The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2019 submission by Belarus of its fifth periodic report to the UN Human Rights Committee during the reporting period.175 There were a number of occasions in which Belarus engaged with international organizations and NGOs to address the situation of the death penalty in Belarus. In April 2018, the Council of Europe organized an event in Minsk entitled “Legal aspects of the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus” together with a working group studying the death penalty within the Belarus National Assembly.176 Representatives of civil society were also present, including Viasna.177 According to Viasna, there were hints from government officials about another referendum on the abolition of the death penalty, although Viasna experts highlighted that most lawmakers and officials are already in favour of abolition and should lead the way.178 On 10 October 2018, World Day against the Death Penalty, the Chairperson of the Standing Commission on International Affairs of the Lower House of the Belarusian Parliament participated in debates led by the PACE Legal Affairs Committee, together with civil society organizations.179 On 28 November 2018, the Chairperson of the Standing Commission on Human Rights, National Relations and Mass Media of the Lower House of the Belarusian Parliament was present at the 11th International Conference of Ministers of Justice “A world without the death penalty”, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio.180 On 9 October 2018, Interfax-Religion reported that His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, spoke about introducing a moratorium on the death penalty.181 He stated that the death penalty can deter people from committing crimes but that he also believes a moratorium on 175  Anaïs Marin, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, op. cit., note 47, para. 16; Human Rights Committee, Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Belarus, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/BLR/CO/5, 22 November 2018, para. 2. 176  The full name of the group is: Working Group of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on the Study of Death Penalty as a Measure of Punishment Applied in the Republic of Belarus. “Abolition of death penalty discussed in Minsk”, Council of Europe newsroom, 18 April 2018, <https://www.coe.int/en/web/national-implementation/-/abolition-of-death-penalty-discussed-in-minsk>. 177  “Time to act towards true abolition of the death penalty, say HRDs”, Viasna, 19 April 2018, <http://spring96.org/en/news/89697>. 178  Ibid. 179  House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, 11 October 2018, <http:// www.house.gov.by/en/news-en/view/9-11-october-2018-valery-voronetsky-chairperson-of-the-standing-commission-on-international-affairs-of-the-58650-2018>. 180  House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, 29 November 2018, <http:// house.gov.by/en/news-en/view/on-27-november-2018-andrei-naumovich-chairperson-of-the-standing-commissionof-the-house-of-representatives-59251-2018/> 181  «Белорусская церковь выступает за мораторий на смертную казнь” [Belarussian church speaks in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty], Interfax Religion, 5 October 2018, <http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=70882>. 37