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Capital punishment in Belarus

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Europe holds the greatest concentration of abolitionist states (blue). Map current as of 2021
  Abolished for all offences
  Retains death penalty
  Legal form of punishment but has had a moratorium for at least ten years

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Belarus. At least one execution was carried out in the country in 2022.[1]

Also known as an Exceptional Measure of Punishment (Russian: Исключительная Мера Наказания, ИМН),[2] the death penalty has been a part of the country's legal system since gaining independence from the Soviet Union on August 25, 1991. The current national constitution prescribes this punishment for "grave crimes." Later laws have clarified the specific crimes for which capital punishment can be used. The death penalty can be imposed for crimes that occur against the state or against individuals. A few non-violent crimes can also be punishable by death. As of 2024, Belarus is the only country in Europe that continues to carry out the death penalty.[3] Executions are carried out by a single shot to the back of the head.

Following a referendum on the issue, the Belarusian government took steps to change the way capital punishment is imposed and carried out.[4] International organisations, such as the United Nations, have criticised the methods Belarus uses when carrying out capital punishment. The use of capital punishment is one factor keeping the country out of the Council of Europe.[5]

Legislation

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Article 24 of the Constitution of Belarus states that:

Until its abolition, the death sentence may be applied in accordance with the law as an exceptional penalty for especially grave crimes and only in accordance with the verdict of a court of law.[6]

As per the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, capital punishment can be imposed for the following acts:

  • Launching or conducting aggressive war (Article 122, Part 2)
  • Murder of a representative of a foreign state or international organisation to provoke international complications or war (Article 124, Part 2)
  • International terrorism (Article 126)
  • Genocide (Article 127)
  • Crimes against humanity (Article 128)
  • Application of weapons of mass destruction under international treaties of the Republic of Belarus (Article 134)
  • Violation of the war laws and usage (Article 135, Part 3)
  • Murder committed under aggravating circumstances (Article 139, Part 2)
  • Terrorism (Article 289, Part 3)
  • Treason connected with murder (Article 356, Part 2)
  • Conspiracy to seize state power (Article 357, Part 3)
  • Terrorist acts (Article 359)
  • Sabotage (Article 360, Part 2)
  • Murder of a police officer (Article 362)[7]

Most of the death penalty convictions were for murder committed under aggravating circumstances.[8] Court proceedings involving capital cases must involve a "collegial consideration," consisting of one judge and two People's assessors. The People's assessors are chosen from the general population, similar to the jury system.[9]

Over the years, the number of offenses eligible for the death penalty and the type of convicts eligible for it have been reduced. In 1993, four economic crimes that would have resulted in death sentences during the Soviet era were removed from the list of capital offenses by a vote of parliament and were replaced by prison terms without parole.[10] Although the total number of categories of crime qualifying for capital punishment declined during this time, Presidential Decree No. 21, issued on October 21, 1997, added "terrorism" to the list of capital offenses.[11] When the Criminal Code was updated in 1999, the number of capital offenses was further reduced. This reduction was assisted by the introduction of life imprisonment in December 1997.[4]

Since March 1, 1994, women are ineligible for capital punishment and persons under the age of 18 at the time of the crime or over 65 at the time of sentencing have been exempt from capital punishment since January 2001.[12] Those who are mentally ill may have their death sentence commuted.[7] Under Article 84 of the Constitution, the president "may grant pardons to convicted citizens".[6] From June 30, 2003, to June 30, 2005, President Alexander Lukashenko granted two pardons to death row inmates and denied one such request.[4]

In 2000, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe condemned "in the strongest possible terms the executions in Belarus and deplores the fact that Belarus is currently the only country in Europe where the death penalty is enforced and, moreover, is regularly and widely enforced".[13]

Belarus is the only European country to have carried out executions in the 21st century. European Council members suggested in 2001 that Belarus abolish capital punishment before it can apply for membership in the Council.[5] Belarus (as the Byelorussian SSR) signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973.[14] This convention, however, does not abolish the death penalty, but it imposes certain conditions on its implementation and use.

On December 7, 2022, Belarusian lawmakers approved a bill which punishes high treason among officials and military personnel with the death penalty. The bill also includes prosecution for "spreading false information discrediting the Armed Forces of Belarus".[15][16][17][18]

On March 9, 2023, President Alexander Lukashenko signed a bill into law which allows the use of the death penalty on officials and military servicemen convicted of high treason.[19]

Method

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A PB pistol, used for the executions in Belarus

Before being executed, all prisoners on death row are transferred to Minsk Detention Center No. 1 (СИЗО, or SIZO No. 1), in the country's capital Minsk.[20] The method used to carry out the sentence is execution by shooting.[8] The executioner is a member of the "committee for the execution of sentences," which also chooses the area where the execution will take place.[20] According to the book The Death Squad by Oleg Alkayev [ru; be; be-tarask; de], on the day of execution the convict is transported to a secret location where he is told by officials that all appeals have been rejected. The convict is then blindfolded and taken to a nearby room, where two staffers force him to kneel in front of a bullet backstop. The executioner then shoots the convict in the back of his head with a PB-9 pistol equipped with a suppressor. According to Alkayev, "The whole procedure, starting with the announcement about denied appeals and ending with the gunshot, lasts no longer than two minutes".[21]

This letter was sent in 2012 to the mother of one of the perpetrators of the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing to notify her that her son had been executed.

