ICDP Commissioner Hanne Sophie Greve participated at a conference titled ”Abolition of the Death Penalty and Public Opinion” which was organized by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus on 13 December 2016 in Minsk and related events.
The expert event brought together ICDP delegates (Commissioner Greve and Executive Director Asunta Vivo) with representatives of the Belarusian government and the National Assembly, Council of Europe Secretariat and the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), UN, EU, Belarus Orthodox Church, international and Belarusian NGOs, media and academia.
The conference participants looked at certain aspects of the law enforcement practice in the context of the abolition of death penalty, discussed the role authorities, media and the civil society could play on this issue and analysed how the civil society could help the State to shape public opinion and deliver important messages.
The conference was funded by the UK Magna Carta Fund.
Please click here to view the speech delivered at the conference by ICDP Commissioner Greve.
For interview with Commissioner Greve at BBC available only in Russian go to: http://www.bbc.com/russian/features-38307757.
Background information
On 10 March 2016, ICDP participated in an international conference titled “Death Penalty: Transcending the Divide”in Belarus. For further information, please go to: Mission to Belarus , May 2016.
On 21 June 2013, the Council of Europe organised a roundtable on ‘Belarus – Religion and Death Penalty’ in Minsk as part of the discussions to advance abolition of the death penalty with the authorities of the government of Belarus. The roundtable sought to further discussion on the death penalty through an exchange of views among clergy, representatives of national institutions, civil society and international experts. ICDP Commissioner Hanne Sophie Greve participated as an international expert and presented a paper entitled – The human being created ‘in the image of God’. For further information, please go to: Roundtable “Belarus – Religion and Death Penalty”, Minsk, 21 June 2013.
