84-604: The Bobr is a river in Belarus . It is a left tributary of the Berezina . The 124 kilometres (77 mi) long Bobr has a drainage basin of 2,190 square kilometres (850 sq mi). This article related to a river in Belarus is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Belarus in Europe (dark grey) – [ Legend ] Belarus , officially
168-597: A core part of the Belarusian national identity, with Belarus continuing to refer to itself as the "partisan republic" since the 1970s. Following the war, many former Soviet partisans entered positions of government, among them Pyotr Masherov and Kirill Mazurov , both of whom were First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. Until the late 1970s, the Belarusian government was almost entirely composed of former partisans. Numerous pieces of media have been made about
252-523: A disputed election took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed to Poland. Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in 1943 condemned the annexation of the Republic by Poland, as well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski 's confederation plans by Polish ally. In January 1919, a part of Belarus under Bolshevik Russian control
336-518: A national consciousness. In western Belarus under Polish control, Byelorussia became commonly used in the regions of Białystok and Grodno during the interwar period. The term Byelorussia (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) was used officially only until 1991. Officially, the full name of the country is Republic of Belarus ( Рэспубліка Беларусь , Республика Беларусь , Respublika Belarus ). In Russia,
420-591: A quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations and the Soviet Union. The republic was home to a widespread and diverse anti-Nazi insurgent movement which dominated politics until well into the 1970s, overseeing Belarus' transformation from an agrarian to an industrial economy. The parliament of the republic proclaimed
504-502: A staggering quarter of the prewar population . In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million. The Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered. The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971. Belarus was also hit hard economically, losing around half of its economic resources. The borders of the Byelorussian SSR and Poland were redrawn, in accord with
588-563: A vast East Slavic state ruled by the Rurikids . Upon the death of its ruler Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, the state split into independent principalities. The Battle on the Nemiga River in 1067 was one of the more notable events of the period, the date of which is considered the founding date of Minsk . Many early principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by a major Mongol invasion in
672-552: Is landlocked , relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests. The country lies within two ecoregions: Sarmatic mixed forests and Central European mixed forests . Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus. Three major rivers run through the country: the Neman , the Pripyat , and the Dnieper . The Neman flows westward towards
756-437: Is in the transitional zone between continental climates and maritime climates . Natural resources include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite , dolomite ( limestone ), marl , chalk, sand, gravel, and clay. About 70% of the radiation from neighboring Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster entered Belarusian territory, and about a fifth of Belarusian land (principally farmland and forests in
840-767: Is not known, since the last documents released by the Belarusian Government were in 2006. Other sources have published somewhat different data: BelaPAN records 278 executions from 1992 to 2010 with two additional men under death sentence in September 2010. Due to some of the practices of the MVD , such as the non-disclosure of the graves of the executed, this is a violation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe protocol to make information about capital punishment open to
924-779: Is the capital and largest city ; it is administered separately as a city with special status. Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus' , the Principality of Polotsk , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amid
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#17330945423801008-400: Is then blindfolded and taken to a nearby room, where two staffers force him to kneel in front of a bullet backstop. The executioner then shoots the convict in the back of his head with a PB-9 pistol equipped with a suppressor . According to Alkayev, "The whole procedure, starting with the announcement about denied appeals and ending with the gunshot, lasts no longer than two minutes". After
1092-657: The Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, but in 1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a client state, the Belarusian Central Council . During World War II, Belarus was home to a variety of guerrilla movements , including Jewish, Polish, and Soviet partisans. Belarusian partisan formations formed a large part of the Soviet partisans , and in the modern day these partisans have formed
1176-469: The Armed Forces of Belarus ". On March 9, 2023, President Alexander Lukashenko signed a bill into law which allows the use of the death penalty on officials and military servicemen convicted of high treason . Before being executed, all prisoners on death row are transferred to Minsk Detention Center No. 1 (СИЗО, or SIZO No. 1 ), in the country's capital Minsk . The method used to carry out
1260-568: The Bandkeramik predominated in what now constitutes Belarus, and the Cimmerians as well as other pastoralists roamed through the area by 1,000 BC. The Zarubintsy culture later became widespread at the beginning of the 1st millennium . In addition, remains from the Dnieper–Donets culture were found in Belarus and parts of Ukraine . The region was first permanently settled by Baltic tribes in
