Belarusian democratic forces adopt a memorandum to abolish the death penalty in Belarus

The Belarusian democratic forces have taken an additional step toward aligning their vision of a future Belarus with European human rights standards by adopting a Memorandum on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Belarus.

The document was passed by the Coordination Council on 17 June 2025 and supported by the United Transitional Cabinet and the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The Memorandum demonstrates a unified commitment of the democratic forces to ending capital punishment in Belarus in all cases and under all circumstances.

The Memorandum reaffirms that the death penalty constitutes an inhuman and degrading treatment, incompatible with human dignity. It also states inter alia that the capital punishment does not deter crime, countering the widespread narrative of the proponents of the death penalty in Belarus. It also raises concerns on the recent amendments to the criminal legislation that broadened the scope of the application of the death penalty in this country.

The death penalty has no place in a future democratic Belarus.

The democratic forces declare their commitment to enact the necessary legal changes, including changes to the Constitution, to abolish the death penalty, as well as take all the steps to raise public awareness on the abolition process.

The adoption of this Memorandum stems from discussions held at the seminar organized by the Council of Europe in Warsaw on 5 March 2025 within the framework of the Contact Group between the Council of Europe and Belarusian democratic forces and civil society.

The aim of this seminar was to examine political, social and legal challenges linked to the abolition of the death penalty, and to discuss potential next steps to prepare the ground for the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus, which is the only country in Europe still applying this inhuman and degrading treatment.

With this Memorandum, Belarusian democratic forces speak with one voice: the death penalty has no place in a future democratic Belarus.

Source: coe.int, Staff, June 19, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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