The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area violated and allegations of torture not adequately addressed in a case that resulted in the handing down of a death sentence and subsequent execution.15 On 22 July 2009, it published its Views, recalling that the imposition of a death sentence after proceedings that did not meet fair-trial requirements amounted to a violation of the right to life, pursuant to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.16 2. Partly Abolitionist States LATVIA At present, the Criminal Code of Latvia allows for the imposition of death sentences for convictions for murder with aggravating circumstances, and only when committed in wartime.17 The country is in the process of ratifying Protocol No. 13 to the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in both wartime and peacetime. On 19 May 2008, the Government of Latvia endorsed a draft law on the ratification of the Protocol. The approval of the parliament is still being sought, and there have been no further developments in the reporting period for the 2010 Background Paper.18 3. De Facto Abolitionist States KAZAKHSTAN In Kazakhstan, the death penalty has been abolished for most cases, except acts of terrorism entailing loss of life and grave crimes committed in wartime.19 While a law entered into force in 2009 reducing the number of crimes for which death sentences could be handed down from 18 to eight,20 later legislative developments saw the ap15  Communication No. 1280/2004, Tolipkhuzhaev v. Uzbekistan, Views adopted on 22 July 2009. 16  Ibid. 17  Article 37 of the Criminal Code of Latvia, 15 October 1998, as amended on 18 May 2000. 18  Response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty from the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the OSCE, 15 July 2010. 19  Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as amended on 21 May 2007. 20  These crimes were genocide, mercenary, high treason, sabotage, terrorism, application of prohibited means and methods of conducting a war and planning, preparation for, starting or waging a war of aggression. 4