The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2021 it to consider and take steps towards abolition of the death penalty, and partially accepted a recommendation to consider a moratorium on executions.146 On 29 October 2020, the OSCE Rapporteur’s Report under the Moscow Mechanism on Alleged Human Rights Violations related to the Presidential Elections of 9 August 2020 in Belarus included recommendations to, “establish a moratorium on the death penalty and work on its full abolition.”147 The European Parliament, also expressed concerns about the retention of the death penalty in Belarus, stating in November 2020, that it “strongly condemns the ongoing application of the death penalty and calls for its immediate and permanent abolition and, pending this, a moratorium on capital punishment and an effective right to appeal against death penalty sentences.”148 However, when faced with calls to abolish the death penalty, representatives of the Belarussian authorities refer to the “will of the people”, referring to a national referendum conducted in 1996. The President has stated that abolishing capital punishment can only be decided through a national referendum.149 Both the UN Special Rapporteur and human rights activists and academics have raised concerns regarding the use of a referendum for this issue.150 Reportedly, the number of people who support this punishment is, in any case, decreasing.151 146 See Matrix of recommendations here and: Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the State under review, A/HRC/46/5/Add.1, 5 March 2021. 147 On 17 September 2020 the Moscow Mechanism of the human dimension of OSCE was invoked by 17 participating States with regard to credible reports of human rights violations before, during and after the Presidential election of 9 August 2020 in the Republic of Belarus. Due to the decision of Belarus not to appoint a second expert the author of this report has been appointed as a single rapporteur. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) facilitated the mission by providing administrative and logistical support to the rapporteur. In particular, it opened a channel for communications to the rapporteur under the Moscow Mechanism through which the rapporteur received more than 700 submissions. Wolfgang Benedek, OSCE Rapporteur’s Report under the Moscow Mechanism on Alleged Human Rights Violations related to the Presidential Elections of 9 August 2020 in Belarus, 29 October 2020, section B, pp. 4–7. 148 European Parliament, “The continuous violations of human rights in Belarus, in particular the murder of Raman Bandarenka”, RC-B9–0389/2020, 26 November 2020. 149 Situation of human rights in Belarus, op. cit., note 144, para. 23. 150 Ibid. 151 BBC, “Воля одного человека”. Как в Беларуси казнят осужденных и что происходит с их семьями”, [The Will of One Man: How convicts are executed in Belarus and what happens to their families], 15 May 2020. 39