Capital punishment in Belarus, analytics, Petition against the Death Penalty in Belarus
Belarus is the last country in Europe and former Soviet Union that is still carrying out the death penalty. Amnesty International, Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, Belarusian Helsinki Committee and other human rights defenders in Belarus oppose the death penalty in all cases without exception. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life, guaranteed by the Constitution of Belarus and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nothing can justify the purposeful and ruthless taking of a human life by State.
The death penalty is a destructive and divisive public policy that has been shown to have no special deterrent effect on crime. It distracts from effective measures being taken against criminality through promoting simplistic responses to complex human problems. It denies the possibility of rehabilitation and reconciliation. It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim’s family, and extends that suffering to the relatives of the condemned prisoner. Amnesty International, Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, Belarusian Helsinki Committee does not seek to belittle the suffering of the families of murder victims, and recognizes and endorses a government’s duty to protect the rights of all people under its jurisdiction. However, executions are a symptom of a culture of violence rather than a solution to it. By executing a person the state commits a premeditated killing and shows a similar readiness to use physical violence as the criminal.
In Belarus the use of the death penalty is compounded by a flawed criminal justice system that administers capital punishment in a manner that violates international laws and standards pertaining to the death penalty. There is credible evidence that torture and ill-treatment are used to extract “confessions”; condemned prisoners may not have access to effective appeal mechanisms; and the inherently cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of the death penalty is compounded for death row prisoners and their relatives by the secrecy surrounding the death penalty. Neither prisoners nor their families are told the execution date in advance and prisoners must live with the fear that every time their cell door opens they may be taken for execution.
We call on the President and Parliament of Belarus to immediately declare a moratorium on death sentences and executions as a first step towards full abolition of the death penalty.
The number of signatories 17 565
Name | Country | Date of fill |
---|---|---|
Наталья Карпук | Брест, Беларусь | 21.07.2012 |
Jacek Bienicewicz | Białystok, Polska | 21.07.2012 |
Дар'я Зялёнка | Брэст, Беларусь | 20.07.2012 |
Сергей Запотылок | Гомель, Беларусь | 20.07.2012 |
Станислав Гусаков | Могилев, Беларусь | 20.07.2012 |
Marta Bryl | Kraków, Polska | 19.07.2012 |
Михаил Химорода | Минск, Беларусь | 19.07.2012 |
Małgorzata Gosik | Giżycko, Polska | 18.07.2012 |
Bartosz Wyndrowny | Poznań, Polska | 15.07.2012 |
Валерий Панчев | Гродно, Беларусь | 15.07.2012 |
Katarzyna Goguł | Jędrzejów, Polska | 15.07.2012 |
Сяргей Кулак | Мiнск, Беларусь | 15.07.2012 |
Katarzyna Winkiel | Konin, Polska | 13.07.2012 |
Ганна Масілевіч | Мінск, Беларусь | 13.07.2012 |
Aleksandra Wyrzykowska | Słupsk, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Magdalena Kękuś | Kraków, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Karolina Zając | Kraków, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Костянтин Рєуцький | Луганьск, Україна | 12.07.2012 |
Laura Orłowska | Kraków, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Paulina Mieczyńska | Wieliczka, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Klaudia Kuczyńska | Kraków, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Marzena Musiał | Cracow, Poland | 12.07.2012 |
Sara Królik | Kraków, Polska | 12.07.2012 |
Magdalena Kuzak | Gliwice, Polska | 10.07.2012 |
Олег Поникарчик | Иваново, Брест, Беларусь | 10.07.2012 |
Александр Жерлицын | Гродно, Беларусь | 09.07.2012 |
Иван Прудниковв | Минск, Беларусь | 08.07.2012 |
Дарья Рынкевич | Минск, Беларусь | 07.07.2012 |
Helena Górka | Ląka, Polska | 04.07.2012 |
Luiza Sierpińska | Warszawa, Polska | 02.07.2012 |
Elisa Piet | Sopot, Polska | 02.07.2012 |
Anna Zemlak | Leśnica Opolska, Polska | 01.07.2012 |
