Custodial Death (Prevention) Act continued to be inadequately enforced due to a lack of political will and awareness among law enforcement agencies. DEATH PENALTY Scores of people were sentenced to death and executions took place. In April, two people were sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the International Crimes Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court established to investigate the events of the 1971 independence war. The Tribunal also concluded the hearing of arguments in the trial of six alleged war criminals in Gaibandha for mass killings, abductions, looting and arson during the 1971 war. The trial remained ongoing. Serious concerns regarding the fairness of the trial were raised about the Tribunal proceedings, such as denial of adequate time for defence lawyers to prepare their cases and arbitrary limitation of the number of witnesses. CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS In June, at least one person was killed and hundreds of homes were burned during a mob attack on Indigenous people in the town of Langadu, Rangamati Hill District. Police and soldiers reportedly failed to protect Indigenous villagers. Those made homeless had not been rehoused by the end of the year. A video posted on social media appeared to show soldiers using excessive force against students peacefully protesting against the violence and the 1996 disappearance of Indigenous rights activist Kalpana Chakma. Mithun Chakma, an Indigenous rights campaigner, denounced a “situation of suffocation” in which he was forced to attend court up to eight times a month to answer criminal charges relating to 11 separate cases, some of which were under the ICT Act and concerned articles he had posted on social media about human rights violations, thus preventing him from carrying out his work as a human rights defender. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 BELARUS Republic of Belarus Head of state: Alyaksandr Lukashenka Head of government: Andrey Kabyakou Between February and April, the authorities violently cracked down on peaceful protests. The government continued to refuse to accept the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus. Several individuals seeking international protection were returned to countries where they were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Heavy legislative restrictions on media, NGOs, political parties and public assemblies remained in place. One person was executed and four were sentenced to death. BACKGROUND After several years with no large protests, mass demonstrations took place in February and March against a tax on the unemployed, introduced by a Presidential Decree in 2015. The authorities clamped down on the protests. In March, they accused 35 men of plotting mass disturbances supported with foreign funding, and hinted that these were linked to the demonstrations. The arrests were widely televised; by July, all men had been released. The rapprochement between Belarus and its western neighbours continued. In July, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was held in Minsk, the capital. DEATH PENALTY In April, Siarhei Vostrykau, who had been on death row since May 2016, was executed. Homel Regional Court received confirmation of his execution on 29 April. The last letter his mother received from him was dated 13 April. Five men remained on death row. They included Aliaksei Mikhalenya, whose sentence on 17 March was upheld by the Supreme Court on 30 June; Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnoy, both sentenced on 89