Contents Introduction 5 Part I: Introductory essay 7 The Unlikely Voices against the Death Penalty: Murder Victims’ Survivors, Jeanne Bishop 7 Part II: The road to abolition of the death penalty 13 1. Political leadership 2. The role of civil society organizations (CSOs) 2.1. The role of victims’ families 2.2. The role of religious groups 3. Development and impact of public opinion 4. Interventions at international level 5. Concluding remarks 14 18 21 23 24 28 33 Part III: The situation of the death penalty in the OSCE region 37 1. Retentionist participating states 1.1. Belarus 1.2. United States 2. Abolitionist participating States 2.1. New developments at the international and regional levels on the abolition of the death penalty 2.2. Participating States’ engagement in national or international activities relevant to the issue of the death penalty 3. De-facto abolitionist participating States 3.1. Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only 4 37 37 44 59 59 63 65 66