After the sentence is carried out, a prison doctor and other officials certify that the execution has been performed and a death certificate is prepared. The remains of the condemned are buried secretly, and the family is notified that the execution has taken place.[8] Colonel Oleg Alkayev, a former director of SIZO No. 1, claimed that about 130 executions took place at the prison between December 1996 and May 2001, when he left Belarus to live in exile in Berlin, Germany.[22]

The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued the following opinion of the execution process in Belarus after the mother of subsequently executed prisoner Anton Bondarenko petitioned the Committee to spare her son's life: "[the process has] the effect of intimidating or punishing families by intentionally leaving them in a state of uncertainty and mental distress…[and that the] authorities' initial failure to notify the author of the scheduled date for the execution of her son, and their subsequent persistent failure to notify her of the location of her son's grave amounts to inhuman treatment of the author, in violation of article 7 of the Covenant [prohibiting torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment]."[23]

Number of executions

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The following is a rough estimate of the number of executions carried out since 1985, as per Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD):

Byelorussian SSR
  • 1985 – 21
  • 1986 – 10
  • 1987 – 12
  • 1988 – 12
  • 1989 – 5
  • 1990 – 20
Republic of Belarus
  • 1991 – 14
  • 1992 – 24
  • 1993 – 20
  • 1994 – 24
  • 1995 – 46
  • 1997 – 46
  • 1998 – 47
  • 1999 – 13
  • 2000 – 4
  • 2001 – 7[8]
  • 2007 – at least one
  • 2008 – at least 4
  • 2009 – none known
  • 2010 – 2
  • 2011 – 2[24]
  • 2012 – 1
  • 2013 – 3
  • 2014 – 3[25]
  • 2015 – none known
  • 2016 – 4[26]
  • 2017 – 2[27][28]
  • 2018 – 4[29][30]
  • 2019 – 2
  • 2020 – none known
  • 2021 – 1
  • 2022 – 1
  • 2023 – none known

The exact number of people executed in Belarus is not known, since the last documents released by the Belarusian Government were in 2006.[31] Other sources have published somewhat different data: BelaPAN records 278 executions from 1992 to 2010 with two additional men under death sentence in September 2010.[32] Due to some of the practices of the MVD, such as the non-disclosure of the graves of the executed, this is a violation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe protocol to make information about capital punishment open to the public.[33] The last confirmed execution was carried out on July 16, 2022; Viktar Skrundzik was executed for killing two seniors, and attempting to murder an 85-year-old woman in Slutsk in Minsk Oblast.[34]

Public opinion

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In a 1996 referendum, one of the seven questions asked was about abolishing the death penalty. According to the results of this referendum, 80.44% of Belarusians were against abolition.[35] However, at the time of the referendum, the longest available prison sentence was 15 years. Since then the sentence of life imprisonment was introduced (in December 1997). There have not been more recent surveys to determine whether the change in maximum prison sentence affected public sentiment about the death penalty.[10]

More recently a parliamentary special working group announced plans to conduct a public opinion poll, but the Information and Analytical Center with the Administration of the President took over this undertaking. The Center has released its report, "Public Opinion about the Activity of the Organs of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus," which included the questions about death penalty and the attitudes of Belarusian citizens about abolition of capital punishment. That poll showed only 4.5% of the respondents were against capital punishment in all cases, 79.5% considered capital punishment appropriate punishment for at least some grave crimes and about 10% had difficulty answering these questions or offered no opinion.[36]

There have been several steps taken toward reducing the imposition of the death penalty in Belarus. The Law of the Republic of Belarus of December 31, 1997, added Article 22, which allows for "imprisonment for the term of one's life (life imprisonment) as an alternative to capital punishment." Capital punishment has also since been restricted to men between the age of 18 and 65.[37]

Court cases

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On March 11, 2004, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus came to the conclusion that two articles of the Criminal Code were incompatible with the Constitution of Belarus. The Court stated that either the President or the National Assembly could make the decision to suspend or completely abolish the death penalty.[38] Subsequently, in October 2005, the Parliament adopted an amendment to the Criminal Code declaring that the continued use of the death penalty was on a temporary basis only.[39]

