Say NO to the death penalty in Belarus

Liubou Kavaliova, mother of Uladzislau Kavaliou, one of the two people executed by shooting two years ago on charges of committing a terrorist act in the Minsk metro, and his sister Tatsiana Kaziar have filed an appeal to Prosecutor General of Belarus Aliaksandr Kaniuk demanding that the investigation into the case to be re-opened due to new circumstances, with the subsequent rehabilitation of the convict.

They regard as such new circumstances the decision of the Committee on Human Rights of the UN, according to which the State violated the right to life of the convicted person, as well as a number of rights guaranteed by national laws and international standards: the prohibition on the use of physical force, the presumption of innocence and abidance by fair trial standards.

The applicants note that the violations can only be corrected by revising the criminal case.

“Nowadays, it is the only possibility to review the case and rehabilitate Uladzislau”, agrees human rights defender Raman Kisliak. “As far as from the Committee's decision it follows that the proceedings were marred by numerous procedural violations and violations of the minimum standards of fair trial.”

The Committee issued its decision under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Optional Protocol,which was signed and ratified by Belarus.