Comments for Europe's last executioner: Belarus

Comment by AlikiM

AlikiM — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:19:57 +0000

AlikiM said:

No one has a right to decide who should live or die.The death penalty should be abolished.

Comment by LanasTea

LanasTea — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 01:23:51 +0100

LanasTea said:

Not only barbaric but utterly outrageous- how dare they punish the families (who have not themselves wronged anyone) in such a way. Do the 'Committee for the execution of sentences' feel no compassion or human emotion at all?

Comment by RJ

RJ — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:30:00 +0100

RJ said:

The death penalty cannot be allowed to continue.

Comment by Reese_aya

Reese_aya — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:49:47 +0100

Reese_aya said:

horrible

Comment by cozluvsu7

cozluvsu7 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:34:48 +0100

cozluvsu7 said:

Not only is the death penalty a barbaric and out-dated practise, the sensitivity around how the families of those executed are approached and handled is just non existent. If Belarus insists on carrying out the ancient ‘eye for an eye’ philosophy then there needs to be a massive shake up in how it is approached. The families are not the guilty ones. Any crime that has been committed by the condemned person has certainly been paid for as soon as they are killed. It needs to stop there. The government can not take possession of a dead body and leave a grieving family in a confused and abandoned turmoil. To me that’s just as disturbing than the death penalty itself.

Comment by retrosweets

retrosweets — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:05:15 +0100

retrosweets said:

Belarus, join with us in the rest of Europe and end this vile and despicable practice. I visited Belarus last year and met many warm and engaging people; come on, you're better than this.

Comment by mrk.wlsn

mrk.wlsn — Thu, 06 May 2010 18:10:24 +0100

mrk.wlsn said:

The death penalty is an abhorrent, evil, out-dated practice. It must be ended everywhere it is carried out. As soon as possible.

Comment by Hugh Drummond

Hugh Drummond — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:37:58 +0100

Hugh Drummond said:

The death penalty should be abolished.

Comment by Poplinda

Poplinda — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:00:18 +0100

Poplinda said:

This ridiculous, medieval practice has gone on far too long.
The death penalty is never right, as far as I'm concerned, it never has been and never will be.
I can't wait until it's only a terrible piece of history.

Comment by Rin

Rin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:39:54 +0100

Rin said:

I can't help but feel that the way the relatives are dealt with is unfair, surely the unknown is more upsetting in the long run than the truth. How are they to gain closure if they get no answers? The nature that the information around the act is hidden suggests that the country may see that there is something fundamentally wrong with the punishment but have no alternative. This was what I got from him, he could see how much suffering the Death Penalty was causing and all the suffering around him and yet still see the necessity for someone to do the job.

Comment by fionamc

fionamc — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:13:25 +0100

fionamc said:

Hi Jeanette,

You can send an email to the Belarus authorities to stop executions here: http://www.protectthehuman.com/videos/the-last-...

Comment by Jeannette

Jeannette — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:54:25 +0100

Jeannette said:

Hi Amnesty,

Please can you set up an email campaign or a petition on this one that I can do without watching the video? I don't have sound on my PC, so I can't comment on the video, but would very much like to support the campaign.

Many thanks!!

Comment by AzIzA

AzIzA — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:18:54 +0100

AzIzA said:

I agree with James_L. The death penalty should be abolished. Torture, in any shape or form, is morally wrong and should always be condemned…and it can never be justified. What is more, torture dehumanises both the oppressor(s), losing a sense of compassion and so forth, and the oppressed and this enables the torturer(s) to behave in an inhumane manner. If someone loses their moral guideline, it doesn’t mean we should stoop to their low level and lose our valuable moral guidelines as well.

Comment by James_L

James_L — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 19:01:28 +0100

James_L said:

My impression is that the colonel is trying to minimise the suffering of those who are about to be executed. The fundamental point is that the death penalty is cruel. One could devise a means of execution that is painless but one cannot relieve the psychological trauma. The only solution is to abolish the death penalty altogether.

Comment by Merlot

Merlot — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:04:18 +0100

Merlot said:

As a mother I really feel for the parents of the executed. The helplessness. Everyone is someone's baby... Who has a right to decide who should live or die?

Comment by Plato

Plato — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:46:14 +0100

Plato said:

How sad ... how very sad. I wonder why the State acts like it does. What value human life? What respect for those who grieve. The Chernobyl disaster, with 70% fallout, covered Belarus - the country has reportedly suffered losses totalling millions of dollars - poetic justice becaose of THEIR crimes agains both the living and the dead?
Bruce

Comment by Teresa Kleppe

Teresa Kleppe — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:18:03 +0100

Teresa Kleppe said:

It´s not just a job, sweet heart! To be loyal to yourself will give you the peace of mind you deserve! What will you choose?

Comment by Teresa Kleppe

Teresa Kleppe — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:13:34 +0100

Teresa Kleppe said:

It´s not just a job, sweet heart! it´s killing you... To be loyal to yourself will give you the peace of mind you deserve!

Comment by Zofia

Zofia — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:04:17 +0100

Zofia said:

just a job.........i pity that man..

Comment by sara_h

sara_h — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:42:43 +0000

sara_h said:

This makes for very disturbing viewing. I give him a lot of credit for speaking so openely about his former work. I am deeply disturbed about how aware he was of all the suffering the Death Penalty causes but that he still accepted it as work that needed to be done...by him.