The Pre-Trial Detention Centre of the KGB of Belarus (; , СИЗО КГБ, SIZO KGB, also informally called Amerikanka (; ) is a

pre-trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or di ...

prison in the centre of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, operated by the KGB of 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 The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

. It was constructed in the 1920s as part of a complex of buildings used by the

. The informal name ''Amerikanka'' is believed to be referring to the prison's form as a

Panopticon The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be ...

, based on the design of prisons in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The building was later used by the Cheka's successor organizations, the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

and the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

. In 1946, after end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the restoration of Soviet control over

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, the building was reconstructed.

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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

.Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus
/ref> The sanctions were lifted in 2016 following an improvement of the Belarus–European Union relations. * Colonel Alexandr Vladimirovich Orlov, head of the Amerikanka: according to the EU, he was personally responsible for "cruel,

inhuman and degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Hu ...

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 the EU sanctions list between 2011 and 2016 * Colonel

Oleg Anatolyevich Chernyshev Oleg (), Oleh (), or Aleh () is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine, and Belаrus. Origins ''Oleg'' derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "blessed". The feminine equival ...

; he allegedly personally participated in tortures of opposition activists in the Amerikanka in

after the crackdown on the post-election protest demonstration in

on 19 December 2010 * Lieutenant-Colonel Dmitri Vyacheslavovich Sukhov, an 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

Barys Rahula Barys Rahula (, Boris Ragula, 1 January 1920 – 22 April 2005) was a Belarusian political activist. He served as a military commander of the Belorusian Auxiliary Police, Belarusian auxiliary police unit Schutzmannschaft Battalion 68. After the wa ...

, pro-independence activist from

West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (; ; ) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of th ...

, future Vice-President of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile * Over 130 victims of

1937 mass execution of Belarusians In October 1937, there was a mass extermination of Belarusian writers, artists and statespeople by the Soviet Union occupying authorities. This event marked the peak of the Great Purge and repressions of Belarusians in the Soviet-controlled area ...

, including ** Yakau Branshteyn **

Anatol Volny Anatol Iustsinavich Azhgirey (; 1902 – 29 October 1937), better known by the literary pseudonym of Anatol Volny () was a Belarusian artist, poet, writer and journalist. During the Great Purge, he became a victim of the 1937 mass execution o ...

** Platon Halavach **

Valery Marakou Valery Marakou (; ; 29 October 1937) was a Belarusian poet and translator. Biography First verses of poetry by Marakou were published as ''Petals'' in 1925 (as stated by Leanid Marakou, though the cover (illustrated) states 1926), and attra ...

* Polish citizens arrested after the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

in 1939 * Kazimierz Świątek * Ernst Sabila

Political opponents of president
Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

2010 presidential candidates

* Mikola Statkevich *

Andrei Sannikov Andrei Olegovich Sannikov (or Andrei Sannikau, , , born 8 March 1954) is a Belarusian politician and activist. In the early 1990s, he headed the Belarusian delegation on Nuclear and Conventional Weapons Armament Negotiations, also serving as a Be ...

* Uladzimir Nyaklyayew * Vital Rymasheuski * Ales Michalevic

Opposition leaders and activists

Paval Sieviaryniec Paval Sieviaryniec (, born December 30, 1976) is a Belarusian journalist and Christian democratic politician and youth leader and one of the founders of the Young Front. Since June 7, 2020 he is under arrest. Amnesty International considers him ...

* Zmitser Dashkevich *

Anatol Labiedźka Anatoly Vladimirovich Lebedko ( ; ; born 27 June 1961) is a Belarusian politician and pro-democracy activist who is currently the head of the United Civic Party, an Belarusian opposition, opposition party. Life Born in the village of , the ...

* Nasta Palazhanka * Dzianis Urad

Journalists

* Natalla Radzina * Iryna Chalip * Neko Arc

2020 presidential candidate nominees and campaigners

* Viktar Babaryka and his son and campaigner Eduard Babaryka * Syarhei Tsikhanouski

Artists

* Slavamir Adamovich – convicted of inciting illegal change of power, illegally crossing the state border, and illegally carrying a melee weapon.

Foreigners

* Vladislav Baumgertner, CEO of

Uralkali Uralkali ( rus, Уралка́лий, p=ʊrɐɫ'kalʲɪj) is a Russian potash fertilizer producer and exporter. It is traded on the Moscow Exchange using the symbol, URKA. The company's assets consist of five mines and seven ore-treatment mills s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amerikanka Buildings and structures in Minsk Prisons in Belarus Prisons in the Soviet Union