Capital punishment in Belarus

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Europe holds the greatest concentration of abolitionist states (blue). Map current as of 2021 .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Abolished for all offences Retains death penalty Legal form of punishment but has had a moratorium for at least ten years Death Penalty laws in Europe.svg
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]

Contents

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

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:

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

A PB pistol, used for the executions in Belarus PB pistol.jpg
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. Vladislav Kovalyov execution notice.jpg
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

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
Republic of Belarus

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

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

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]

Related Research Articles

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment by country</span>

Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as a punishment for a crime. It has historically been used in almost every part of the world. Since the mid-19th century many countries have abolished or discontinued the practice. In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States.

Capital punishment in Canada dates to Canada's earliest history, including its period as first a French then a British colony. From 1867 to the elimination of the death penalty for murder on July 26, 1976, 1,481 people had been sentenced to death, and 710 had been executed. Of those executed, 697 were men and 13 women. The only method used in Canada for capital punishment of civilians after the end of the French regime was hanging. The last execution in Canada was the double hanging of Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin on December 11, 1962, at Toronto's Don Jail. The National Defence Act prescribed the death penalty for certain military offences until 1999, although no military executions had been carried out since 1946.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in China. It is applicable to offenses ranging from murder to drug trafficking. Executions are carried out by lethal injection or by shooting. A survey conducted by TheNew York Times in 2014 found the death penalty retained widespread support in Chinese society.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Europe</span>

Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not carried out an execution since September 1996. The complete ban on capital punishment is enshrined in both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and is thus considered a central value. Of all modern European countries, San Marino, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the first to abolish capital punishment, whereas only Belarus still practises capital punishment in some form or another. In 2012, Latvia became the last EU member state to abolish capital punishment in wartime.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Iran. The list of crimes punishable by death includes murder; rape; child molestation; homosexuality; drug trafficking; armed robbery; kidnapping; terrorism; burglary; incest; fornication; adultery; sodomy; sexual misconduct; prostitution; plotting to overthrow the Islamic government; political dissidence; sabotage; arson; rebellion; apostasy; blasphemy; extortion; counterfeiting; smuggling; recidivist consumption of alcohol; producing or preparing food, drink, cosmetics, or sanitary items that lead to death when consumed or used; producing and publishing pornography; using pornographic materials to solicit sex; capital perjury; recidivist theft; certain military offences ; "waging war against God"; "spreading corruption on Earth"; espionage; and treason. Iran carried out at least 977 executions in 2015, at least 567 executions in 2016, and at least 507 executions in 2017. In 2018 there were at least 249 executions, at least 273 in 2019, at least 246 in 2020, at least 290 in 2021, at least 553 in 2022, at least 834 in 2023, and at least 226 so far in 2024. In 2023, Iran was responsible for 74% of all recorded executions in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the Czech Republic</span>

Capital punishment is forbidden by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Czech Republic and is simultaneously prohibited by international legal obligations arising from the Czech Republic's membership of both the Council of Europe and the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Cyprus</span>

Capital punishment for murder was abolished in Cyprus on 15 December 1983. It was abolished for all crimes on 19 April 2002. The death penalty was replaced with life imprisonment. Cyprus is a signatory to the second optional protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides for full abolition of capital punishment. Cyprus initially had a reservation on the second protocol, allowing execution for grave crimes in times of war, but subsequently withdrew this reservation. The Constitution of Cyprus was amended in 2016 to eliminate all forms of capital punishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Russia</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Russia but is not used due to a moratorium and no death sentences or executions have been carried out since 2 August 1996. Russia has had an implicit moratorium in place since one was established by President Boris Yeltsin in 1996, and explicitly established by the Constitutional Court of Russia in 1999 and reaffirmed in 2009.

Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is a legal punishment, with most executions in the country being carried out by decapitation (beheading) – Saudi Arabia being the only country in the world to still use the method. In 2022, recorded executions in Saudi Arabia reached 196, the highest number recorded in the country for any year over the last three decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Poland</span>

Capital punishment remained in Polish law until September 1, 1998, but from 1989 executions were suspended, the last one taking place one year earlier. No death penalty is envisaged in the current Polish penal law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Armenia</span>

Capital punishment in Armenia was a method of punishment that was implemented within Armenia's Criminal Code and Constitution until its eventual relinquishment in the 2003 modifications made to the Constitution. Capital punishment's origin in Armenia is unknown, yet it remained present in the Armenia Criminal Code of 1961, which was enforced and applied until 1999. Capital punishment was incorporated into Armenian legislation and effectuated for capital crimes, which were crimes that were classified to be punishable by death, including treason, espionage, first-degree murder, acts of terrorism and grave military crimes.

Capital punishment in Georgia was completely abolished on 1 May 2000 when the country signed Protocol 6 to the ECHR. Later Georgia also adopted the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. Capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment.

Capital punishment is legal in Tonga, but has not been imposed since 1982. The country's lack of executions puts it into the category of a state abolitionist in practice, where it retains the death penalty in law but has had a formal or informal moratorium for at least ten years. Tonga's low rate of murder convictions forms part of the reason for the lack of executions, as well as its courts’ apparent unwillingness to impose the penalty unless it appears absolutely necessary to do so.

Being involved in the illegal drug trade in certain countries, which may include illegally importing, exporting, selling or possession of significant amounts of drugs, constitutes a capital offence and may result in capital punishment for drug trafficking, or possession assumed to be for drug trafficking. There are also extrajudicial executions of suspected drug users and traffickers in at least 2 countries without drug death penalties by law: Mexico and Philippines.

Capital punishment in Thailand is a legal penalty, and the country is, as of 2021, one of 54 nations to retain capital punishment both in legislation and in practice. Of the 10 ASEAN nations, only Cambodia and the Philippines have outlawed it, though Laos and Brunei have not conducted executions for decades.

Capital punishment in Burkina Faso has been abolished. In late May 2018, the National Assembly of Burkina Faso adopted a new penal code that omitted the death penalty as a sentencing option, thereby abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland. Despite its legality, no executions have been carried out since 1983. Therefore, Eswatini is classified as "abolitionist in practice."

References

  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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Constitution of the Republic of Belarus Archived 2010-11-04 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed on September 5, 2005.
  7. 1 2 "The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. Background paper 2013". OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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. ↑ 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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