Belarus is the last country in Europe that has not yet abandoned the death penalty. Bodies of those executed are not returned to families. Cases of political kidnapping and murder are not investigated, and today there are many innocent prisoners in Belarusian jails, and many more who have been released but who were not rehabilitated and cannot live normal lives.

We are protesting against the human rights violations in Belarus, highlighting the missing Belarusian bodies – dead and alive, and are doing everything possible to save those who still live.

We invite you to add your voice to the protest by signing a petition to the Heads of the the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission and the Heads and Leaders of the Countries of the European Union. We wish to encourage the release and rehabilitation of political prisoners and the abolition of the death penalty by demanding an increase in sanctions against the Lukashenko regime in Belarus.

Vladislav Kovalyov and Dmitry Konovalov, both 26, were put to death in March 2012 after being convicted, in a show trial, of a bomb attack that took place on the subway in Minsk less than a year before. Kovalyov's mother has since travelled around the world, maintaining her son's innocence. Their parents were not informed of the time of execution and have never received the bodies for private burial – nor have all the other families in Belarus whose relatives are executed.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee made a decision that capital punishment of Vladislav Kovalev violated the fundamental human right Right To Live. Belarus was urged last year to abandon the policy of capital punishment by the EU and Human Rights Watch in the wake of these executions.

Every year the repression in Belarus increases. Every year we are assured that our governments are sanctioning President Lukashenko. However, very few Belarusian state-owned companies have been added to the sanctions list and the EU and the UK continue financial support of repression and human rights violations by buying an ever increasing amount of goods from these companies. We believe that people do not know this, and we do not believe that people would support this policy if they did know. Repression and human rights violations in Belarus could be greatly decreased or ended if the EU and USA focus on morality in politics rather than realpolitik and impose firm sanctions against the Belarusian regime.

We ask for an increase in targeted economic and political sanctions against all Belarusian state owned enterprises and individuals supporting the Belarusian Presidential Administration with the following list of demands:

- Free political prisoners
- Give ex-political prisoners full rehabilitation
- Investigate cases of politically motivated kidnappings and murders and return bodies of these individuals to their families
- Return bodies of all executed individuals to their families
- Abolish the death penalty

Sign this petition to demand firm economic sanctions against the Belarusian regime to encourage an end to repression and human rights violations.

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