The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area Annex 3 Relevant Recommendations made at the 2010 OSCE Review Conference During the 2010 OSCE Review Conference, held in Warsaw from 30 September to 08 October 2010, views were also exchanged on the question of the abolition of the death penalty. Working Session 5: Rule of law II addressed the issues of capital punishment, prevention of torture and the protection of human rights in fighting terrorism. The majority of interventions focused on the death penalty and the prevention of torture. It was noted that there had been a gradual phasing out of the death penalty in the OSCE area over the past decade. Only six States still retained the death penalty. Of these, two still carried out executions. The two States in question – Belarus and the United States pointed out that they used the death penalty sparingly and only in exceptional circumstances and that its use did not contravene OSCE commitments. Four States had retained the death penalty for cases of terrorism leading to loss of life and other most serious crimes, but had not in fact imposed the death penalty for some years. It was also noted that this positive trend had continued despite an increase in terrorist activity in the OSCE area over this period. States had resisted the temptation to reintroduce the death penalty, possibly taking the view that the death penalty might fuel extremism and radicalisation. Many States expressed their opposition to capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and called for a global moratorium as a first step towards its abolition. Some States pointed out that popular support for the retention or reintroduction of capital punishment remained strong. The ODIHR’s Annual Report on the Death Penalty in the OSCE was commended. The following recommendations were made: • The two OSCE participating states where executions still take place should abolish capital punishment and adopt a moratorium on capital punishment in the meantime; • All participating states which still maintain the possibility to apply capital punishment should abolish it for all crimes; 39