Belarus
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · President Alexander Lukashenko has been sharply criticized...
- News items in the archive
- 241
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Belarus is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 241 news items on Belarus, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- APRIL 21, 2004BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Belarus was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death...
Belarus was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 7, 2004BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is envisaged for 14 crimes.
The death penalty is envisaged for 14 crimes.
- MARCH 11, 2004BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Belarus may announce a moratorium on the death penalty,...
Belarus may announce a moratorium on the death penalty, or even abolish it, the Belarussian Constitutional Court said
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Four people were sentenced to death in Belarus in 2002,...
Four people were sentenced to death in Belarus in 2002, but no one was executed, Belarussian Deputy Interior Minister and head of the Investigation Committee Leonid Glukhovsky said at a joint seminar of the Belarus National Assembly and the Parliamentary
- JUNE 7, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN)...
The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) reported that two Ukrainians, Ruslan Voytyuk, born in 1973, and Oleksander Kuskin, born in 1978, had lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court of Belarus against their death sentences for the murder of a bu
- MAY 15, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
An independent expert body that monitors how countries...
An independent expert body that monitors how countries implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights found violations in five countries
- APRIL 17, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The UN Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution...
The UN Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution condemning Belarus for subjecting opposition members to arbitrary detention, disappearances and executions
- APRIL 17, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The UN Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution...
The UN Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution condemning Belarus for subjecting opposition members to arbitrary detention, disappearances and executions
- FEBRUARY 12, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted the own-initiative...
The European Parliament adopted the own-initiative report by Pedro Marset Campos on relations between the EU and Belarus
- FEBRUARY 5, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Vitaly Staver has been executed in Belarus, OSCE reported
Vitaly Staver has been executed in Belarus, OSCE reported
- JANUARY 1, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
On May 30, 2002 the House of Representatives held hearings...
On May 30, 2002 the House of Representatives held hearings on the issue of the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is a legal punishment for crimes...
The death penalty is a legal punishment for crimes committed in peacetime and wartime
- JANUARY 1, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
People who were below the age of 18 at the time when...
People who were below the age of 18 at the time when the crime was committed and women cannot be sentenced to death, neither can men who are over the age of 65 at the time when the sentence is pronounced
- JANUARY 1, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
According to official statistics, three people were...
According to official statistics, three people were executed up to June 2002
- JANUARY 1, 2003BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is envisaged for 14 crimes
The death penalty is envisaged for 14 crimes
- JULY 16, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
About 1,900 inmates will be released from prisons in...
About 1,900 inmates will be released from prisons in keeping with a law on amnesty signed by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko
- JUNE 29, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Belarus's opposition parties intends to act together...
Belarus's opposition parties intends to act together in the event the government calls a national referendum to extend Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's presidential term
- JUNE 25, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
While receiving Belarusian opposition politicians in...
While receiving Belarusian opposition politicians in Strasbourg, Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer reaffirmed the need for the Belarusian authorities to meet the conditions set by international organizations
- JUNE 11, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The present situation impedes Belarus's integration...
The present situation impedes Belarus's integration into Europe, said Wolfgang Behrendt, rapporteur on Belarus in the political committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said in Minsk
- MAY 30, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The Belarussian House of Representatives began hearings...
The Belarussian House of Representatives began hearings on the repeal of death penalty
- MAY 30, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Belarusian Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvastow said that...
Belarusian Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvastow said that he favours the idea of abandoning the death penalty, but stressed that the immediate abolition of capital punishment in Belarus would be premature
- MAY 30, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The abolition of the death penalty in Belarus is "is...
The abolition of the death penalty in Belarus is "is predetermined by our desire to join the Council of Europe" the head of the Belarusian Constitutional Court, Ryhor Vasilevich, said during debates in the National Assembly's House of Representatives [low
- MAY 30, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The Belarusian Prosecutor's Office is campaigning for...
The Belarusian Prosecutor's Office is campaigning for the preservation of capital punishment as a measure of last resort, Belarusian Deputy Prosecutor-General Mikhail Snyahir said at a hearing in the National Assembly's House of Representatives [lower hou
- MAY 30, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The process of abolishing capital punishment in the...
The process of abolishing capital punishment in the country is by no means straightforward, said Vladimir Konoplyov, deputy chairman of the Belarussian House of Representatives
- MAY 28, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Belarusian Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumaw said...
Belarusian Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumaw said that it is premature to abolish capital punishment in this country
- MAY 24, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Lithuanian and Belarusian diplomats discussed bilateral...
Lithuanian and Belarusian diplomats discussed bilateral and regional cooperation, issues of trade and transport, and development of the legal base at a meeting in Druskininkai, southern Lithuania
- MAY 22, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The Speaker of the lower chamber of the Belarus parliament...
The Speaker of the lower chamber of the Belarus parliament Vadim Popov expressed doubt that "Belarussians will support the ban on capital punishment" in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States and Russia
- APRIL 22, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
The former chief executioner of Belarus said he was...
The former chief executioner of Belarus said he was ready to testify in an international court against President Alexander Lukashenko on charges of abusing human rights in the ex-Soviet country
- MARCH 21, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis said Lithuania...
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis said Lithuania was ready to make steps to improve relations with neighbouring Belarus, but it must first see Minsk making such steps, including expanding the powers of its Parliament, improving the human rights
- MARCH 9, 2002BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer...
Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer condemned the use of the death penalty in Belarus and urged the Belarusian authorities not to sentence to death the suspected kidnappers of [Russian Public TV] journalist Dmitriy Zavadskiy, who are curr