The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2019 “The public supports the use of the death penalty” A second and commonly used argument to maintain capital punishment is that a state can only abolish the death penalty once the general population supports this. In the reporting period, debates surfaced once again regarding the relationship between public opinion about the death penalty and government decision making. Some states, including some in the OSCE area, affirm that the public favours the use of capital punishment; some argue that if they were to abolish the death penalty without the majority of the population supporting this decision, then abolition would in fact undermine confidence in the rule of law.38 The problems surrounding basing the decision to abolish the death penalty on public opinion are multifaceted and raise many questions: • How is public opinion measured, opinion poll questions phrased and the results presented?39 • How much public awareness is there regarding the administration and effectiveness of the death penalty? • Are politicians using public space to stir up popular support for the death penalty? • How does this support vary depending on the crime committed or mitigating circumstances? • Does retention of capital punishment build trust in the criminal justice system?40 • Does support for the death penalty indicate resistance to reform or to life sentences as an alternative?41 In a recent article analysing surveys in eight countries, including one OSCE participating State, it was concluded that the public does not feel very strongly or is not very interested in the death penalty and has limited knowledge about its use or effectiveness.42 The current United States President has expressed open support for the imposition of the death penalty, for example in tweets calling for the death penalty to be imposed on the suspected terrorist Sayfullo Saipov and, during the reporting period, 38  The Death Penalty Project, “On the question of public opinion and the death penalty”, A/HRC/39/NGO/182, 28 September 2018, p. 2, <https://www.deathpenaltyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/18.10.01-Writtenstatement-to-39th-HRC.pdf>. 39  Ibid., and for detailed discussion about public support and surveys see: Roger Hood, “Is Public Opinion a Justifiable Reason Not to Abolish the Death Penalty? A Comparative Analysis of Surveys in Eight Countries”, Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, Vol. 23, No. 3, 2018, <https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1135&context=bjcl>. 40  Mai Sato, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei? A closer look at the ‘public opinion’ argument for retention”, in Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Argument, Trends and Perspectives, op. cit., note 9, p. 254. 41 Hood, op. cit., note 39, p. 230. 42  Ibid., p. 225-226. 16