The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area Annex 1 OSCE Commitments on the Death Penalty Concluding Document of the 1989 Vienna Follow-up Meeting Questions relating to security in Europe (24) With regard to the question of capital punishment, the participating States note that capital punishment has been abolished in a number of them. In participating States where capital punishment has not been abolished, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to their international commitments. This question will be kept under consideration. In this context, the participating States will co-operate within relevant international organizations. Document of the 1990 Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE 17. The participating States 17.1 recall the commitments undertaken in the Vienna Concluding Document to keep the question of capital punishment under consideration and to co-operate within relevant international organizations; 17.2 recall, in this context, the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations, on 15 December 1989, of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty; 17.3 note the restrictions and safeguards regarding the use of the death penalty which have been adopted by the international community, in particular Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 17.4 note the provisions of the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty; 17.5 note recent measures taken by a number of participating States towards the abolition of capital punishment; 17.6 note the activities of several non-governmental organizations on the question of the death penalty; 16