A/HRC/23/52 • Decree No. 9 on additional measures for the development of the wood processing industry, restricting the right of employees to terminating their employment • Decree No.2, introducing restrictive amendments to decree No.1 of 16 January 2009 on State registration and liquidation (termination of activities) of economic entities • Draft legislation introduced to amend the laws on national and local assemblies, and on the activities of political parties and other public associations. 41. In early 2013, plans were announced to prepare 30 draft laws that year, including bills to amend the Election Code, the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Administrative Violations Code, the code of Execution Procedure for Administrative Violations, and a draft law on the State border of Belarus. 25 IV. Human rights concerns A. The right to life and the death penalty 42. Belarus retains the death penalty for certain crimes during times of peace and war. Executions are carried out by a gunshot to the back of the head. There is a lack of transparency about persons held on death row, and an inadequate procedure for appeals. Annual statistics on the use of the death penalty are not available, nor are the names of most of those who have been already executed. Those facing the death penalty, and their relatives, are not informed of the scheduled date of execution; following the execution, the relatives are not informed of where the body is buried. 43. At the time of reporting, Uladzlau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau were the last two known individuals to have been executed, in March 2012. In 2011, both were sentenced to death for the terrorist attack of 11 April 2011 in the Minsk metro. During the trial, Mr. Kavalyou (Kovalev) withdrew his confession, which he claimed had been obtained under duress.26 44. The above-mentioned executions were held despite the issuance by the Human Rights Committee of interim protection measures requesting that the executions be suspended while it considered the appeals of the two individuals. The bodies of the two were not released to their relatives, nor was information provided on the burial site. A death certificate received and a letter dated 16 March 2012 from the Supreme Court of Belarus informed Mrs. Kavalyou (Kovaleva) that her son had been executed. In October 2012, the Human Rights Committee found that there had been violations of the right to life, the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial and access to an effective judicial review, as well as inhuman treatment with regard to his family. 27 The Committee highlighted the fact that Belarus was under an obligation to prevent similar violations in the future, including by amending article 175, paragraph 5 of the Criminal Executive Code in accordance with article 7 of the Covenant. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that Belarus systematically dismisses the Committee‟s views, which is particularly worrying in cases of appeals from individuals on death row. In the period 2010 – 2012, five executions were held, even though the Committee had requested, in accordance with rule 92 of its rules of procedure, interim measures of protection. In all five 25 26 27 10 Belarusian Telegraph Agency, “Unarmed service bill in Belarus in 2013”, 3 January 2013, available from http://news.belta.by/en/news/president?id=703258. A/HRC/20/8, para. 71. CCPR/C/106/D/2120/2011.