“I directly asked the Constitutional Court about it, but the Court forwarded my petition to the authorized entities listed in Article 116 of the Constitution. At the same time, with the help of human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka, I started litigation at the trial court, aiming to foster changes in this regard. Now we are going through the court of cassation, then we will raise this issue at the international level through a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee,” says Volha Hrunova.
The woman says that the secrecy surrounding executions and burial sites, bans on issuing the body for burial are inherently intimidating and punishing their families by intentionally leaving them in a state of uncertainty and mental distress.
The UN Human Rights Committee has repeatedly dealt with complaints of Belarusian citizens asking to return the bodies to the relatives of executed prisoners. In cases 886/1999 Bandarenka vs. Belarus, 887/1999 Liashkevich vs. Belarus, 2120/2011 Liubou Kavaliova and Tatsiana Koziar vs. Belarus, Belarus was ordered to inform relatives of the executed persons on their burial places and to prevent similar violations in the future.
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