The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2018 the statement.128 The Permanent Delegation of Norway to the OSCE, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Switzerland also denounced the execution of Vostrykau in Belarus.129 The joint statement reiterated that in the international community there is increasing support for the view that the death penalty constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment At the 1152nd Plenary Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on 6 July 2017, the EU denounced the death penalty case of William Charles Morva, a Hungarian-American dual citizen, in the state of Virginia, in the United States. The EU noted that “there is evidence to show that Mr. Morva is suffering from severe mental illness. The EU remains particularly concerned by the imposition of the death penalty in cases of persons suffering from intellectual disability or mental illness, which is contrary to widely accepted human rights norms and to the minimum standards set forth in several international human rights instruments.”130 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lichtenstein, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino and Serbia aligned themselves with the statement. At the 1160th Plenary Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on 12 October 2017, the EU together with Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine, issued a statement on the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty. It stated that “as highlighted by EU High Representative/Vice President Mogherini and CoE Secretary General Jagland, the death penalty is incompatible with human dignity. It constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment, does not have any proven deterrent effect, and allows judicial errors to become irreversible and fatal.”131 The EU also called on states “not to reintroduce death penalty once it has been abolished or suspended. The scourge of terrorism affects all parts of the world, and the OSCE region is not an exception. However, the threat of terrorism cannot serve as a legal justification for the death penalty.”132 At the same meeting, the Delegation of Norway, on behalf of Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, San Marino and Switzerland, issued a statement confirming their opposition to capital punishment on the occasion of the World Day against the death penalty, referring to the issue of whether people living in poverty or members of socially marginalized and discriminated groups are at greater risk of being sentenced to death 128  “EU statement on the Execution in Belarus of Siarhei Vostrykau: OSCE Permanent Council No 1145, Vienna”, OSCE, 11 May 2017, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/320761?download=true>. 129  “Joint Statement on capital punishment in Belarus: OSCE Permanent Council No 1145, Vienna”, OSCE, 11 May 2017, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/320766?download=true>. 130  “EU statement on the Death Penalty in the United States: OSCE Permanent Council No 1152, Vienna”, OSCE, 6 July 2017, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/330321?download=true>. 131  “EU statement on European and World Day against the Death Penalty: OSCE Permanent Council No 1160 Vienna”, OSCE, 12 October 2017, <https://www.osce.org/permanent-council/350596?download=true>, (hereafter, “EU statement on European and World Day against the Death Penalty”). 132  Ibid. 29