On 10 October – International Day against Death Penalty – activists of campaign "Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus" have once again reminded the Belarusians about the problems associated with the death penalty: the imperfection of the judicial system in Belarus, the torments that the relatives of the victims have to bear, not knowing neither the burial place of the killed, nor the time of the shooting, as relatives are not informed about the day of sentencing, the bodies of those shot are not given for the burial, the burial place remains unknown, and "cause of death" article on the death certificate remains blank.

Activists of the "HR Defenders against the Death Penalty" campaign  went to Independence Avenue in Minsk to remind passers-by that the state is still killing people in Belarus. According to the human rights defenders, people gladly took information leaflets, and there were lot of citizens concerned with the issue. The activists even managed to debate with some of them. 

It is extremely important to abolish the death penalty in today’s Belarus for several reasons, says one of the leaders of the Human Rights Centre "Viasna" Valiantsin Stefanovich (left):

 "This is important because it helps the state to actually prove that human life has the highest value for the state. That the state does not kill on its behalf. This topic has many aspects, including religious. Also, with a judicial system which is now in Belarus, it is dangerous to have such form of punishment. Indeed, the presence of judicial error is very significant and likely. When combined with the numerous facts of torture, which surface periodically during the high-profile cases, the more dangerous to have such a punishment as death. "

The European Union and the Council of Europe urged Belarus to declare a moratorium on the death penalty
EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland made ​​a joint statement on International Day against the Death Penalty, 10 October.

" The European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their united opposition to the death penalty, and their commitment to its worldwide abolition.,"- says in a statement.

"We consider capital punishment to be inhumane, and a violation of human dignity.  Experience in Europe has taught us that the death penalty does not prevent an increase in violent crime, and nor does it bring justice to the victims of such crimes. Any capital punishment resulting from a miscarriage of justice, from which no legal system can be immune, represents irreversible loss of human life. , "- stressed the leasers of the EU and the Council of Europe.

The statement condemns the death penalty in Belarus, "the only country in Europe still applying capital punishment."

" We urge Belarus to introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to its complete abolition," – said Ashton and Jagland.

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From 1991 estimated 400 people were executed in Belarus – the real figure is unknown due to the secrecy of information about the death penalty.

According to HRC "Viasna", Aleh Hryshkautsou and Andrei Burdyka, sentenced on 14 May, 2010 to death by firing squad for crimes committed during an armed attack on an apartment in Grodno in October 2009, were shot this year in mid-July. Despite the consideration of this case in the UN Committee on Human Rights, the sentence was carried out which violated international obligations of our country.

Homel robber and murderer Ihar Myalik is waiting for execution of the sentence as the panel of the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the complaint on the change of punishment on 11 February 2011 With another "execution" sentence can end the ambiguous criminal case of terrorist attack in the Minsk metro.

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