News on the topic: death penalty
08.02.2017 Human rights defenders: It is vital that Belarus remains on EU agenda
On February 7, a number of locations in Brussels hosted meetings of EU officials with the human rights defenders of Viasna, representatives of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus, as well as and the mother of Uladzislau Kavaliou, who was executed in 2012. The key issue for the discussion was the death penalty in Belarus.
03.02.2017 Issue of the death penalty in Belarus to be discussed in Brussels and Strasbourg
Representatives of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and FIDH are going to discuss the issue of the death penalty in Belarus during a visit to the EU structures and the Council of Europe scheduled for the next week.
16.01.2017 Amnesty International urges Lukashenka to commute death sentence of Kiryl Kazachok
"Kiryl Kazachok was sentenced to death by the Gomel Regional Court, in southeast Belarus, on 28 December. His was the fourth death sentence to be issued in Belarus in 2016," Amnesty International said on January 13.
30.12.2016 EU calls on Belarus to join global moratorium on the death penalty
"Yet another death sentence was handed down this week in Belarus, to Mr Kiryl Kazachok. This sentence, which follows the execution of four persons earlier this year, goes against the commitments made by Belarusian authorities to consider the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty," EU External Action Service said in a statement.
28.12.2016 Man in Mazyr sentenced to death
Another death sentence has been handed down in Belarus. Kiryl Kazachok, 39, has been found guilty of murdering his two minor children and sentenced to capital punishment, BelaPAN said.
21.12.2016 Overwhelming majority of states support universal moratorium on the death penalty. Belarus abstains
FIDH applauds the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to establish a global moratorium on the death penalty, endorsed by an overwhelming majority on 19 December 2016. A record number of 117 States voted in favor of the text; 40 voted against it, and 31 abstained.
16.12.2016 MP proposes to consider moratorium on the death penalty
Alena Anisim, member of the House of Representatives, has proposed to consider the question of declaring a moratorium on the death penalty at the second session of the parliament’s lower chamber of the sixth convocation, which will open in early April 2017, naviny.by said.
13.12.2016 Council of Europe holds conference on the death penalty amid executions in Minsk
A conference on the abolition of the death penalty and public opinion opened today in Minsk’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. The event was organized by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
07.12.2016 Amnesty International: Belarus’ last prisoner on death row at risk
Siarhei Vostrykau is the last known prisoner on death row in Belarus after the authorities executed the other remaining three prisoners on death row on 5 November. Siarhei Vostrykau is at imminent risk of execution.
06.12.2016 Miklós Haraszti: “The bloody reality of Belarus’ judicial system stains Europe”
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Miklós Haraszti, has said that the recent executions carried out by Belarus, and confirmed last week, show once again the persistent disregard for human rights in the country.
06.12.2016 Belarus executions “flagrant disregard” for international human rights law – UN experts
UN human rights experts are outraged by Belarus’ continued use of the death penalty following reports that two men whose cases were before the UN Human Rights Committee were executed, despite a specific request from the Committee not to carry out the planned executions.
02.12.2016 Belarusian human rights community insists on abolition of the death penalty
Belarusian human rights community condemns recent executions and reiterates calls to abolish the death penalty.
02.12.2016 Belarus: third consecutive execution concealed for nearly a month from the public and relatives
Execution of Henadz Yakavitski on 5 November 2016 is the fourth execution in 2016, making it the highest number of executions per year since 2008.
01.12.2016 Belarus: Three executions feared in as many weeks amid ‘sudden and shameful purge’ of death row
As many as three of the four men on death row in the Belarusian capital Minsk have been executed in a shameful purge since 5 November, Amnesty International revealed today after confirming with local activists.
01.12.2016 Bloodbath on death row in Minsk: Third execution reported
The human rights defenders’ fears of a third execution have been confirmed, after it was announced that Henadz Yakavitski was shot on November 5 in jail No. 1 in Minsk together with Ivan Kulesh and Siarhei Khmialeuski. In 2016, Belarus has executed a total of four death row inmates.
