The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area On 6 April 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued its Views on the case of Vyacheslav Dunayev, a Russian national imprisoned in Tajikistan.30 Mr. Dunayev was originally held on death row following sentencing in October 2002. Due to the UN Human Rights Committee’s intervention in 2003, the Supreme Court of Tajikistan commuted his sentence in November 2003 to 25 years in prison. In a decision of April 2009, the Committee asked for compensation for Mr. Dunayev and criminal proceedings against those who caused him suffering while in custody. The complainant alleged he had been repeatedly tortured in detention. The Committee further asked for either a retrial with guarantees enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or Mr. Dunayev’s release from prison. Until recently, only the Administration of the President was responsible for ensuring compliance with decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee. Following the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman on 27 May 2009, this body was also entrusted with this responsibility.31 4. Retentionist States BELARUS During the reporting period, government officials have on several occasions publicly spoken in favour of limiting and, potentially, later abolishing the death penalty in the Republic of Belarus. The Prosecutor General of Belarus, for example, said at a press conference on 21 January 2009: “If we are moving towards joining the Council of Europe, we should stick to the rules of this organization.”32 In a letter to Amnesty International in November 2008, the Deputy Minister of the Interior also stated that recent legislative changes and the handing down of life sentences as an alternative to the death penalty were evidence of “an irreversible movement towards gradual rejection of the death penalty”.33 The Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus told a press conference in Strasbourg on 23 June 30  UN Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 1195/2003, CCPR/C/95/D/1195/2003, 6 April 2009. 31  Response from the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, op.cit., note 29. 32  “Grigory Vasilevich: possible abolition of capital punishment as Belarus joins Council of Europe”, Belarusian Telegraph Agency, 21 January 2009, <http://news.belta.by/en/news/politics/?id=324457>. 33  “Ending Executions in Europe. Towards Abolition of the Death Penalty in Belarus”, Amnesty International, p. 14, 26 November 2008, <http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR49/001/2009/en/d3b9c42d-a356-4dee-ad165b05842ba01a/eur490012009en.pdf>. 7