At the moment death row convicts and their relatives with help of human rights defenders are trying to protect the right to life and attempting to make sure that death penalties will not be executed.
According Raman Kisliak, a human rights defender from Brest (city in Western Belarus) the Supreme Court turned down the appeal of Andrei Zhuk. Immediately after this his mother addressed the UN Committee on human rights.
Her individual appeal was registered on 30 October in an urgent manner. Mr Kisliak commented: “We believe that Andrei Zhuk’s right to life was violated, and we hope that the Committee will reveal this violation. We will strive for the substitution of death penalty for other type of punishment.”
Geneva office of the High Commissioner on human rights sent to Belarus a notice of the appeal registration with a demand not to execute the death penalty while the Committee deliberates on the issue.
The individual appeal from Vasil Yazepchuk was also registered at the Committee on 12 October.
Human rights defenders addressed the minister of foreign affairs Siarhei Martynau to remind him about the appeal registration at the UN human rights body. They called upon the minister to make sure that Belarus fulfils its international agreements and responsibilities. They also demanded that the MFA spreads the Geneva office notice to all legal state structures in Belarus.
Valiantsin Stefanovich, a member of Human Rights Centre Vaisna, pointed out: “We deliberately make these facts public in mass media to prevent state officials from saying that they had no clue about the UN Committee demands. We will be watcing this case very closely.”
Mr Stefanovich also said that letters identical to the one sent to MFA were also delivered to the attorney aeneral Ryhor Vasilevich, the minister of interior Anatol Kuliashou and the head of president’s administration Uladzimir Makej.
Belarusian Helsinki Committee expressed 
their dissatisfaction with the Supreme Counrt decision to leave the death penalty verdicts of lower courts without changes.
The sentences, passed to Andrei Zhuk and Vasil Yuzepchuk, is another evidence of the necessity to immediately introduce the moratorium on a death penalty execution. Until the Belarusian legislation contains such a type of penalty, it will be executed. Until death penalty abolition is a mere question of discussion in the parliament, judges will be guided by the effective legislation. Nevertheless, one has to bare in mind, that death penalty imposition is a right, but not an obligation of the court. In this connection courts, following the humanity principles, could implement other types of penalties, provided by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.
BHC called upon the authorized officials to use their right and initiate the reversal of death penalty verdicts.
BHC members hope that death sentences will not be executed. They addressed the attorney general and the supreme court chairman Valiantsin Sukala and made a request to protest the court ruling and not to allow the execution to happen.
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On 23 July Andrei Zhuk, 25, Salihorsk resident (industrial city in Central Belarus), was convicted to capital punishment by the Minsk region court for murders of two farm workers.
