The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has condemned Belarus, the only country in Europe still applying the death penalty, for its execution of a man whose case was still being examined by the UN agency.
The UNHRC said in a statement on March 10 that Viktar Paulau's relatives were only recently informed that the death sentence handed to him in 2019 on a murder charge that he said he confessed to after being tortured, had been carried out.
Last year Belarusian authorities refused to give any information about Paulau's whereabouts to his relatives and human rights organizations, which prompted suggestions that he might have been executed.
It was the 15th execution carried out in Belarus over the past 12 years where a case with the UNHRC was still pending, according to the statement.
Paulau turned to the Human Rights Committee in 2020, claiming that he had been tortured in detention, denied access to legal assistance, and subjected to an unfair trial.
The committee registered the case and had asked Belarus to stay the execution while independent experts examined his allegations of human rights violations.
"In addition to reiterating its requests for suspending the execution, since June 2021, the committee has repeatedly asked for clarification from Belarus on Paulau's situation in light of information it received that he had been executed behind closed doors," the statement said.
"However, Belarus did not respond to the committee's various requests."
The committee said it also found that Belarus's failure to comply with its request for interim measures violated international rules.
"Despite Paulau's execution, [the UNHRC] will fully examine his case at one of its upcoming sessions," the statement said.
For years, the UN and the European Union have urged Belarus to join other countries in declaring a moratorium on capital punishment.
According to rights organizations, more than 400 people have been sentenced to death in Belarus since it gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.