1344-872: The Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church was formed by the Poles to bring Orthodox Christians into the See of Rome . The Belarusian church entered into a full communion with the Latin Church through the Union of Brest in 1595, while keeping its Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language. The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland by Imperial Russia, Prussia , and Austria . The Belarusian territories acquired by
1428-641: The Belarusian People's Republic . Immediately afterwards, the Polish–Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic exists as a government in exile ever since then; in fact, it is currently the world's longest serving government in exile. The Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state under
1512-527: The Belarusian Popular Front campaigned for early elections later in the year, two years before they were scheduled. By May of that year, about 383,000 signatures had been collected for a petition to hold the referendum, which was 23,000 more than legally required to be put to a referendum at the time. Despite this, the meeting of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus to ultimately decide
1596-623: The Belarusian minority was no exception. The polonization drive was inspired and influenced by the Polish National Democracy , led by Roman Dmowski , who advocated refusing Belarusians and Ukrainians the right for a free national development. A Belarusian organization, the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union , was banned in 1927, and opposition to Polish government was met with state repressions. Nonetheless, compared to
1680-798: The CIS , the CSTO , the EAEU , the OSCE , and the Non-Aligned Movement . It has shown no aspirations of joining the European Union but maintains a bilateral relationship with the bloc , and also participates in the Baku Initiative . The name Belarus is closely related with the term Belaya Rus' , i.e., White Rus' . There are several claims to the origin of the name White Rus' . An ethno-religious theory suggests that
1764-834: The Civil War , ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR , which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet War (1918–1921), Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland , and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about
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#17330945423801848-612: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe condemned "in the strongest possible terms the executions in Belarus and deplores the fact that Belarus is currently the only country in Europe where the death penalty is enforced and, moreover, is regularly and widely enforced". Belarus is the only European country to have carried out executions in the 21st century. European Council members suggested in 2001 that Belarus abolish capital punishment before it can apply for membership in
1932-535: The Republic of Belarus , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe . It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) with a population of 9.1 million. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions . Minsk
2016-650: The Soviet Union after the war ended in 1921, and the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet agricultural and economic policies, including collectivization and five-year plans for the national economy , led to famine and political repression. The western part of modern Belarus remained part of the Second Polish Republic . After an early period of liberalization, tensions between increasingly nationalistic Polish government and various increasingly separatist ethnic minorities started to grow, and
2100-568: The Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk, and Mogilev) had been referred to as White Rus' . A fourth theory suggests that the color white was associated with the west, and Belarus was the western part of Rus' in the 9th to 13th centuries. The name Rus' is often conflated with its Latin forms Russia and Ruthenia , thus Belarus is often referred to as White Russia or White Ruthenia . The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature ;
2184-466: The UN Security Council statement condemning "the apparent terrorist attack" intimating the possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing. Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election , in which Lukashenko sought a sixth term in office. Neighbouring countries Poland and Lithuania do not recognize Lukashenko as
2268-491: The sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Belarus gained independence on 25 August 1991. Following the adoption of a new constitution in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected Belarus's first president in the country's first and only free election after independence, serving as president ever since. Lukashenko heads a highly centralized authoritarian government. Belarus ranks low in international measurements of freedom of
2352-429: The state-owned enterprise industrial sector. Norway and Japan have joined the sanctions regime which aims to isolate Belarus from the international supply chain. Most major Belarusian banks are also under restrictions. Belarus lies between latitudes 51° and 57° N , and longitudes 23° and 33° E . Its extension from north to south is 560 km (350 mi), from west to east is 650 km (400 mi). It
2436-477: The verdict of a court of law. As per the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus , capital punishment can be imposed for the following acts: Most of the death penalty convictions were for murder committed under aggravating circumstances. Court proceedings involving capital cases must involve a "collegial consideration," consisting of one judge and two People's assessors. The People's assessors are chosen from
