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Belarus Europe Death penalty
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Testimonial

Belarus: “we’re still wondering where he is buried…”

// A series of testimonials for the 17th World day against the death penalty (2)

On 10 October 2019, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and abolitionist organisations around the world celebrate the 17th World Day Against the Death Penalty. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2019 is dedicated to children whose parents have been sentenced to death or executed. It is well-documented that the psychological and emotional trauma experienced by a child when a parent is sentenced to death or executed has long-term and often devastating effects. This series of testimonials makes space for these children who had to grow up in the shadow of death. They talk about the death penalty in their own words.

29-year-old Aliaksandra Y. is a wedding and fashion stylist. Her father Gennady Y., convicted of murder, was sentenced to death and executed in 2016. She learnt about his execution a month after it had taken place. On the execution day, she went to deliver a parcel to her father, and was denied entry into the prison. Amnesty International and gathered her testimonial.

This testimonial was collected by Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights // in partnership with the World coalition against death penalty.

There are only a handful of people in our country who consider this problem to be important and who advocate for its abolition.

“The execution can take place at any moment”

A MONTH AFTER the execution, I received a letter - just a piece of paper - notifying me of the fact that the death sentence had been carried out. Until the very last moment, my relatives and I had hoped for a moratorium. We hoped that everything would be fine, but unfortunately, it was not the case.

It is very hard to realize that it has happened. My father’s personal belongings have not been returned to us, neither have we seen his body. According to the law, we were not allowed to bury him. Neither were we informed of his place of burial. Hence, I still have a feeling that he is still out there, that he is alive and well.

To this day, we’re still wondering in what cemetery he is buried. We can only guess. Without having the possibility to visit his grave, we go to our family grave to pray. A lot of rumours are spreading about the treatment of the bodies of the people executed but nobody knows for sure since it is classified information.

So many people are constantly approaching my mother with unbelievable stories that my father is still alive. Some call her to request a ransom for information on his tomb. There are only a handful of people in our country who consider this problem to be important and who advocate for its abolition. Some are afraid. Some are just mean. It was hard to recover from the shock after reading some comments on the Internet about my daughter, who is four years old, claiming she will undergo the same fate as my father since she has his genes.
I am often asked why I tell my story. The thing is that I am concerned with people’s attitude. They do not understand my family’s tragedy.

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