The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2019 these executions at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting on 14 June 2018.169 These statements noted the secrecy surrounding the use of the death penalty in Belarus, emphasised its cruel, inhuman and degrading nature and called for the introduction of a moratorium as a step towards abolition. Two other prisoners, Siamion Berazhny and Ihar Hershankou, whose death sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2017, were reportedly executed on 19 November 2018.170 This was despite news on 15 June 2018 that the Supreme Court of Belarus had suspended the death sentences of these two prisoners while their appeals were under consideration.171 The PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty and the former rapporteur on the situation in Belarus had welcomed the suspension and review of these death sentences on 18 June 2018 and stated they hoped this would be progress towards a moratorium on executions and commutation of all death sentences.172 The PACE General Rapporteur and the Chairperson of the Political Affairs Committee strongly condemned the two executions in November.173 On 13 December 2018, the EU delegation to the OSCE as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway made statements at the OSCE Permanent Council pointing out their continued opposition to the death penalty and their concerns over the execution of these two individuals in Belarus, especially considering the lack of transparency surrounding their execution.174 Promising developments In OSCE forums, Belarus has consistently maintained that the death penalty is used rarely and for particularly serious crimes only. The country has also highlighted their engagement to promote the eventual abolition of the death penalty through actively encouraging public discussion. The UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus welcomed the 169  “Statement on the death penalty in the United States of America and Belarus”, OSCE Permanent Council, 14 June 2018, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/385170?download=true>; “EU statement on the Death Penalty”, OSCE Permanent Council, 14 June 2018, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/385182?download=true>. 170  Human Rights Center “Viasna”, “Human Rights Situation in Belarus: 2018 Analytical review”, op. cit., note 46, p. 9. 171  “Belarus: Unprecedented Supreme Court decision to suspend death sentences”, Amnesty International, 15 June 2018, <https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/belarus-unprecedented-supreme-court-decision-to-suspend-death-sentences/>. 172  “Rapporteurs welcome Belarus court decision to suspend and review death sentences”, Parliamentary Assembly, 18 June 2018, <http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/News/News-View-en.asp?newsid=7113&lang=2>. 173  “Yves Cruchten and Ria Oomen-Ruijten condemn executions in Belarus”, Parliamentary Assembly, 29 November 2018, <http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/News/News-View-en.asp?newsid=7283&lang=2>. 174  “Statement on the death penalty in the United States of America and Belarus”, OSCE Permanent Council, 13 December 2018, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/407276?download=true>, “EU Statement on the Death Penalty”, OSCE Permanent Council, 13 December 2018, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/407279?download=true>. 36