On February 28, a side event dedicated to Belarus took place at the World Congress against the Death Penalty. Read more…
From February 26 to March 1 Brussels with host the World Congress Against the Death Penalty - the world’s leading abolitionist event in terms of its scope and political ambition. Read more…
At the end of January, the campaign "Human rights defenders against the death penalty" marks its 10th anniversary. Viasna asked the campaign activists about how one of the most notorious human rights campaigns in Belarus has been established, what difficulties it encountered and how such activity is perceived in society. Read more…
Spokespersons of the European Union and the Council of Europe condemn the latest death sentence pronounced in Belarus Read more…
The Mahilioŭ Regional Court has sentenced a man to death, finding him guilty of killing two women in late July. The verdict was pronounced after a series of visiting hearings held in Babrujsk. Read more…
On December 24, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has registered the individual communication of death convict Aliaksandr Zhylnikau, according to the prisoner’s lawyer who visited him on December 27. Read more…
"There is grave concern that the only two known prisoners on death row in Belarus, Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko, are at risk of imminent execution," Amnesty International said. Read more…
GENEVA (12 December 2018) — UN human rights experts condemned Belarus for its continued use of the death penalty, following local news reports that the country, in defiance of the Human Rights Committee’s requests for a stay, had executed three people: Aleksei Mikhalenya, Semyon Berezhnoi and Igor Gershankov. Read more…
Belarusian human rights defenders marked the International Human Rights Day by awarding the 10th annual National Human Rights Prize. The ceremony was hosted by the newly opened education space “Territory of Rights.” Read more…
Last week, the families of Siamion Berazhnoy and Ihar Hershankou confirmed to the Belarusian civil society organisation Human Rights Centre Viasna that they have been officially informed of the executions. Also according to information from Viasna the men were likely executed on the night of 19-20 November. Read more…
Brussels and Strasbourg have released official comments on the recent execution of two death row prisoners in Belarus, Siamion Berazhnoy and Ihar Hershankou. Read more…
Death row prisoners Siamion Berazhnoy and Ihar Hershankou have been executed by shooting, according to information received from the prisoners' families. Read more…
L’ACAT-Suisse, a Switzerland-based human rights organization working to end torture and capital punishment, has sent a petition to President Lukashenka, asking him to commute the death sentences handed down to Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko. Read more…
The fifth annual Week against the Death Penalty concluded on October 12, World Day against the Death Penalty, with an artistic event at the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk, which told about the pain suffered by the families of death convicts. Read more…
On October 10, the issue of ongoing executions in Belarus was discussed at a meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly pf the Council of Europe. The event was scheduled to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty. The discussion involved Valery Varanetski, chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and deputy chairperson of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Valiantsin Stefanovich. Read more…