OSCE again calls on Belarus to stop executions, introduce moratorium on death penalty

The execution of Siarhei Ivanou “goes against the ongoing discussions in Belarus and the growing international trend towards the abolition of a punishment”, Director of the OSCE/ODIHR says.

Reacting to the reported execution in Belarus of Siarhei Ivanou and a 6 May Supreme Court ruling upholding the death sentence against Sergei Khmelevsky, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Michael Georg Link today again called on Belarus to introduce an immediate moratorium on executions, as a step towards complete abolition of the death penalty.

“I am extremely concerned by reports of another execution in Belarus – of Siarhei Ivanou – and by the confirmation of the death sentence against Sergei Khmelevsky by the Supreme Court,” the press service of OSCE/ODIHR quotes the ODIHR Director saying. “It is clear that by abolishing the death penalty, most OSCE participating States have recognized the inherently cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of capital punishment.”

OSCE participating States have committed themselves to keep the question of abolishing capital punishment under consideration. This question was the focus of the  "Death Penalty: Transcending the Divide" conference organized by the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus and the British Embassy in Minsk in March of this year.

“I am convinced that the execution of Siarhei Ivanou goes against the ongoing discussions in Belarus and the growing international trend towards the abolition of a punishment that represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity,” Director Link said.