The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2021 At the OSCE Permanent Council on 8 October 2020, the EU delegation affirmed its strong and unequivocal opposition to the use of the death penalty at all times and under all circumstances, calling for the universal abolition of the death penalty and advocated for a global moratorium on its use. The EU acknowledged how the death penalty disproportionately affects members of vulnerable groups, and welcomed the decision of Kazakhstan to sign the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. It also recognized how the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and does not serve as a deterrent to crime. It encouraged States to join the Global Alliance for Torture-Free trade.283 On the same day at the OSCE Permanent Council, Norway delivered a statement on behalf of Andorra, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, in which it stated opposition to the death penalty in all cases without exception, because of its incompatibility with human rights and human dignity. The statement also recalled how poor and economically vulnerable persons, foreign nationals, persons exercising their human rights and persons belonging to religious or ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented among those sentenced to the death penalty in the world today, and finished by calling on the OSCE countries that maintain the death penalty to suspend all executions and take immediate steps towards abolition.284 The United States, exercising its right to reply on 8 October 2020, reiterated its understanding of the death penalty as compliant with international standards, and mentioned the example of Keith Dwayne Nelson, who was executed on 28 August 2020, to highlight that “for horrific cases such as this one, society must send a strong signal that such heinous acts are not allowed.”285 In December 2020, the OSCE participating States reaffirmed their commitment to uphold the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In MC Decision 7/20 they affirmed that, “states must safeguard the rights, and protect the human rights, of all persons deprived of their liberty, including those facing the death penalty, in accordance with their international obligations.”286 283 EU Statement on the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, OSCE Permanent Council, 8 October 2020. 284 Statement on the World Day Against the Death Penalty, OSCE Permanent Council, 8 October 2020. 285 Right of Reply on Death Penalty, OSCE Permanent Council, 8 October 2020. Nelson, 45, had been sentenced to death for the 1999 kidnapping, sexual abuse and subsequent killing of a 10-year-old girl. 286 Decision No. 7/20, Prevention and Eradication of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, OSCE Ministerial Council, 4 December 2020. 64