Streamers “NO to Death Penalty” appeared in the center of Minsk
Youth activists hanged out the banners to mark the
World Day against the Death Penalty and draw the public attention to the
problem of the ongoing use of this kind of punishment.
The idea to mark the Day against the Death Penalty belongs to the World
Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which includes about 40 human rights
organizations, including “Amnesty International”, as well as bar associations,
unions and local governments from all over the world. In September 2007 the
Board of Ministers of the European Council decided to mark the European Day against
the Death Penalty within the framework of the World Day, as far as Europe is a space which has been factually free from the
death penalty since 1997.
At present Belarus
is the only European country without membership in the Council of Europe. The
main obstacle to its admission to this organ is the ongoing use of the capital
punishment.
