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Council of Europe believes that Belarus is close to abolishing death penalty, CoE official says

The Council of Europe believes that Belarus is close to abolishing the death penalty, Philippe Boillat, Council of Europe director general of human rights and legal affairs, said during a round-table conference in Minsk on September 23, as quoted by BelaPAN.

The conference was organized by the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe welcomes the Belarusian National Assembly's decision to set up a working group on the issue of the death penalty, Mr. Boillat said.

He expressed readiness to discuss what he called the two barriers to death penalty abolition, namely, the fact that it would require a referendum and that public opinion is against it.

Stopping the execution of prisoners is in itself one of the priorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Boillat noted. 

A decision to either abolish the death penalty or declare a moratorium on it would call for strong political will from the Belarusian government, he said. This is one of the issues that require leading and not following public opinion, he said. "Although, of course, public opinion shouldn't be ignored altogether," he said.

A decision to abolish the death penalty would increase mutual understanding between Belarus and the Council of Europe and give an impetus to the development of bilateral relations, Mr. Boillat said.