The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2021 Moreover, public confidence in the criminal justice system in Virginia was reportedly eroded as cases started to emerge in which individuals sentenced to death raised compelling claims of actual innocence, largely because of DNA evidence. This demonstrated vividly one of the flaws of capital punishment.102 A survey by Christopher Newport University in February 2021 showed that a majority of Virginia’s registered voters had come to support repealing the death penalty and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences.103 According to this survey, Black registered voters were more likely to support the repeal than white voters.104 As illustrated in the country examples, public opinion is often highly divided on death penalty matters. It is difficult to measure and prone to change according to current events. Public opinion can spur on abolition processes but also hinder them, and perceived public opposition can be used to stall progress towards eliminating the death penalty. However, the examples also show that, regardless of the public support (or lack thereof) for the death penalty, political leaders are able to pursue abolition. In fact, States must take seriously their responsibility, according to international human rights standards, to make relevant information available to the public and contribute to changing the public perception of the death penalty. 4. Interventions at international level Research into the most influential factors on a state’s road to abolition of the death penalty underpin the important role that the international community, inter-governmental organizations, international human rights bodies and courts can play in a variety of ways. Firstly, intergovernmental institutions are vital in the promulgation of binding and non-binding international human rights standards that promote the gradual abolition of the death penalty. The Council of Europe and the EU, for example, demand the abolition of the death penalty as a prerequisite for joining. Secondly, international human rights bodies, human rights commissions, regional and national courts can issue interim measures requiring stays of execution that directly affect the application of the death penalty.105 102 Interview with Mark Warren, op. cit., note 46. 103 Blue Virginia, New Wason Center Poll: Virginians “support pot legalization, paid sick leave; most would repeal death penalty, minimum sentencing; health care, schools favored most for budget increases”, 2 February 2021. 104 CNU, State of the Commonwealth, 2 February 2021. 105 United Nations Digital Library, Report of the Secretary-General, “Question of the death penalty”, UN Doc. A/HRC/45/20, 13 August 2020, para. 14. 28