Policemen dressed in full blue uniforms beat the boy and myself with their batons. They beat us on our back, buttocks and feet for 20 minutes. They were six policemen and they took turns. I had problems walking for a week. I couldn’t put my shoes on, because my feet were so swollen. Even putting my feet on the ground was difficult.” A local human rights activist in Burundi, who was beaten by police. Minsk, Belarus – 13 September 2020: Riot police form a human chain during a protest of opposition supporters in Minsk. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images) KICKED AND BEATEN WITH TRUNCHEONS In Belarus, torture and other ill-treatment was widespread following post-election protests in August 2020, with many cases involving the misuse of batons or truncheons by security forces. Katsyaryna Novikava told Amnesty International that she spent 34 hours at the Centre for Isolation of Offenders, where she saw that the entire yard of the facility was filled with arrested men who had been forced to lie down in the dirt. Inside the centre, dozens of men were told to strip naked and get down on all fours while officers kicked and beat them with truncheons. She said she was also forced to kneel and listen to the screams of other victims.21 21 Amnesty International, Belarus: Mounting evidence of a campaign of widespread torture of peaceful protesters (Press Release, 13 August 2020), www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/08/belarus-mounting-evidence-of-a-campaign-of-widespread-torture-ofpeaceful-protesters/ 12 ENDING THE TORTURE TRADE THE PATH TO GLOBAL CONTROLS ON THE ‘TOOLS OF TORTURE’ Amnesty International | Omega Research Foundation