The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2018 In a statement on 24 July 2017, the General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty and the Rapporteur on the situation in Belarus of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) denounced the two death sentences handed down in Belarus. They stated that “the Parliamentary Assembly has been ceaselessly affirming its absolute opposition to capital punishment, which it regards as an act of torture and inhuman and degrading punishment, and undeniably the most serious of all human rights violations.” They also called on the Belarusian authorities to urgently introduce a moratorium on executions and noted that “nothing in the Belarusian Constitution or legislation would prevent President Lukashenka or the Parliament from taking this step. A moratorium is simply a question of political will.” 21 Viktar Liotau, 30 years old, was found guilty of deliberate murder committed with particular cruelty. Liotau murdered three of his cellmates in different prisons. After the third murder, Liotau was sentenced to death on 22 September 2017 by the Vitebsk Regional Court.22 According to information provided in response to the 2018 ODIHR questionnaire, the verdict came into legal force on 6 October 2017, due to the fact that Liotau did not appeal the decision or apply for clemency.23 On 9 February 2018, the Delegation of the EU to Belarus issued a statement in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Belarus reiterating that capital punishment violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and called for its abolition.24 21  “Abolition of death penalty in Belarus, simply a question of political will”, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 24 July 2017, <http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/News/News-View-EN.asp?newsid=6743&lang=2&cat=>. Belarus is not a member State to the Council of Europe (CoE). However, all 47 CoE member States are also OSCE participating States. In addition, the OSCE participating States of Canada, Holy See and United States are CoE Observer States. It is therefore assumed that statements of the CoE, including its Parliamentary Assembly, reflect the views of a vast majority of OSCE participating States. 22  “Local EU Statement on a Death Sentence in Belarus”, European External Action Service, 9 February 2018, <https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/belarus_en/39626/Local%20EU%20Statement%20on%20a%20Death%20 Sentence%20in%20Belarus>, (hereafter, “Local EU Statement on a Death Sentence in Belarus”, European External Action Service, 9 February 2018). 23  During a court hearing in a different case, a fellow death row prisoner alleged that Viktar Lyotav and Aliaksei Mikhalenia (convicted on 17 March 2017; see, “The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2017”, OSCE/ODIHR, op. cit., note 6), were moved out of the prison cell that he shared with them on the night of the 16May 2018, and probably executed; see: “Неофициально. В Беларуси расстреляли двух «смертников» — Алексея Михаленю и Виктора Лётова”, Naviny.by Белорусские новости, 29 мая 2018, <https://naviny.by/ new/20180529/1527585573-neoficialno-v-belarusi-rasstrelyali-dvuh-smertnikov-alekseya-mihalenyu-i>. See also: “Зарезал в колонии педофила, а на суде попросил расстрел – что известно о новом смертнике”, Наша Нива nn.by, 31 января 2018, <https://nn.by/?c=ar&i=204077&lang=ru>. 24  “Local EU Statement on a Death Sentence in Belarus”, European External Action Service, 9 February 2018, op. cit., note 23. 11