THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA • • Forty-four OSCE participating States have ratified Protocol No. 6.6 In the period from 30 June 2003 to 30 June 2004, three participating States ratified Protocol No. 6: Armenia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey. Twenty-six OSCE participating States have ratified Protocol No. 13. In the period from 30 June 2003 to 30 June 2004, nine participating States ratified Protocol No. 13: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.7 UNITED NATIONS (UN) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) does not require the abolition of the death penalty.8 Since the adoption of the ICCPR, however, steps have been taken to develop a legally binding instrument that does require the abolition of the death penalty. Accordingly, the UN has adopted the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR,9 which abolishes the death penalty during peacetime. Thirty-four OSCE participating States have ratified the Second Optional Protocol. EUROPEAN UNION (EU) Article 2 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union,10 which is politically binding on EU member states, provides that no one shall be condemned to death or executed. 2.2 INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS RESTRICTING THE USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY OSCE OSCE commitments, which are of a politically binding nature, do not require the abolition of the death penalty. However, the OSCE participating States have committed 6 7 8 9 10 Of the 55 OSCE participating States, 45 are member states of the Council of Europe. In addition, Protocol No. 13 was ratified by the Czech Republic on 2 July 2004 and by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 13 July 2004. UN General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December 1966. Entered into force on 23 March 1976. UN General Assembly Resolution 44/128 of 15 December 1989. Entered into force on 11 July 1991. Article 2 of the Second Optional Protocol provides that no reservation is admissible except for reservations made at the time of ratification or accession that provide for the application of the death penalty in time of war pursuant to a conviction for a most serious crime of a military nature committed during wartime. The presidents of the European Parliament, European Council, and European Commission signed and proclaimed the Charter on behalf of their institutions on 7 December 2000 in Nice, France. 8