E/CN.4/2001/66 page 38 handcuffed behind his back and subjected to electric shocks. He was also alleged to have been beaten, particularly on his internal organs so as not to bruise, and to have been denied medical treatment. 154. Andrey Klimov, a member of the parliament dissolved by President Lukashenko in November 1996, has reportedly been in detention since February 1998 after being charged with financial impropriety. During his trial on 8 and 9 December 1999 at the Leninsky court, he refused to leave his cell to attend the court. Prison officials are then alleged to have forced him to the floor of his cell and kicked him. Thereafter, he was dragged to the court, where it is reported, he could barely walk. 155. T.D. Vinnikova, former chairperson of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, was reportedly arrested on 14 January 1997 on grounds that bank employees had received illegal bonuses. She was allegedly detained at the National Security Committee. During her 10-month detention she was allegedly held in solitary confinement without regular contact with her lawyer. She was kept in a small, damp, cold, dirty cell which had both a light and radio constantly switched on. She was allegedly searched and watched by male guards and was forced to undress, go to the toilet and shower in front of them. She reportedly suffered from gynaecological problems causing her to bleed frequently. In November 1997, she was allegedly permitted to leave the detention centre but only on condition she remained under house arrest at her son’s apartment. Two law enforcement officers were required to be accommodated in the flat. During this period T.D. Vinnikova’s gynaecological problems worsened and although she was allowed to receive medical treatment she could not be operated upon because the hospital was unable to accommodate the guards that watched her. 156. On 17 October 1999, the Belarus opposition staged a large-scale demonstration in Minsk involving approximately twenty thousand demonstrators. At least 200 people were subsequently detained. The majority of these persons, who are said to be minors, were released the following day. It is reported that a number of those detained were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment by the police. In particular, the Special Rapporteur has received information on the individual cases listed below. 157. Alyaksandr Shchurko, aged 40, was allegedly detained on 17 October 1999 at Yanka Kupala Street in Minsk by police officers and forced into a police car to be taken to Partizansky District Department of Internal Affairs (DDIA). He was charged with taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration and detained. On 18 October 1999, he was reportedly transferred with 10 other detainees to another detention centre in a police station bus operated by police officers from the special police unit (OMON). During the two-hour journey to the detention centre, he and other detainees were both physically and verbally abused. He complained to the authorities about his ill-treatment. However it is said that the Belarusian authorities have put pressure on him to withdraw the complaint. 158. Mikalaj Hanchar was reportedly picked up by the police and taken to a bus with other detainees. On the bus, the officers allegedly knocked him and other arrested persons off their feet and pushed them on top of one another. Those on top were beaten, jumped on and trampled by the police.