Abolishing the Death Penalty
Transparency on the use of the death penalty is a commitment made by all OSCE participating States. To help publicize the issue, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) produces a yearly review, detailing international standards and the use of capital punishment by OSCE states. The Office also facilitates discussion on the issue, particularly in countries of the former Soviet Union. Since 1999, the number of countries still carrying out executions has significantly decreased.
Trends in the Former Soviet Union
Over the last several years, countries in the former Soviet Union have been moving closer to abolishing the death penalty. "All the newly independent states retained the death penalty when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991," said Lydia Grigoreva, a Human Rights Officer at ODIHR. "Out of 15 states, nine have now abolished it and four have moratoria in place."
Central Asia is one of the regions where ODIHR experts have encouraged discussion on the death penalty. Except for Uzbekistan, all Central Asian states have now either abolished it outright or have introduced a moratorium on executions.
Kyrgyzstan was the first country in the region to introduce a moratorium on death sentences in December 1998. While that moratorium has been extended until the end of 2005, President Askar Akaev has called for a law to be drafted by the end of June 2005 to abolish the death penalty outright. Turkmenistan abolished capital punishment in 1999, and Kazakhstan introduced a moratorium in December 2003. Tajikistan replaced the death sentence in its Criminal Code with life in prison in November 2004.
Kazakhstan
"We were active especially in Kazakhstan," Grigoreva explained. "We encouraged discussion on the issue and provided a forum for the main players to talk about the issues of introducing a moratorium."
ODIHR co-funded a nationally televised debate and a publication on legislation and statistics relating to the death penalty. It also helped organize a training session for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and state officials on how to run information campaigns on the subject.
Uzbekistan
Unlike the other countries in the region, Uzbekistan has not been open to dialogue on the issue. "Since 2003, the OSCE has been trying to organize a meeting on the death penalty," said Jurabek Amonov, a legal assistant at the OSCE Centre in Tashkent. "Despite the interest displayed by the international community and local NGOs, the event has not taken place."
OSCE Commitments
Each year sees fewer and fewer practitioners of capital punishment. In 1999, 15 participating States had some form of death penalty, while as many as seven were thought to have carried out executions in the previous year. According to data collected between June 2003 and June 2004, 10 participating States still retain the death penalty. Only three -- Belarus, the United States and Uzbekistan -- still carry out executions.
"OSCE commitments do not require states to abolish the death penalty, but they do require transparency about its use," Grigoreva said. "In particular, states are required to make information on the use of the death penalty public. Of the three countries that continue to carry out executions, Uzbekistan is the most hesitant to release information on the number of death sentences passed or executions carried out."
Within the OSCE, states have committed themselves to using the death penalty only for the most serious crimes and in a manner that follows international standards. For example, there are standards that prohibit capital punishment for juveniles and pregnant women. Furthermore, all trials leading to the death penalty must comply with due process and fair-trial standards. Many states have also made commitments outside of the OSCE framework.
The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area
Since 1999, ODIHR has been publishing an annual review called The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. The publication allows participating States to publicize information about their use of capital punishment. Based largely on data provided by the countries themselves, it also outlines a variety of international standards developed by the OSCE, the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe.
The review offers specific entries on OSCE states that retain the death penalty in some way, detailing the legal framework, statistics on sentences and executions, and information about compliance with international standards. It is supplemented with information from OSCE field operations, other intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and media reports.