2520-504: The (larger) Ukrainian minority , Belarusians were much less politically aware and active, and thus suffered fewer repressions than the Ukrainians. In 1935, after the death of Piłsudski, a new wave of repressions was released upon the minorities, with many Orthodox churches and Belarusian schools being closed. Use of the Belarusian language was discouraged. Belarusian leadership was sent to Bereza Kartuska prison . In September 1939,
2604-482: The 13th century, but the lands of modern-day Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . There are no sources of military seizure, but the annals affirm the alliance and united foreign policy of Polotsk and Lithuania for decades. Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an economic, political, and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian lands. Of
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2688-454: The 1919-proposed Curzon Line . Joseph Stalin implemented a policy of Sovietization to isolate the Byelorussian SSR from Western influences . This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Byelorussian SSR government. After Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued his predecessor's cultural hegemony program, stating, "The sooner we all start speaking Russian,
2772-642: The 3rd century. Around the 5th century, the area was taken over by the Slavs. The takeover was partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts, but their gradual assimilation into Slavic culture was peaceful. Invaders from Asia , among whom were the Huns and Avars , swept through c. 400–600 AD, but were unable to dislodge the Slavic presence. In the 9th century, the territory of modern Belarus became part of Kievan Rus' ,
2856-1003: The Baltic Sea and the Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the Black Sea . The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at 345 metres (1,132 ft), and the lowest point is on the Neman River at 90 m (295 ft). The average elevation of Belarus is 160 m (525 ft) above sea level . The climate features mild to cold winters, with January minimum temperatures ranging from −4 °C (24.8 °F ) in southwest ( Brest ) to −8 °C (17.6 °F) in northeast ( Vitebsk ), and cool and moist summers with an average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F). Belarus has an average annual rainfall of 550 to 700 mm (21.7 to 27.6 in). The country
2940-562: The Belarusian partisans, including the 1985 film Come and See and the works of authors Ales Adamovich and Vasil Bykaŭ . The German occupation in 1941–1944 and war on the Eastern Front devastated Belarus. During that time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died, and of those some 810,000 were combatants—some foreign. This figure represented
3024-654: The Byelorussian SSR took place. Though the opposition candidates, mostly associated with the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front , took only 10% of the seats, Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic . Wide-scale strikes erupted in April 1991. With the support of the Communist Party of Byelorussia ,
3108-554: The Council. Belarus (as the Byelorussian SSR ) signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973. This convention, however, does not abolish the death penalty, but it imposes certain conditions on its implementation and use. On December 7, 2022, Belarusian lawmakers approved a bill which punishes high treason among officials and military personnel with the death penalty . The bill also includes prosecution for "spreading false information discrediting
3192-662: The Information and Analytical Center with the Administration of the President took over this undertaking. The Center has released its report, "Public Opinion about the Activity of the Organs of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus," which included the questions about death penalty and the attitudes of Belarusian citizens about abolition of capital punishment. That poll showed only 4.5% of
3276-598: The Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In 1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded in a revolt , led by Konstanty Kalinowski (also known as Kastus). After the failed revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic to Belarusian in 1864 and no documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905. During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , Belarus first declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming
3360-576: The Russian Empire under the reign of Catherine II were included into the Belarusian Governorate (Russian: Белорусское генерал-губернаторство ) in 1796 and held until their occupation by the German Empire during World War I . Under Nicholas I and Alexander III the national cultures were repressed with policies of Polonization replaced by Russification which included
3444-455: The Soviet Union in 1941. The defense of Brest Fortress was the first major battle of Operation Barbarossa . The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained under German occupation until 1944. The German Generalplan Ost called for the extermination, expulsion, or enslavement of most or all Belarusians to provide more living space in the East for Germans. Most of Western Belarus became part of
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3528-500: The Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland, following the German invasion of Poland two weeks earlier which marked the beginning of World War II . The territories of Western Belorussia were annexed and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People's Council officially took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on 28 October 1939 in Białystok . Nazi Germany invaded
