The UN Committee says that the communication was registered under No. 2655/2015 and a copy was sent to the State party. The Committee also requested from Belarus not to carry out the death sentence while the case is under consideration.

On 16 October Andrei Paluda sent a notification to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Prosecutor General’s Office with the information that the application of Siarhei Ivanou was registered in the UN Human Rights Committee.

At the same time Mr. Paluda asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the registration of the individual application submitted on behalf of Ivanou to the CCPR, as well as to control the implementation of international treaties by the subordinate institutions. Also he asks to request from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Prosecutor General’s Office not carry out the death sentence, awarded by the Supreme Court, while the application is processed in the UN Human Rights Committee, as it is in accordance with para. 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure.

Such appeals to the state authorities are necessary because the previous death sentences were carried out by the Belarusian state, even though the applications were registered in the Human Rights Committee and the Committee passed urgent protection procedures. Thus, seven of the death convicts were shot: Andrei Zhuk and Ryhor Yuzepchuk (2009), Andrei Burdyka and Aleh Hryshkaucou (2011), Uladzislau Kavaliou (2012), Paval Sialiun and Aliaksandr Hrunou (2014). The UN Human Rights Committee has publicly expressed its position in relation to the execution of Aliaksandr Hrunou. A press release in English was published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Committee has expressed its grave concern that Belarus has executed a person whose complaint was under consideration by the UN Human Rights Committee.   “This amounts to a grave breach of its international legal obligations by Belarus,” said Sir Nigel Rodley, the Committee’s Chairperson then.

“We hope that this time the Republic of Belarus will implement its international obligations and will not carry out the sentence in respect of Siarhei Ivanou until the UN Human Rights Committee issues a decision in his individual communication,” said Andrei Paluda, the coordinator of the campaign “Human rights defenders against the death penalty”.

The Homel Regional Court has sentenced Ivanou to the death penalty.Before the application was submitting to the Human Rights Committee, the case has passed all the levels of the national judicial system. However, the sentence of the death penalty remained the same.

Related articles

“(Il)legal killing…” – the discussion on death penalty was held in Vilnius

UN Human Rights Committee has made a public statement about the death of Aliaksandr Hrunou

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus extended for another year