UN condemns execution of another death sentence in Belarus

MINSK. March 10 (Interfax) - The UN Human Rights Committee has condemned the execution of yet another death sentence in Belarus, the Viasna human rights center, which is unregistered in Belarus, said on Thursday.

"The UN Human Rights Committee condemns the Republic of Belarus for executing Viktor Pavlov, whose case is still under consideration by the Committee. Since 2010, Viktor Pavlov is the 15th person executed by the Republic of Belarus while his case was being considered by the UN Human Rights Committee, despite the Committee's repeated requests to suspend his execution while his complaint about alleged violations of his rights is being considered," the statement said.

According to human rights activists, Pavlov was detained on January 3, 2019, on suspicion of murder and theft. On the same day, he signed confessing testimony in the absence of a lawyer. In July 2019, the Vitebsk Regional Court sentenced him to capital punishment.

In 2020, a petition was filed with the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the sentence, which included allegations of torture in the penitentiaries, as well as the denial of access to legal assistance, and an unfair trial.

The Committee has repeatedly sent requests to Belarus to suspend the execution of the death penalty. None of these requests have received a response from the Committee.

Some time ago, the Vitebsk Regional Court briefed Pavlov's family that the death sentence had been carried out, but did not provide information about the date of execution or the place of burial, human rights activists said.

Belarus remains the only country in Europe and Central Asia that applies the death penalty. The country's leadership has repeatedly called for a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step toward imposing a legal ban on the death penalty.