The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2018 Mission to the OSCE stated that “the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights specifically recognizes the authority of countries to impose the death penalty for “the most serious crimes,” in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime, when carried out pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Covenant, including requisite safeguards and fair trial guarantees” and that “United States law and the U.S. judicial system provide an exhaustive system of protections at both the federal and state levels to ensure that the death penalty is not applied in a summary or arbitrary manner, or in any manner inconsistent with the United States Constitution”.138 Other activities as reported by OSCE abolitionist states: Luxembourg noted that it provides financial support for the activities of the organization Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, including co-organization of the 2019 World Congress against the death penalty; the NGO Actions des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture for the fight against capital punishment in Africa; as well as providing a voluntary financial contribution to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Italy financially supported the organization of the 10th Congress of Ministers of Justice on the death penalty that took place in November 2017 in Rome, promoted by the NGO Sant’Egidio Community, which actively campaigns against the death penalty. Switzerland also supported the event. On 10 October 2017, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs presented its new action plan, which sets out Switzerland’s foreign policy activities towards universal abolition of the death penalty for the period until 2019.139 Switzerland is also one of the main sponsors of the upcoming 7th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, which will be held from 27 February to 1 March 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. Nationals facing the death penalty abroad According to information from the participating States who replied to the 2018 ODIHR questionnaire, seven abolitionist OSCE participating States reported that their nationals had faced the death penalty abroad during the reporting period. Some of the states were not able to share further information concerning their 138  See: “Right of Reply on the Death Penalty”, U.S. Mission to the OSCE, 15 March 2018, <https://www.osce. org/permanent-council/380917?download=true>. 139  “FDFA Action Plan for the Universal Abolition of the Death Penalty 2017-2019”, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, Swiss Confederation, <https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/eda/en/documents/publications/MenschenrechtehumanitaerePolitikundMigration/aktionsplan-todesstrafe-2017-19_EN.pdf>. 31