Committee of Ministers reaffirms unequivocal opposition to the death penalty
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has reaffirmed its unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances, welcomed the global trend towards abolition, and reiterated its objective to create a death penalty-free zone in Europe.
The Committee called on Russia to take all the necessary steps to transform the existing moratorium on the death penalty into de jure abolition and to ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights. The Russian Federation is the only member State which has not yet abolished the death penalty.
Encouraging those States which have not yet signed or ratified Protocol No. 13 to do so rapidly, the Committee took note of the information provided by Armenia on measures taken regarding the ratification of Protocol No. 13. It regretted that the other countries concerned had not yet responded to their invitation to provide further information on measures taken.
The Committee also regretted that a new execution had taken place in Belarus in contravention of the global trend towards abolition and leading Belarus further away from the values of the Council of Europe.
Извор: Совет на Европа – 29.04.2015
