THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA 3. THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA The participating States that retain the death penalty in some form have committed themselves to ensuring transparency by making information about its use available to the public.25 This chapter facilitates compliance with this commitment by providing a forum for participating States to make such information available on an annual basis. It is comprised of country entries on the 10 participating States that retain the death penalty in some form. There are also country entries on Armenia and Turkey, which took steps to fully abolish the death penalty during the reporting period. It is the ODIHR's intention that the content of each country entry should be based primarily on information provided by the participating States themselves. Accordingly, a questionnaire on the use of the death penalty was sent to each of the relevant participating States. The questionnaire, which is reproduced in Annex 3, requested detailed information on each state's legal framework, statistics on sentences and executions, and information on compliance with the international standards outlined in Chapter 2. Of the 10 participating States that retain the death penalty, six responded to the questionnaire: Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, the Russian Federation, and Uzbekistan. Armenia and Turkey also responded to the questionnaire. The information received from the participating States is complemented by information received from other sources, including OSCE field presences, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and media reports. Where there was no response from the participating State, the information relied upon is solely from these other sources. Each country entry contains information on relevant international instruments, the country's legal framework, statistics, and compliance with international safeguards. First, the section on “relevant international instruments” lists the legally binding instruments the state has ratified. When read in conjunction with Chapter 2 of this paper, this section should indicate exactly which binding commitments the participating State has undertaken. Second, the section on “legal framework” outlines those crimes for which the death sentence can be imposed. It is in this section that trends towards reduction in scope or abolition are discussed. Third, the section on “statistics” indicates the number of death sentences that have been imposed and executed during the reporting period of this paper. Fourth, the section on “international safeguards” provides information on compliance with the international standards that were outlined in Chapter 2 of this paper. 25 Copenhagen Document 1990, Paragraph 17.8. 13