| Capital Punishment In Belarus |
Article Index for Capital Punishment |
Website Links For Capital Punishment |
Information AboutCapital Punishment In Belarus |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN BELARUS | |
| capital punishment by country | |
| belarus | |
| belarusian law | |
|
Capital punishment in Belarus is legal for a variety of crimes that are considered "grave" by the Government . Belarus is the only country in Europe in which Capital Punishment is actively used. CRIMES 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." In the Criminal Code Of The Republic Of Belarus , the penalty of death can be issued as a legal punishment for the following acts, listed in order by article number:
Four Economic Crime s that could result in the death penalty during the Soviet era were removed from the list on 6 July 1993 . Presidential Decree No. 21, issued on 21 October 1997 , added the crime of terrorism to the list of capital crimes that are eligible for the death penalty. More crimes that had the sentence of death were removed in 1999 due to the passing of the new Criminal Code. Before the passage, 29 crimes were eligible to have the death penalty as a punishment. In most of the cases where the death penalty has been issued, it was for the crime of murder committed under aggravating circumstances. Women (since 1 March 1994 ) and those under 18 at the time of the crime or over 65 (since January 2001 ) at the time of sentencing are ineligible for capital punishment. Those who are Mentally Ill may have their death sentence commuted. Under Article 84 of the Constitution, the President "may grant Pardon s to convicted citizens". During his time in charge of SIZO No. 1 , Colonel Oleg Alkayev said there was only one instance of clemency from President Alexander Lukashenko . METHOD The capital punishment used in Belarus is Execution By Firing Squad . Prisoners on Death Row are kept at SIZO No.1 (СИЗО), which is located in the capital city, Minsk . They live in 12 m&2 cells that are constantly lit. The execution usually takes place there as well. Col. Alkayev, who was a director of SIZO No. 1, said that 134 executions took place at the prison from December 1996 until May 2001. However, no official statistics are released by the government, in contravention of the rules established by the Organization For Security And Co-operation In Europe . The OSCE has stated that members must "make available to the public information regarding the use of the death penalty" inside member countries. CRITICISM A 1996 referendum found that 80.44% of Belorussians were against abolishing the death penalty. However, this referendum has been called undemocratic and misleading, because the ballot included other questions related to increasing Presidential power. 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". However, Belarus is not a member state of the Council of Europe. The entire legal system of Belarus was called into question when the United Nations Special Rapporteur On The Independence Of Judges And Lawyers reported in 2001 that : "the administration of justice, together with all its institutions, namely, the judiciary, the Prosecutor ial service and the legal profession, are undermined and not perceived as separate and independent. The rule of law is therefore thwarted." (The President has the power to appoint and remove judges.) On 11 March 2004 the Constitutional Court Of The Republic Of Belarus stated that there was no proof that the death penalty prevented serious crime. The relatives of those executed are not informed in advance of the date of execution, the body is not returned and is buried in an undisclosed location. There are also reports of the relatives of the accused not being allowed in the courtroom. According to the United Nations Commission On Human Rights this : " 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 torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ." PRISONERS' STORIES Dmitry Yefremenkov was sentenced to death in Belarus on 12 March 1999 . Yefremenkov's lawyer said that he was not given full access to his client; police were always present when he visited Yefremenkov. Dmitry Kharkhal said that while on death row he was regularly beaten on the head, back, stomach and genitals by guards. He was also not allowed any reading material. REFERENCES
|
|
|