The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2019 death penalty, nor has the Russian Federation, as a member State of the Council of Europe, ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. In this reporting period, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution 73/175 regarding a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.283 Having said this, neither state has made tangible progress towards complete abolition. In the Russian Federation, although the application of the death penalty has been prohibited since 1996, with the prohibition reiterated by the Constitutional Court in 1999 and 2009,284 capital punishment is still mentioned in federal legislation and formally listed as one type of criminal punishment. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for the death penalty as an exceptional measure for five types of offences: aggravated murder, assassination attempts against a state or public figure, attempts on the life of a person administering justice or preliminary investigations, attempts on the life of a law-enforcement official and genocide. The Criminal Code further specifies that the death penalty is not imposed on women, or on offenders under the age of 18 or over 65 at the time of sentencing.285 The Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation also contains provisions on the death penalty.286 In a statement made on 28 March 2019 and regarding the establishment of a moratorium on the death penalty in California, the Russian delegation to the OSCE tentatively welcomed the moratorium but highlighted that this is a temporary measure dependent on the current Governor and that a moratorium does not solve the problem.287 Specific reference was made to concerns about methods of execution in the United States and how these could produce suffering tantamount to torture, as well as the apparent racial bias present in death penalty cases in the United States. The Russian Federation also clearly stated that the “legislative repeal” of the death penalty should not be imposed on countries. This echoed a previous statement, made on the World Day against the Death Penalty in October 2018.288 283  Amnesty International, “Amnesty International Global Report: Death Sentences and Executions 2018”, op. cit., note 74, p. 52. 284  “Russian court extends moratorium on death penalty”, Reuters, 19 November 2009, <http://www.reuters. com/article/idUSLJ330478>; see also, “Russia to decide on death penalty moratorium”, BBC News, 10 November 2009, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm>. 285  Art. 59, para. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. 286  Art. 31, 51, 301, 310 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. 287  “On the establishment of a moratorium on the death penalty in California, United States of America”, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, OSCE Permanent Council, 28 March 2019, <https://www.osce.org/ permanent-council/416084?download=true>. 288  “On the World Day against the Death Penalty”, Statement by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, 11 October 2018, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/400136?download=true>. 54