3612-479: The Supreme Council at the time and was largely opposed to political and economic reform, with allegations that some of the deputies opposed Belarusian independence. A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus . A two-round election for the presidency on 24 June 1994 and 10 July 1994 catapulted the formerly unknown Alexander Lukashenko into national prominence. He garnered 45% of
3696-420: The United Nations, have criticised the methods Belarus uses when carrying out capital punishment. The use of capital punishment is one factor keeping the country out of the Council of Europe . Article 24 of the Constitution of Belarus states that: Until its abolition, the death sentence may be applied in accordance with the law as an exceptional penalty for especially grave crimes and only in accordance with
3780-492: The United States have all imposed sanctions against Belarus because of the rigged election and political oppression during the ongoing protests in the country. Further sanctions were imposed in 2022 following the country's role and complicity in the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Russian troops were allowed to stage part of the invasion from Belarusian territory. These include not only corporate offices and individual officers of government but also private individuals who work in
3864-460: The age of 18 at the time of the crime or over 65 at the time of sentencing have been exempt from capital punishment since January 2001. Those who are mentally ill may have their death sentence commuted. Under Article 84 of the Constitution, the president "may grant pardons to convicted citizens". From June 30, 2003, to June 30, 2005, President Alexander Lukashenko granted two pardons to death row inmates and denied one such request. In 2000,
3948-399: The chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother at " Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto " in 1381. The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey , who was known for his close contacts with the Russian royal court. During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used
4032-399: The country's name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991. Stanislav Shushkevich , the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, met with Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine on 8 December 1991 in Białowieża Forest to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States . In January 1992,
4116-426: The date for said referendum was delayed by six months. However, with no evidence to suggest such, the Supreme Council rejected the petition on the grounds of massive irregularities. Elections for the Supreme Council were set for March 1994. A new law on parliamentary elections failed to pass by 1993. Disputes over the referendum were accredited to the largely conservative Party of Belarusian Communists , which controlled
4200-404: The economy, with inflation reaching 108.7%. Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured. Two suspects, who were arrested within two days, confessed to being the perpetrators and were executed by shooting in 2012. The official version of events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of
4284-475: The execution of her son, and their subsequent persistent failure to notify her of the location of her son's grave amounts to inhuman treatment of the author, in violation of article 7 of the Covenant [prohibiting torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment]." The following is a rough estimate of the number of executions carried out since 1985, as per Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD): The exact number of people executed in Belarus
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#17330945423804368-411: The faster we shall build communism." Between Stalin's death in 1953 and 1980, Belarusian politics was dominated by former members of the Soviet partisans, including First Secretaries Kirill Mazurov and Pyotr Masherov. Mazurov and Masherov oversaw Belarus's rapid industrialisation and transformation from one of the Soviet Union's poorest republics into one of its richest. In 1986, the Byelorussian SSR
4452-410: The following opinion of the execution process in Belarus after the mother of subsequently executed prisoner Anton Bondarenko petitioned the Committee to spare her son's life: "[the process has] the effect of intimidating or punishing families by intentionally leaving them in a state of uncertainty and mental distress…[and that the] authorities' initial failure to notify the author of the scheduled date for
4536-424: The former lands of Kievan Rus' , including the territories of modern-day Belarus and Ukraine . On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland were joined in a personal union through a marriage of their rulers . This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin . In
4620-413: The general population, similar to the jury system. Over the years, the number of offenses eligible for the death penalty and the type of convicts eligible for it have been reduced. In 1993, four economic crimes that would have resulted in death sentences during the Soviet era were removed from the list of capital offenses by a vote of parliament and were replaced by prison terms without parole. Although
4704-413: The legitimate president of Belarus and the Lithuanian government has allotted a residence for main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other members of the Belarusian opposition in Vilnius . Neither is Lukashenko recognized as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom or the United States. The European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, and
