A/HRC/32/48 92. The Special Rapporteur draws attention to the fact that no progress has been made in solving outstanding cases of the enforced disappearance of political opponents of the President. These cases, which although dating back to 1999 and 2000 (see A/HRC/29/43, para. 66) are still unsolved, concern the testified abduction of prominent Belarusian opposition politician Viktar Hanchar and his business associate Anatol Krasouski, of Yury Zakharanka, the former Minister of the Interior, and Dmitri Zavadski, a cameraman. The issue was raised again during the second universal periodic review of Belarus (A/HRC/30/3, para. 129.5) amidst serious concerns with regard to the accountability of former or current law enforcement members and on impunity that the police authorities seem to enjoy. 93. On 12 August 2015, police in Mikashevichy detained Leanid Dubanosau, who was gathering signatures for presidential contender Tatsiana Karatkevich, on the grounds that he was intoxicated. The activist was forced to undergo a medical examination, which showed that he was sober at the time.13 94. On 9 September 2015, police officers in Jeĺsk, Homieĺ region, detained Aliaksandr Rybachenka, an activist for the European Belarus opposition movement, for trying to photograph flyers calling for a boycott of the elections. The activist was held in the police station for several hours, and eventually released without charge.14 95. On 1 August 2015, police officers prevented the holding of a rock concert near Minsk, and detained young people, including girls, using force and non-lethal weapons. 96. On 6 November 2015, Tamara Siarhei, leader of the civil initiative “Against lawlessness in the courts and Prosecutor’s offices”, who attempted to deliver a petition to President Lukashenka, was detained at the central railway station in Minsk.15 97. Arbitrary arrest and detention have been the subject of many recommendations of various United Nations human rights mechanisms, for at least the past six years. For example, the Committee on the Rights of the Child concluded that the authorities of Belarus should investigate the complaints about arbitrary detention of women in the context of the Presidential elections on 19 December 2010 (CRC/C/BLR/CO/3-4). Similarly, at the first universal periodic review of Belarus, States called upon the Government of Belarus to investigate, identify and punish perpetrators of harassment, arbitrary detention and torture of government opponents (A/HRC/15/16, para. 98.23). During the second universal periodic review of the State, the Working Group addressed the issue of the arbitrary detention of journalists, and called upon the Government to abandon that practice (see A/HRC/30/3, para. 129). In 2014, the Special Rapporteur recommended that all detainees be informed promptly of the reason for their detention and any charges against them, and that regular access to a lawyer of their choice and to their families be granted (A/HRC/26/44, para. 139 (i)). H. Death penalty 98. Belarus remains the only State in Europe to enforce the death penalty. The authorities do not release information on the number of executions, which reportedly are carried out by shooting. Prisoners and relatives are not informed when the execution is due, and the relatives receive no prior notification. The bodies are not returned to relatives, but 13 14 15 16 Viasna Human Rights Center, “Collector of signatures for Tatsiana Karatkevich detained in Mikaševičy”, 13 August 2015. Viasna, “European Belarus activist detained in Jelsk”. 21 September 2015. Viasna, “Human Rights Situation in Belarus: November 2015”, 2 December 2015.