Council of Europe draws attention to the death penalty in Belarus at World Congress in Paris

The Council of Europe has consistently opposed the death penalty, everywhere and under all circumstances, seeking its universal abolition, as reiterated by the Secretary General, Alain Berset, at the opening of the 9^th World Congress against the death penalty in Paris earlier this week.

This has been the rationale behind the Council of Europe's long-time advocacy of the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus. Since 2022, the Council of Europe has suspended all relations with the Belarusian authorities and has started to cooperate, including on the abolition of capital punishment, with Belarusian civil society and democratic forces in exile, under the Council of Europe Contact Group on Belarus. As part of these efforts, a public event entitled "The situation of the death penalty in Belarus: civil society and youth advocacy for the abolition in and outside the country" was held in Paris at the World Congress on 2 July.

"It is important to raise the issue of Belarus at the World Congress, especially that it is taking place in Europe, and that Belarus the only country on the European continent that still applies the death penalty," said Sébastien Potaufeu, the Council of Europe's Coordinator for the abolition of the death penalty. "Through the Contact Group activities on the abolition of death penalty, the Council of Europe continues to support the efforts of Belarusian civil society and democratic forces towards a future democratic Belarus free of the death penalty".

Alexander Shlyk, Special Advisory to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on elections and multilateral diplomacy, underlined the intrinsic link between democracy and the abolition of the death penalty: "The democratic forces of Belarus stand firmly on the position that abolition of death penalty should be a top priority in the democratic transformation of the country. Death penalty is incompatible with the respect of human dignity as a foundation of democracy and rule of law".

Death penalty threat as political intimidation tool

Panellists focussed their interventions on the place of the abolition of the death penalty in the broader context of necessary democratic reforms in Belarus.

"Over the past several years, the very purpose of the death penalty has changed. The authorities have steadily expanded the legal grounds for its use, turning it from a means of criminal justice into a tool of a broader system of political intimidation and repression," stressed Andrei Paluda, representing Viasna Human Rights Centre, the leading and one of the oldest Belarusian civil society organisations. "The abolition of the death penalty in Belarus is a matter of the right to life, human rights, the rule of law, and the future of a democratic Belarus".

Young people as advocacy drivers

The need to continue abolitionist campaigns among Belarusian society and diaspora, with a special emphasis on Belarusian youth, was another important topic of the discussion. Yulia Ralko representing the Belarusian National Youth Council RADA was among the panellists and spoke about the advocacy initiatives led by young people.

The event participants concluded that strengthening youth engagement despite the challenging political environment and engaging young people in human rights education and abolitionist advocacy is essential for sustaining long-term change and fostering a culture of human rights in a future democratic Belarus.

Working from exile poses extra challenges

Monitoring human rights situation in Belarus, including the developments related to the death penalty, while being in exile, was a question posed by the event participants. How to collect information abroad, how to work with sources and to verify the information, how to reach out to those inside the country, - the discussion has revealed that these questions are highly relevant not only for Belarusians, but also for exiled activists from other countries which still apply the capital punishment.