UN Committee is deeply concerned about the Belarusian government’s ignoring its commitments

A special concern arouse as the result of the facts of shooting execution of the persons whose cases were taken for consideration by the Human Rights Committee which means the convicts under sentence of death were under its temporary protection.

This information appeared in the special press release of the Committee issued on March 30.

“The information was filed to the Committee that the convicts under the death penalty Mr. Yuzepchuk and Mr. Zhuk had no fair trial. The Committee took the cases of these two Belarusians for consideration. This means that – in accordance with the Rule 92 of the Committee’s Procedure – these persons could not have been put to death till their cases were considered. The execution of the death penalty was perceived by the Committee as the refusal of the Belarusian state to voluntarily cooperate with it in the work with the individual appeals of citizens, which provoked a certain indignation”, the Movement for Freedom (the MFF) activist Raman Kislak who represents the convicts in the UN Committee explains.

According to the human rights advocate, the Committee will continue considering these cases, and will make a conclusion whether the rights of these persons to life and to fair trial were violated. However, the violation of the Optional Protocol in the form of execution of the death penalty is already evident.

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