Deputy: Capital punishment is not more humane than life imprisonment
Deputies do not think that capital punishment should be abolished as soon as possible and refer to the results of the referendum of 1996. European officials stress that the future of capital punishment should not be decided at a nation-wide referendum because it is an issue of political will. "The terms of a life imprisonment may not be more humane than a death penalty”, - claimed a deputy of the House of Representatives Hanna Lyavitskaya during a round-table discussion “European values” in Minsk on February 4 and 5. Belarusian officials, non-governmental organizations and representatives of the European Council took part in it.
In the opinion of a deputy Anatol Hlaz, member of the workgroup on capital punishment, we should take our time before cancelling it.
Anatol Hlaz: "It takes hundreds of years to create a nation’s fund of values. If we have such a fund, we cannot destroy it to correspond to European values in five, ten years or in 12 months. It should be a gradual change”.
Answering ERB’s question whether the parliament is ready to abolish capital punishment soon, Anatol Hlaz has noted that the general opinion of deputies has not been discussed. However, the workgroup will look for variants and the first meeting will be organized this week.
In any case, capital punishment cannot be cancelled at once – a moratorium is needed for it.
Anatol Hlaz: "I would like to stress that even if we take a positive decision, it will be step-by-step in any case. It means that the first step will be a moratorium rather than abolishment”.
39% of Belarusians support the idea of abolishment of the capital punishment and 48% are against it. This is the result of a recent survey conducted by the director of a sociometric laboratory “NOVAK” Andrei Vardamatski. The expert notes that the 9% of the difference may be overcome with the help of a media campaign in a month.
A reporter on Belarus of the CE Conference of International non-governmental organizations Siril Richie quoted the words of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about the fact that abolishment of capital punishment was an issue of political will and that it would be a mistake to bring it to a nation-wide referendum.
The director of democratic institutions of the Council of Europe Childerik Schaapveld mentioned France as an example.
Childerik Schaapveld: "France is a classical example of deciding the fate of capital punishment without a referendum because it would not have been abolished otherwise. The decision was taken by the Parliament for the good of the society”.
Let us remind you that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe connected the possibility of returning the status of a guest of the assembly to Belarus with the abolishment of capital punishment in June 2009.
Belarus is the only European country that is neither a member nor a guest of the European Council. 47 European countries and all our neighboring states are included in the Council of Europe. It means their citizens can send appeals to the European Court of Human Rights to complain about any violation of their rights by state organs.
In the opinion of a deputy Anatol Hlaz, member of the workgroup on capital punishment, we should take our time before cancelling it.
Anatol Hlaz: "It takes hundreds of years to create a nation’s fund of values. If we have such a fund, we cannot destroy it to correspond to European values in five, ten years or in 12 months. It should be a gradual change”.
Answering ERB’s question whether the parliament is ready to abolish capital punishment soon, Anatol Hlaz has noted that the general opinion of deputies has not been discussed. However, the workgroup will look for variants and the first meeting will be organized this week.
In any case, capital punishment cannot be cancelled at once – a moratorium is needed for it.
Anatol Hlaz: "I would like to stress that even if we take a positive decision, it will be step-by-step in any case. It means that the first step will be a moratorium rather than abolishment”.
39% of Belarusians support the idea of abolishment of the capital punishment and 48% are against it. This is the result of a recent survey conducted by the director of a sociometric laboratory “NOVAK” Andrei Vardamatski. The expert notes that the 9% of the difference may be overcome with the help of a media campaign in a month.
A reporter on Belarus of the CE Conference of International non-governmental organizations Siril Richie quoted the words of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about the fact that abolishment of capital punishment was an issue of political will and that it would be a mistake to bring it to a nation-wide referendum.
The director of democratic institutions of the Council of Europe Childerik Schaapveld mentioned France as an example.
Childerik Schaapveld: "France is a classical example of deciding the fate of capital punishment without a referendum because it would not have been abolished otherwise. The decision was taken by the Parliament for the good of the society”.
Let us remind you that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe connected the possibility of returning the status of a guest of the assembly to Belarus with the abolishment of capital punishment in June 2009.
Belarus is the only European country that is neither a member nor a guest of the European Council. 47 European countries and all our neighboring states are included in the Council of Europe. It means their citizens can send appeals to the European Court of Human Rights to complain about any violation of their rights by state organs.