4788-422: The name "Belarus". Despite significant efforts, the state ceased to exist, primarily because the territory was continually dominated by the Imperial German Army and the Imperial Russian Army in World War I , and then the Bolshevik Red Army . It existed from only 1918 to 1919 but created prerequisites for the formation of a Belarusian state. The choice of name was probably based on the fact that core members of
4872-440: The name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had been populated mostly by Slavs who had been Christianized early, as opposed to Black Ruthenia , which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts . An alternative explanation for the name comments on the white clothing the local Slavic population wears. A third theory suggests that the old Rus' lands that were not conquered by
4956-491: The names of the Yotvingians . Another hypothesis connects the word with the Gothic Kingdom that occupied parts of the territory of modern Belarus and Ukraine in the 4th and 5th centuries. The self-naming of Goths was Gutans and Gytos , which are close to Gudija. Yet another hypothesis is based on the idea that Gudija in Lithuanian means "the other" and may have been used historically by Lithuanians to refer to any people who did not speak Lithuanian. From 5000 to 2000 BC,
5040-419: The naturally regenerating forest 2% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 16% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership . Belarus borders five countries: Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to
5124-402: The newly formed government were educated in tsarist universities, with corresponding emphasis on the ideology of West-Russianism. The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania to the historical confederacy state (it was also supposed to create Lithuania Upper and Lithuania Lower). The republic was created in 1920 following
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#17330945423805208-408: The press and civil liberties . It has continued several Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy . Belarus is the only European country that continues to use capital punishment . In 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union State . The country has been a member of the United Nations since its founding and has joined
5292-520: The principalities held by the duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become the Belarusians . During this time, the duchy was involved in several military campaigns, including fighting on the side of Poland against the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410; the joint victory allowed the duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of Eastern Europe . The Muscovites , led by Ivan III of Russia , began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to incorporate
5376-407: The public. The last confirmed execution was carried out on July 16, 2022; Viktar Skrundzik was executed for killing two seniors, and attempting to murder an 85-year-old woman in Slutsk in Minsk Oblast. In a 1996 referendum , one of the seven questions asked was about abolishing the death penalty. According to the results of this referendum, 80.44% of Belarusians were against abolition. However, at
5460-442: The respondents were against capital punishment in all cases, 79.5% considered capital punishment appropriate punishment for at least some grave crimes and about 10% had difficulty answering these questions or offered no opinion. There have been several steps taken toward reducing the imposition of the death penalty in Belarus. The Law of the Republic of Belarus of December 31, 1997, added Article 22, which allows for "imprisonment for
5544-435: The return to Orthodox Christianity of Belarusian Uniates . Belarusian language was banned in schools while in neighboring Samogitia primary school education with Samogitian literacy was allowed. In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited the use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications, and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under
5628-443: The sentence is execution by shooting . The executioner is a member of the "committee for the execution of sentences," which also chooses the area where the execution will take place. According to the book The Death Squad by Oleg Alkayev [ ru ; be ; be-tarask ; de ] , on the day of execution the convict is transported to a secret location where he is told by officials that all appeals have been rejected. The convict
5712-527: The sentence is carried out, a prison doctor and other officials certify that the execution has been performed and a death certificate is prepared. The remains of the condemned are buried secretly, and the family is notified that the execution has taken place. Colonel Oleg Alkayev, a former director of SIZO No. 1, claimed that about 130 executions took place at the prison between December 1996 and May 2001, when he left Belarus to live in exile in Berlin , Germany. The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued
5796-591: The southeastern regions) was affected by radiation fallout. The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of caesium binders and rapeseed cultivation, which are meant to decrease soil levels of caesium-137 . In Belarus forest cover is around 43% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,767,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 7,780,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forests covered 6,555,600 hectares (ha), and planted forests covered 2,212,000 hectares (ha). Of
5880-414: The staged rebellion of soldiers of the 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under Lucjan Żeligowski . Centered on the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , Vilna ( Lithuanian : Vilnius , Polish : Wilno ), for 18 months the entity served as a buffer state between Poland , upon which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area. After a variety of delays,
