The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area convert all sentences into life imprisonment; to encourage public debate on abolition; to provide adequate funding for the legal defense of capital defendants; and to ensure transparency on the death penalty and make information on its application available to the public. This paper, which covers the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, has been compiled on the basis of information provided by participating States through a questionnaire sent by ODIHR and information from other relevant sources. Other information was supplied by civil society, international organizations, news media and OSCE field operations. The reporting period saw some notable developments in the OSCE region on the use of capital punishment, underscoring the global trend towards abolition.4 Latvia ratified Protocol 13 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, abolishing the use of the death penalty in all cases, entering into force in May 2012. In the United States, Connecticut abolished the death penalty for all future cases, and the governor of Oregon declared a moratorium on executions for the duration of his tenure. A number of relevant activities were undertaken during the reporting period. On 10 October 2011, the European Union marked the Ninth annual World Day Against the Death Penalty by reiterating its strong opposition to the death penalty and by renewing its call for universal abolition. In December 2011, the European Commission made amendments to Council Regulation (EC) 1236/2005, resulting in controls on the export of certain drugs, among other goods, that could be used for capital punishment in countries that have not abolished the death penalty.5 In March 2012, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 19/37 on the rights of the child. This resolution calls on states to abolish the death penalty, in law and in practice, for those under 18 years of age; to immediately release any child on death row; and, in cases of doubt surrounding a child’s age, to allow for a rebuttable presumption that the accused is a juvenile.6 The International Commission Against the Death Penalty, an international organization established by the Spanish government in 2010, organized a symposium in June 2012 to promote a better understanding of how different criminal justice systems respond to extreme acts of violence and whether the death penalty can be part of a morally sustainable criminal justice system 4  UN Report of the Secretary General from the Twenty-first session of the Human Rights Council, “The Question of the death penalty”, 2 July 2012. Approximately 150 of the 193 Member States of the United Nations had abolished the death penalty or introduced a moratorium, either in law or in practice, as of 2011. 5  “Commission extends control over goods which could be used for capital punishment or torture”, European Union, 20 December 2011, <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1578&type=HTML>. 6  U. N. Human Rights Committee, “Rights of the Child”, 23 March 2012, <http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/G12/131/73/PDF/G1213173.pdf?OpenElement>. vi