18/03/2010 Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 18.03.2010 – “I am for dialogue with all the relevant parties, including with the Belarusian authorities. However, I do not believe that the Assembly should refrain from raising criticism or imposing conditions. A state which genuinely wants to engage with the Council of Europe cannot do so without accepting the rules of the game, and conditionality is one of them”, said Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC) PACE rapporteur on Belarus, speaking today in Paris.
Adressing PACE’s Political Affairs Committee, Mrs Hurskainen recalled that in June 2009 the Assembly recommended restoring the Special Guest Status of the Parliament of Belarus, provided that an immediate moratorium on the death penalty was introduced. “The authorities did not avail themselves of this opportunity; on the contrary, last summer two more people were sentenced to death,” she pointed out.
However, the rapporteur also welcomed the establishment of a working group on the issue of the death penalty in the Belarusian parliament and announced her intention to pay a fact-finding visit to the country, if possible before the summer, with a view to preparing a seminar in Minsk on the introduction of a moratorium on capital executions.
The Political Affairs Committee also decided to ask the Venice Commission to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the amendments introduced into the Belarusian electoral code in 2009 in order to assess if the electoral legislation has been brought into line with European standards.
The committee declassified Mrs Hurskainen‘s memorandum on the situation in the country.