” and an attempt by the KGB to pressure him because of his civil activities.  In addition to having been detained before for his part in silent protests, and receiving threats from plainclothes policemen, in the days before his arrest, Haidukou was preparing documents to officially register the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Union of Young Intellectuals”.

Haidukou is the deputy Chairperson of the Union of Young Intellectuals, and according to the Chairperson Jauhien Kanstancinau, “Andrei dealt with all issues concerning the registration. If he hadn’t been arrested, in two weeks we could pass documents for registration.”  Kanstancinau describes the Young Intellectuals, which was established three years ago, as “an international organization” and “[a] social and cultural organi[z]ation. Our primary task is to be a platform for creation of a party of intellectuals.”  It is possible Haidukou’a arrest is intended to intimidate other youth activists.

Since his arrest, Haidukou has inexplicably been transferred between prisons in Vitsebsk and Minsk several times.  His family reported that they were restricted from obtaining information on his location.

Hanna Shaputska, coordinator of the civil initiative “For Liberty” has also denounced the charges against Haidukou. “[T]hree months have passed since the arrest and everything what is happening started [sic] looking like a farce, another wave of reprisals against civil activists and oppositionists.”  She added “Andrei Haidukou can be considered as a political prisoner.”

Another member of the Youth Intellectuals, Illia Bahdanau, and also a member of the unregistered opposition party Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD), was detained by the KGB together with Haidukou.  However, Bahdanau was released soon after questioning at night and managed to return home via hitchhiking.  He remains a suspect.

Until the 11^th of February, Haidukou’s counsel had been prevented from meeting with him since December.  Although the KGB had authorized meetings, every time Haidukou’s attorney attempted to meet with his client in the last two months, he was turned away from the prison, with excuse such as “there are no free rooms.”  However, according to Haidukou’s mother, the February 11^th meeting lasted several hours, from 10 a.m. through the evening.

“Human Rights Activists against Torture” expressed concern that the denial of a lawyer to a client in jail could be a sign of the use of torture and sent an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur.

It should be noted that Belarus’s Constitution guarantees the right of unimpeded confidential meetings with a lawyer, with no restrictions on the frequency or duration of such.

In response to the long denial of an attorney, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and The Human Rights Center “Viasna” called for greater transparency in Haidukou’s case and others, expressing concern that there may be violations in procedure affecting the defendants’ rights, his or her health condition and other similar information, and that the public should be provided with greater information.

The KGB has extended the investigation into Haidukou’s case for an additional month.

Haidukou’s mother, Volha Haidukova, remains uncomprehending at what has happened to her son.  “We knew that he was opposition-minded and his activities were disliked by the authorities … Andrei was also telling us he didn’t do anything illegal. As it can be seen from his letters, he was totally bewildered with such development of the events,” she said.  Volha further lamented “I wasn’t allowed to meet with him and haven’t received any telephone. The only thing left to me is to write letters.”

For further information, please see:

Chapter’97 – Human rights activists demand publicity over Haidukou’s case – 20 February 2013

Viasna – Counsel Finally Allowed to Meet with Andrei Haidukou at the KGB Prison – 12 February 2013

Viasna – Counsel Not Allowed to Meet Andrei Haidukou Again – 11 February 2013

Viasna – Andrei Haidukou’s Mother: We Cannot Understand What is Really Done to Our Son – 8 February 2013

Viasna – “Spy” Haidukou’s Friend Interrogated at KGB Again – 11 January 2013

Chapter’97 –UN Special Rapporteur Informed About Torture of Haidukou – 5 January 2013

European Association of Independent Journalists – KGB Reveals Foreign Spy — Mechanic, Activist of Dubious Union of Young Intellectuals – 14 November 2012