5964-438: The state or against individuals. A few non-violent crimes can also be punishable by death. As of 2024 , Belarus is the only country in Europe that continues to carry out the death penalty. Executions are carried out by a single shot to the back of the head. Following a referendum on the issue, the Belarusian government took steps to change the way capital punishment is imposed and carried out. International organisations, such as
6048-582: The term of one's life (life imprisonment) as an alternative to capital punishment." Capital punishment has also since been restricted to men between the age of 18 and 65. On March 11, 2004, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus came to the conclusion that two articles of the Criminal Code were incompatible with the Constitution of Belarus . The Court stated that either the President or
6132-655: The term to describe the lands added from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The term Belorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия , the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я , Russia ) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire , and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great , Little , and White . This asserted that
6216-521: The territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term White Russia caused some confusion, as it was also the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks. During the period of the Byelorussian SSR, the term Byelorussia was embraced as part of
6300-469: The time of the referendum, the longest available prison sentence was 15 years. Since then the sentence of life imprisonment was introduced (in December 1997). There have not been more recent surveys to determine whether the change in maximum prison sentence affected public sentiment about the death penalty. More recently a parliamentary special working group announced plans to conduct a public opinion poll, but
6384-479: The total number of categories of crime qualifying for capital punishment declined during this time, Presidential Decree No. 21, issued on October 21, 1997, added "terrorism" to the list of capital offenses. When the Criminal Code was updated in 1999, the number of capital offenses was further reduced. This reduction was assisted by the introduction of life imprisonment in December 1997. Since March 1, 1994, women are ineligible for capital punishment and persons under
6468-456: The usage of Belorussia is still very common. In Lithuanian, besides Baltarusija (White Russia), Belarus is also called Gudija . The etymology of the word Gudija is not clear. By one hypothesis the word derives from the Old Prussian name Gudwa , which, in turn, is related to the form Żudwa , which is a distorted version of Sudwa, Sudovia. Sudovia , in its turn, is one of
6552-547: The vote in the first round and 80% in the second, defeating Vyacheslav Kebich who received 14% of the vote. The elections were the first and only free elections in Belarus after independence. The 2000s saw some economic disputes between Belarus and its primary economic partner, Russia. The first one was the 2004 Russia–Belarus energy dispute when Russian energy giant Gazprom ceased the import of gas into Belarus because of price disagreements. The 2007 Russia–Belarus energy dispute centered on accusations by Gazprom that Belarus
6636-608: The west, Russia to the north and the east, and Ukraine to the south. Treaties in 1995 and 1996 demarcated Belarus's borders with Latvia and Lithuania, and Belarus ratified a 1997 treaty establishing the Belarus-Ukraine border in 2009. Belarus and Lithuania ratified final border demarcation documents in February 2007. Capital punishment in Belarus Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Belarus . At least one execution
6720-516: The years following the union, the process of gradual Polonization of both Lithuanians and Ruthenians gained steady momentum. In culture and social life, both the Polish language and Catholicism became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language, with Ruthenian being banned from administrative use. However, the Ruthenian peasants continued to speak their native language. Also,
6804-516: Was carried out in the country in 2022. Also known as an Exceptional Measure of Punishment ( Russian : Исключительная Мера Наказания, ИМН ), the death penalty has been a part of the country's legal system since gaining independence from the Soviet Union on August 25, 1991. The current national constitution prescribes this punishment for "grave crimes." Later laws have clarified the specific crimes for which capital punishment can be used. The death penalty can be imposed for crimes that occur against
6888-507: Was contaminated with most (70%) of the nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant located 16 km beyond the border in the neighboring Ukrainian SSR . By the late 1980s, political liberalization led to a national revival, with the Belarusian Popular Front becoming a major pro-independence force. In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of
6972-613: Was declared the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB) for just two months, but then merged with the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) to form the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (SSR LiB), which lost control of its territories by August. The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was created in July 1920. The contested lands were divided between Poland and
7056-490: Was siphoning oil off of the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Belarus. Two years later the so-called Milk War , a trade dispute, started when Russia wanted Belarus to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and through a series of events ended up banning the import of dairy products from Belarus. In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's centralized control of
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