Łukasz Lip | Piekary Śląskie, Polska | 01.07.2012 |
Ariadna Pacześniak | Rzeszów, Polska | 30.06.2012 |
Mira Biesaga | Warszawa, Polska | 30.06.2012 |
Weronika Kowalska | Warszawa, Polska | 30.06.2012 |
Katarzyna Korda | Wrocław, Polska | 30.06.2012 |
Ewa Bielicka | Łomża, Polska | 30.06.2012 |
Joanna Kapica | Warszawa, Polska | 30.06.2012 |
Małgorzata Sobieraj | Kraków, Polska | 29.06.2012 |
Андрей Шакутин | Орша, Беларусь | 28.06.2012 |
kamil jarosz | biała podlaska, Polska | 28.06.2012 |
Tomasz Kamiński | Frankfurt am Main, Niemcy | 27.06.2012 |
Marta Rupniewska | Galway, Ireland | 27.06.2012 |
Bogumiła Pińczuk | Świdwin, Polska | 27.06.2012 |
Kinga Tominska | Poznań, Polska | 27.06.2012 |
irmina zawada | 27.06.2012 | |
Weronika Kowalczyk | Reading, England | 27.06.2012 |
Adam Kinastowski | Szarów, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Małgorzata Budna | Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Halina Pamuła-Sobczak | Wolsztyn, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Daria Jodłowska | Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Michał Zdanowski | Szczecin, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Urszula Jodłowska | Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Maria Wolan | Żarnowa, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Vladimir Novak Ilyich | Moscow, Russia | 26.06.2012 |
Malwina Uznanska | Krakow, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Anita Zdrojewska_Lichosik | Szczecin, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Ryszard Wiczyński | Poznań, Polska | 26.06.2012 |
Jolanta Arciszewska | Gostomin, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Katarzyna Kostecka | Nowy Sącz, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Martyna Pokładek | Kielce, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Ewa Marciniak | Płock, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
MATEUSZ TUCHOLSKI | BYDGOSZCZ, POLSKA | 25.06.2012 |
JERZY HOLDA | KRZESZOWICE, POLSKA | 25.06.2012 |
Tomasz Spychała | Kudowa Zdrój, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
DOROTA ZAŃKO | GRYFÓW ŚLĄSKI, POLSKA | 25.06.2012 |
Małgorzata Piątkowska | Legnica, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Joanna Pestyk | Kraków, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Daria Kaczmarek | Poznań, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Aleksandra Burczyk | Bydgoszcz, Polska | 25.06.2012 |
Beata Kontze | Bytom, Polen | 25.06.2012 |
Patrycja Kwapulińska | Bytom, Polen | 24.06.2012 |
Monika Kozlowska Polak | Krakow, Polska | 23.06.2012 |
Mariola Moroń | Międzyrzecze, Polska | 23.06.2012 |
Natallia Hancharuk | Philadelphia, USA | 23.06.2012 |
Anna Raszewska | Łódz, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Svetlana Boreichuk | Minsk, Belarus | 22.06.2012 |
Grzegorz Maciarski | Toruń, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Bożena Brudny | Kraków, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Aleksandra Schnell | Kraków, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Oskar Warakomski | Suwałki, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Agnieszka Marzol | Konin, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
jolanta awedecka | katowice, polska | 22.06.2012 |
Katarzyna Olchanowska-Oliwa | Białystok, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
joanna klawikowska | LONDON, england | 22.06.2012 |
Wojciech Wiśniewski | Gliwice, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Beata Cieślak | Wieluń, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Katarzyna Niechaj | Jastrzębie Zdrój, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Lukasz Pawlowicz | Mysen, Norge | 22.06.2012 |
Weronika Rodkiewicz | Londyn, Wielka Brytania | 22.06.2012 |
Wiesław Orlita | Kraków, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Richard Fresh | Konin, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Wanda Janta | Bochnia, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Maciej Andrusiuk | Leśna Podlaska, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Piotr Rabiej | Kraków, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Magdalena Bartnicka | Warszawa, Polska | 22.06.2012 |
Eleonora Hernandez | Geneva, Switzerland | 22.06.2012 |
Anna Szarek | Otwock, Polska | 20.06.2012 |
Kacper Manikowski | Nowa Ruda, Polska | 20.06.2012 |