The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area mercenary in a military conflict or military actions that entailed the death[s] of people or other grave consequences); high treason; an attempt upon the life of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan; sabotage; terrorism; the application of prohibited means and methods of conducting a war; and planning, preparing, starting or waging a war of aggression.26 The sentence for the remaining ten crimes that had previously carried the death penalty was changed to life imprisonment.27 3. De Facto Abolitionist States RUSSIAN FEDERATION Since the bill “On the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Russian Federation” was submitted to the State Duma by its Legislation Committee on 20 February 200828, no further developments related to capital punishment have been reported. At a press conference in Moscow on 11 March 2009, PACE Co-Rapporteur Theodoros Pangalos called on the Russian Federation to abolish the death penalty and questioned arguments made by the Russian authorities that public opinion was not ready for such a move. Russia had imposed a moratorium on the death penalty shortly after it joined the Council of Europe in 1996, but did not move to formally abolish capital punishment within the following three years, as membership in the organization requires. TAJIKISTAN Tajikistan has had a temporary moratorium on executions and the handing down of death sentences in place since 15 July 2004. It is believed that approximately 50-60 individuals who have been sentenced to death currently have had their executions stayed as a result of the moratorium.29 26  Response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty from the OSCE Centre in Astana, 17 July 2009. 27  Ibid. Capital punishment has been replaced by life imprisonment for the following crimes during wartime: murder; an attempt upon the life of a person administering justice or carrying out a preliminary investigation; disobedience or other non-execution of an order; resistance to a superior or coercion of such superior to violate service duties; violent actions toward a superior; desertion; evasion of military service by way of self-mutilation or other method; violation of the rules governing active duty; abuse of power, exceeding competence or inaction; and surrendering or leaving material for waging war to the enemy. 28  “The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area – Background Paper 2008”, op.cit., note 1. 29  Response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty from the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, 18 August 2009. 6