The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area The Working Group on the Death Penalty, which was established in 2010, continued its work.21 The Group, which consists of key officials from the executive and the judiciary and the Commissioner of the Human Rights Ombudsman, was tasked to study the social and legal aspects of abolition.22 Specific tasks include studying international practice and the national laws of abolitionist countries, analyzing crime trends before and after the moratorium, conducting sociological studies and considering the possibility of Tajikistan ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. 23 The Group was scheduled to present its findings in 2012. At the time of writing, there were no reports indicating that this had taken place. At the Universal Periodic Review last October, the UN Human Rights Council urged Tajikistan to complete the abolition process by March 2012. Among the recommendations made to Tajikistan were the abolition of the death penalty and the signing of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.24 International organizations and civil society continued to encourage abolition in Tajikistan. On 20 October 2011, international organizations and governmental representatives from Tajikistan participated in a European Union supported roundtable entitled “From Moratorium towards Abolition of the Death Penalty in Tajikistan: Problems and Prospects”.25 Topics such as abolition in Tajikistan, the activities of the working group, recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review related to the death penalty and the activities of civil society organizations in promoting abolition were discussed. Penal Reform International, a penal and criminal justice reform NGO, co-hosted a roundtable on the death penalty in Dushanbe on 20 October 2011. A new website was launched at this event, containing information about issues related to abolition in Tajikistan and other countries, as well as news, videos and reports on the death penalty.26 21  Full title “Working Group on the Study of Social-Legal Aspects of the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Republic of Tajikistan”. 22  Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Tajikistan, “From moratorium towards abolition of the death penalty in Tajikistan: Problems and prospects”, Dushanbe, 20 October 2011, (EU Delegation to Tajikistan), <http://eeas. europa.eu/delegations/tajikistan/press_corner/all_news/news/2011/20111020_en.htm>. 23  Penal Reform International, “67th Session of the UNGA: Report of the Secretary General on the implementation of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, 6 June 2012, (Penal Reform Report) <http://www.penalreform.org/ files/PRI%20submission%20to%20UN%20Secretary%20General%20on%20the%20implementation%20of%20a%20 moratorium.pdf >. 24  EU Delegation to Tajikistan, op. cit., note 22. 25  Ibid. 26  Penal Reform Report, op. cit., note 23. 7