References

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  1. ^ "Belarus: UN Human Rights Committee condemns execution". OHCHR. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  2. ^ "Authorities keep torturing death convict's mother". Viasna Human Rights Centre. Minsk. November 24, 2014. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Amnesty International- Document- Commonwealth of Independent states: Belarus- the last executioner
  4. ^ a b c Embassy of Belarus in the United Kingdom Capital Punishment in Belarus and Changes of Belarus Criminal Legislation related thereto Archived December 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Belpan (April 5, 2001). "Seminar on death penalty abolition held in Brest". BrestOnline. Archived from the original on February 9, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Constitution of the Republic of Belarus Archived 2010-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed on September 5, 2005.
  7. ^ a b "The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. Background paper 2013". OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d газете «Труд-7» (November 6, 2002). Смертная казнь (in Russian). BrestOnline. Retrieved November 3, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) [dead link]
  9. ^ "DECISION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS OF 17.04.2001 No. D-114/2001". Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus. April 17, 2001. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Belarus and Uzbekistan: the last executioners Archived 2005-05-25 at the Wayback Machine." Amnesty International. Accessed on September 5, 2005.
  11. ^ Amnesty International (November 10, 1997). "Belarus: Findings of Human Rights Committee confirm worsening human rights situation". Archived from the original on April 1, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
  12. ^ Уголовный кодекс Республики Беларусь (in Russian). April 2, 2006. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
  13. ^ Legislationline.org Death Penalty – Belarus Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Published November 2004. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
  14. ^ United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Signatory nations of the ICCPR Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
  15. ^ "Belarusian Lawmakers Approve Death Penalty for High Treason by Officials, Military". Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty.
  16. ^ "Belarus wants to bring in death penalty for 'high treason'". December 7, 2022.
  17. ^ "Belarus Seeks Death Penalty for Treasonous Officials and Soldiers". U.S. News & World Report. December 7, 2022. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  18. ^ "Belarus gives first endorsement of death penalty for servicemen convicted of treason". MSN.
  19. ^ "Belarus approves death penalty for officials convicted of high treason". CNA. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Human Rights Committee (April 24, 2003). "Communication No 887/1999 : Belarus. 24/04/2003". United Nations Organization. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
  21. ^ Gypsy Laborer Faces Execution In Belarus CBS News, October 13, 2009
  22. ^ "Belarus Executioner Accuses President of Murder". Reuters. August 29, 2001. Archived from the original on January 16, 2002. Retrieved November 3, 2007.
  23. ^ Human Rights Committee (2003). "Communication No 886/1999 : Belarus. 28/04/2003". United Nations. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  24. ^ Execution of Belarus death row prisoner confirmed Amnesty International on July 26, 2011, accessed on August 31, 2011.
  25. ^ Spring 96 (2014). "Death verdics in Belarus since 1990". Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ [1] Amnesty International on November 30, 2016.
  27. ^ "Belarus Carries Out First Execution This Year; EU Urges Moratorium". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. May 6, 2017. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021.
  28. ^ "Правозащитный центр "Весна"". spring96.org. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022.
  29. ^ "EU, Council Of Europe Condemn New Executions In Belarus". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. May 31, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022.
  30. ^ "Двух белорусов казнили за убийства и махинации с квартирами. страница 2 :: NoNaMe". Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  31. ^ International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (2006). "IHF Intervention to the 2006 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 29, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  32. ^ Kania, Richard R. E., and Lyuba Pervushina, "The Death Penalty in Belarus," paper for the Southern Criminal Justice Association 2010 Annual Meeting, Clearwater Beach, Florida
  33. ^ "OSCE Comments on the Death Penalty" (PDF). Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 1994. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 29, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  34. ^ "Condemned prisoner's death date revealed more than a year after the execution". February 17, 2023.
  35. ^ Центральной комиссии Республики Беларусь по выборам и проведению республиканских референдумов (in Russian). 1996. Archived from the original on October 19, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  36. ^ Prudnikova, Olga (2010) "The Question Connected with Death Punishment Will Be Solved After the Elections?" Svobodnye Novosti Plus, 11.08.2010–18 August 2010, p. 12: (www.naviny.by)
  37. ^ Kadushkin, S. (2002) "Death Penalty and Its Alternative in the Legislation of the Republic of Belarus," Yustitsiya of Belarus, 3
  38. ^ Judgment of the Constitutional Court of March 11, 2004 Archived January 4, 2006, at the Wayback Machine On the conformity between the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, the international treaties to which the Republic of Belarus is a party and the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus stipulating application of the death penalty as a punishment, accessed on May 28, 2006.
  39. ^ Belarus amends criminal code Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Interfax on October 26, 2005, accessed on May 28, 2006.
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