The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area Retentionist States BELARUS In Belarus, the death penalty is retained in law and in practice. National legislation stipulates its application as an exceptional punishment for particularly serious crimes. During the reporting period, three death sentences were handed down for premeditated murder.59 The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, at its 22nd annual session in Istanbul from 29 June to 3 July 2013, adopted a resolution calling on Belarus to withdraw all current death sentences and abolish the death penalty.60 In January 2013, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Petr Miklashevich, stressed that the question of a moratorium on the death penalty in Belarus remains open and that the Court is ready to consider the issue if relevant requests are made.61 The Belarusian authorities have stressed the importance of public opinion when considering the issue of the abolition of the death penalty. In its response to ODIHR’s questionnaire, Belarus restated the outcome of a 1996 referendum, when approximately 80 per cent of the voters voted against the abolition of the death penalty.62 A recent opinion poll carried out by Penal Reform International and SATIO Group, a research and consulting company in Belarus, shows that public support for the death penalty is declining. Among 1,100 respondents aged between 18 and 75 interviewed across Belarus, 63.8 per cent supported the death penalty and 31 per cent opposed capital punishment.63 59  Response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty from the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Belarus to the OSCE, received on 6 August 2013. According to this response, in practice, from 1981 to 2010, the death penalty was imposed only for murder with aggravating circumstances. In 2011, for the first time in many years, capital punishment was applied for the crime of “terrorism”. 60  “Istanbul Declaration and Resolutions adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at the Twenty-Second Annual Session”, OSCE Parlimantary Assembly, 29 June-3 July 2013, Istanbul, <http://www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2013-istanbul-annual-session>. 61  “Вопрос о введении моратория на смертную казнь в Беларуси остается открытым – Миклашевич”, Белта [“The question of a moratorium on the death penalty in Belarus remains open”, Belta], 23 January 2013, <http:// www.belta.by/ru/all_news/society/Vopros-o-vvedenii-moratorija-na-smertnuju-kazn-v-Belarusi-ostaetsjaotkrytym---Miklashevich_i_621887.html>. According to the Belarus Response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty, in March 2004, the Constitutional Court considered compliance of the Criminal Code’s provisions on the death penalty with the Constitution and the State’s international commitments. The Court outlined the temporary character of capital punishment and stressed that the introduction of a moratorium or the full abolition of the death penalty are among the competencies of the President and the Parliament of the Republic of Belarus. 62  Belarus Response, op.cit., note 59. 63  Социологическое Исследование на тему: “Преступление и Наказание: Восприятие, Оценки, Отношение Общества”, Группа Компаний САТИО, Департамент Социологических и Маркетинговых Исследований [Sociological Study on “Crime and Punishment: Perception, Assessment, Public Attitude”, SATIO Group, Department of Sociological and Marketing Research], Minsk 2013. 19