News
UN Human Rights Committee registers complaint of death convict Hershankou
On July 13, the UN Human Rights Committee confirmed the registration of an individual communication submitted on behalf of Ihar Hershankou, who was sentenced to death by the Mahilioŭ Regional Court on July 21, 2017. Read more…
Death row prisoner Ihar Hershankou goes on hunger strike
Ihar Hershankou, who was earlier sentenced to death, says he is beginning a hunger strike while on death row in Minsk’s detention center No. 1 to protest numerous violations of his right to correspondence, Viasna learned from the prisoner’s mother. Read more…
Amnesty International: Unprecedented Supreme Court decision to suspend death sentences
"This is a hugely significant and unprecedented decision for the only country in the region that has continued to execute people all these years." Read more…
PACE rapporteurs condemn two recent executions in Belarus
Yves Cruchten (Luxembourg, SOC), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, and Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), former PACE rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, have strongly condemned the execution of Aliaksei Mikhalenia and Viktor Liotau, which reportedly took place in secret in mid-May. Read more…
EU deplores two new executions in Belarus
Statement by the Spokesperson on the application of the death penalty in Belarus Read more…
Supreme Court confirms death sentences for Zhylnikau and Sukharko
The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences earlier handed down to Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko for the murder of three people. The judgment was pronounced after the court completed hearing Zhylnikau’s appeal, while Sukharko refused to challenge the verdict. Read more…
CoE: Capital punishment has no place in Europe
Spokesperson of the Secretary General: Statement by the Spokesperson on reported executions in Belarus Read more…
EU ‘actively engaged with Belarus on death penalty’, says Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy
In 2017, the EU actively engaged with the Belarusian authorities on the death penalty and took action to raise awareness, as Belarus remained the only country in Europe that still applied the death penalty, Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy said. Read more…
Two more executions reported in Belarus
Two death convicts, Aliaksei Mikhalenia and Viktar Liotau, have been recently executed, according to Viachaslau Sukharko, another death row inmate whose appeal was heard today at the Supreme Court. Read more…
Death penalty: Belarus must be accountable to someone
Belarus is the last country in Europe to apply the death penalty. It often does so in secret. Read more…
The secret executions in Europe's 'last dictatorship'
When the guards come, these inmates never know if it is for the last time. On death row in Belarus, the only country in Europe that still uses the death penalty, they are never told when they will be executed. And when it happens, it is all kept as a state secret. Read more…
Time to act towards true abolition of the death penalty, say HRDs
On April 18, Minsk hosted a round table entitled “Legal aspects of the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus”. The event was organized by the Council of Europe and involved members of the Belarusian Parliament’s lower chamber and representatives of NGOs, including the Human Rights Center “Viasna”. Read more…
Belarus still only executioner in Europe and Central Asia
“In Europe and Central Asia, Belarus was the only country to execute people. The country carried out at least two executions in 2017; at least four new death sentences were imposed,” Amnesty International said in its Annual Report on the death penalty. Read more…
Belarus: undisclosed execution comes to light
Amnesty International strongly condemns the execution of Belarusian death row prisoner, Kiryl Kazachok, in October 2017. News of his execution has only recently been disclosed by the family and brings the total number of known executions in Belarus in 2017 to two. Read more…
EU statement on the execution of Kiryl Kazachok
In light of the execution in Belarus of Kiryl Kazachok, which took place in October 2017 but was brought to the public's attention only now, the European Union again reaffirms its strong opposition to capital punishment in all circumstances. Read more…
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