The event became an occasion for speakers and participants to consider the various aspects of the problem of the death penalty on the local and international levels. For example, the coordinator of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus” Andrei Paluda (left)
during his speech reminded the audience about the closed nature of the topic of the death penalty in Belarus and the secrecy of the relevant information. “The existence of the death penalty in our country is an appropriate indicator of the human rights situation in Belarus and relations of the state to its citizens. The death penalty in the twenty-first century is a real barbarism and savagery, especially the execution by shooting. The problem lies in the secrecy that exists today around the theme of death – even the relatives of those in respect of whom the death penalty is carried out can not receive the necessary information.”

The aspect of international cooperation in the issue of the abolition of the death penalty was covered by Žygimantas Pavilionis, Ambassador-at-Large for Europe’s East (Eastern Partnership) Lithuanian MFA. First of all, he noted that he was very surprised by the position of the Belarusian authorities, who hope for the warming of relations with the European Union, irrespective of the human rights situation in the country: “”I am personally convinced that Belarusians are a very European nation. However, Belarus can not be perceived by Europe as part of the European identity until the fundamentals of democracy and humanity are laid. The use of the death penalty demonstrates the attitude of the government to its citizens. I sincerely hope for change in the sphere of human rights and the death penalty in the country.”

The discussion also touched upon the issues of extrajudicial execution in Belarus: human rights defender Raisa Mikhailouskaya told about the link between unexplained disappearances of opponents of Aliaksandr Lukashenka and the existence of the death penalty in Belarus.

“It could seem that all the disappearances of politicians were not interrelated, but all of them were united by the firing gun. The pistol, from which death verdicts were executed, became the tool for getting rid of political opponents of the regime. These people were not criminals or rapists. It was the country’s elite, and the present deplorable state of our country is a logical result of the political disappearances. We, as human rights activists, demand that those criminal proceedings within which the disappearances have been investigated, be considered as the implementation of extra-judicial executions.” – said Raisa Mikhailouskaya.

The premiere screening of the film “Six Arguments against the Death Penalty” was held during the discussion. The film consists of six clips, each of which represents an argument against the death penalty as a disproportionate and inhuman punishment. Thus, the filmmakers list the possibility of judicial error, inefficiency of the death penalty in preventing crime, the use of the death penalty against political opponents of the regime and cruelty to relatives who can not even bury the executed as the arguments against the death penalty. The authors also mention the possible effect of such work on the people who carry out the sentence and kill convicts on behalf of the state. Another argument is religious, based on the famous “Thou shalt not kill.”

The film’s director, Viktar Tratsiakou, and the script writer Palina Stsepanenka said that the idea of making this film was born during discussions at summer human rights school in Vilnius, when it became clear that there were some stable arguments against the death penalty. The main aim of the film is the wish to convey the inhumanness of the death penalty to representatives of various social strata in Belarus.

Let us remind that 10 October is the World Day against the Death Penalty. Therefore, on 5-10 October human rights defenders hold their annual informational and educational Week against the Death Penalty in Belarus. This year it was also joined by the supporters of abolishment movement from Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. 

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