Introduction Noting the restrictions and safeguards regarding the use of the death penalty adopted by the international community, as well as the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of capital punishment, OSCE participating States have made a number of commitments relating to the death penalty.1 They committed to exchange information on the question of the abolition of the death penalty and to provide information on the use of the death penalty to the public.2 Where the death penalty is still in use, participating States have agreed that it can be imposed only for the most serious crimes and only in line with international commitments.3 OSCE participating States have also made a number of other commitments relevant in the context of the application of the death penalty, such as ensuring the right to life, the right to a fair trial and the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.4 In accordance with these commitments and its mandate, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) monitors trends and new developments regarding human rights standards and practices among OSCE participating States related to the death penalty. The findings are presented each year in the Background Paper on the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area.5 The paper is based on information gathered by ODIHR on the situation of the death penalty in all 57 OSCE participating States during the reporting period, incorporating information from 1 “Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the OSCE”, OSCE, 29 June 1990, Copenhagen, paras. 17.2, 17.3 and 17.4. 2 Ibid., paras. 17.7 and 17.8. See also: “Concluding Document of the Third Follow-up Meeting, Vienna, 4 November 1986 to 19 January 1989”, OSCE, (hereafter, “Vienna Document 1989”); “Document of the Sixteenth Meeting of the Ministerial Council Helsinki 2008”, OSCE, (hereafter, “Helsinki Document 2008”). 3 “Vienna Document 1989”, para. 24, op. cit., note 2. 4 OSCE, Ministerial Council Tirana 2020, MC.DEC/7/20, 4 December 2020; “Vienna Document 1989”, “Copenhagen Document 1990”, “Helsinki Document 2008”. 5 The ODIHR annual background papers on the death penalty are available since 2000, here: “The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Papers”, OSCE/ODIHR. 5