The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area the death penalty, to suppress capital punishment from the criminal code and not to reintroduce the death penalty.21 On 26 June 2014, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a new resolution on the question of the death penalty.22 The resolution, which was tabled by Belgium, France, Mongolia, Switzerland and Moldova, among other states, requests the UN Secretary General to report on the consequences of capital punishment at various stages of its imposition and application on the enjoyment of the human rights of people sentenced to death and other affected persons, and to convene biennial highlevel panel discussions on capital punishment. “With this step the abolition of the death penalty becomes a fixed, long-term item on the Human Rights Council’s work programme.”23 The effects of the death penalty system, including the social, economic and psychological impact on children who have a parent sentenced to death or executed, was also brought into focus by the UN Secretary General in his recent report.24 Emphasizing that children of parents facing the death penalty or executed are confronted with multiple challenges of a social, practical, financial and psychological nature, the Secretary General called upon states to recognize the urgency of ensuring a protective environment for affected children, preventing their discrimination and stigma and providing them with the required assistance for their recovery and reintegration.25 In this context, the Secretary General referred to a number of concrete areas that require further examination and the adoption of measures, including children’s access to information and communications with their parents on death row. He noted that, in general, the lack of access to data associated with the application of the death penalty seriously impedes the debate on the abolition of capital punishment.26 On 10 October 2013, the Council of Europe and the European Union marked the World Day against the Death Penalty with a joint declaration calling for de jure and 21  Statement by the International Commission against the Death Penalty: Side-Event on the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 19 June 2014, Geneva, <http://www.icomdp.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/19-ICDP-Statement-on-the-18-June-event-on25th-anniv-of-OP2.pdf>. 22 A/HRC/26/L.8/Rev.1.The resolution was tabled by Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia and Switzerland, and adopted by a recorded vote (29 to 10, with 8 abstentions). At the time of writing, the final edited version of the resolution was not yet available. The draft text of the resolution, as adopted, is available at: <http://ap.ohchr. org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/26/L.8/Rev.1>. 23 “UN Human Rights Council adopts Swiss resolution on the death penalty”, the Swiss Federal Authorities website, 26 June 2014, <http://www.admin.ch/aktuell/00089/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=53546>. 24  Report of the Secretary-General on the question of the death penalty, A/HRC/27/23, 30 June 2014. 25  Ibid., paragraphs 65 – 71 and 75. 26  Ibid., paragraph 73. 10