BELARUS STATISTICS Death sentences Official statistics were not provided. The Constitutional Court decision referred to above states that four people were sentenced to death in 2002. Executions Official statistics were not provided. The Head of the Committee for the Execution of Sentences has been reported as saying that five persons were executed in 2002.44 In its Concluding Observations on the fourth periodic report submitted by Belarus, the Human Rights Committee expressed its concern at the secrecy surrounding the procedures relating to the death penalty at all stages.45 INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS Pregnant women and children Women and persons who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime cannot be sentenced to death.46 Fair-trial guarantees In 2001, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers reported that: “the administration of justice, together with all its institutions, namely the judiciary, the prosecutorial service and the legal profession, are undermined and not perceived as separate and independent. The rule of law is therefore thwarted.”47 In 2000, the UN Committee against Torture expressed concern at the continued use of the death penalty in Belarus and the inadequate appeals procedure.48 44 45 46 47 48 “Five death-row inmates executed in 2002”, Charter 97, 27 January 2003. Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/79/Add.86, 19 November 1997, Paragraph 8. Article 59(2)(1), Criminal Code. In addition, Article 59(2)(3) also stipulates that men who are over the age of 65 at the time when the sentence is pronounced are exempt from the death penalty. Report on the mission to Belarus, E/CN.4/2001/65/Add.1, 8 February 2001. Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture, 20 November 2000. 19