Death Penalty Situation in Belarus Similar to Schizophrenia, Amnesty International

11.10.2010 11:18
Архив Редакция

Deputy Head of the Europe and Central Asia human rights organization Amnesty International, Andrea Huber believes that the situation with the introduction of a death penalty moratorium in Belarus is similar to schizophrenia. According to the expert, the positive changes in this matter are reduced to nothing when it comes to specific cases of death sentences.

As a positive change, Andrea Huber recalls the establishment of the Belarusian parliament working group to examine issues of capital punishment and the willingness to engage in dialogue to resolve the moratorium issue, Deutsche Welle reports.

«But on the other hand, when it comes to abolishing the death penalty in specific cases, one can observe a negative trend. As you know, two people were executed in March 2010. In addition, the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of two more condemned, and another person is trying to appeal the sentence,» Andrea Huber said.

According to human rights activists, the decision to impose a moratorium on the death penalty should not be based on the opinion of the population. «We can not base such decisions on the opinion polls results. Only the political leaders, in the end, may affect the situation. They are able to carry out explanatory work among the population and show that the execution of people is inhumane,» Andrea Huber said.

Tools Set for Pressing Belarus is Limited, Amnesty International

According to human rights defenders, death penalty does not allow Belarus to become a member of the Council of Europe. Therefore, those Belarusians, sentenced to the death penalty, can’t apply to the European Court of Human Rights. The only instance they can go is the Committee on Human Rights.

«Unfortunately, as shown by the cases of the death penalty in March 2010, the Belarusian authorities do not take into account the fact that the complaint is pending in the committee. The Committee appealed to Minsk with a request not to execute a sentence without this instance’ recommendations, but the request was not heard,» Andrea Huber said.

According to human rights defenders, the role of the organization «Amnesty International» in Belarus is reduced to disseminate information about the death penalty. «We study each case separately, watch the situation and publish information. This is particularly important because the death penalty is kept secret in Belarus. We are trying to draw international attention to this issue. We also cooperate with non-governmental organizations in Belarus and help them in attempts to influence public opinion in the country,» Andrea Huber said.

«A set of tools for the legal pressure of the European public on the Belarusian authorities is very limited. And even the measures, being applied, are ignored,» the representative of the «Amnesty International» said.

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