The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area
parliament of Ukraine.42 Both drafts are currently under review by a parliamentary
expert committee.43
In response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, Lithuania and Romania reported on their nationals, some of whom are also
citizens of the United States, who face the death penalty in the United States. The
Netherlands also provided information on two Dutch citizens facing the death
sentence in Indonesia.44 According to media reports, nationals of Austria, Denmark
and Uzbekistan face capital punishment outside the OSCE area.45 The majority of
the 19 abolitionist participating States who responded to the questionnaire stated
that general safeguards governing the protection of children’s rights also apply to
those children with parents facing the death penalty or executed abroad.
POLAND
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian national, is currently detained at the
United States detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. He faces capital charges before
a military commission relating to his alleged involvement in terrorist activities. In
his application submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), alNashiri claimed that he was kept and tortured in a secret CIA detention facility in
Poland before he was transferred to the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, despite
substantial risk of him being subjected to the death penalty.46 The applicant claims
that Poland violated Articles 2 (right to life) and 3 (prohibition of torture) of the
ECHR and Protocol 6 to the Convention concerning the abolition of the death
penalty. In December 2013, the ECtHR held a Chamber hearing concerning the
case.47
42 Draft resolution of Ukraine #4803 “On National Antiterrorist Doctrine of Ukraine”, Official website of Verhovna
Rada of Ukraine, 5 May 2014, <http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?id=&pf3511=50816>.
43 Official website of Verhovna Rada of Ukraine, op. cit., note 41 and 42.
44 Netherlands Response, op. cit., note 35.
45 “Austrian dancer facing death penalty in Indonesia”, Austrian Times, 7 January 2014, <http://austriantimes.at/
news/General_News/2014-01-07/50300/Austrian_Dancer_Facing_Death_Penalty_in_Indonesia>; “Dane faces
death penalty in Indonesia for alleged drug trafficking”, Snadasia.com, 24 June 2014, <http://scandasia.com/dane-faces-death-penalty-in-indonesia-for-alleged-drug-trafficking/>; “Гражданину Узбекистана грозит смертная казнь
в Малайзии – за попытку ввоза наркотиков” [“Uzbek national is at risk of being executed for drug offences in
Malaysia”], Fergana News, 4 June 2014, <http://www.fergananews.com/news/22265>.
46 European Court of Human Rights, Application No. 28761/11, Abd Al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad Al Nashiri v.
Poland, the judgement delivered on 24 July 2014, <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/fra/pages/search.aspx?i=001-112302>.
47 “Chamber hearing concerning the secret ‘rendition’ of two men suspected of terrorist acts”, Press release issued by the
Registrar of the ECtHR, 3 December 2013.
16
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