The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area in law. A general outline of relevant developments in some participating States that are abolitionist is provided in the overview below. The reporting period was marked by a number of developments that reiterate the trend towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty. In the United States, on 2 May 2013, the State of Maryland abolished the death penalty for all future cases and became the 18th state in that country to end capital punishment. On 13 March 2012, Mongolia, which became an OSCE participating State in November 2012, ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.4 On 9 October 2012, France launched a campaign for the universal abolition of the death penalty and marked it as a priority of its foreign policy.5 On 10 October 2012, Norway issued “Guidelines on Promoting Abolition of the Death Penalty” for the use of the Norwegian Foreign Service. The guidelines set combating the death penalty as one of the priority areas of Norway’s human rights policy.6 Calls for universal abolition of the death penalty featured in various fora involving OSCE participating States. On 11 March 2013, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held a hearing on the death penalty in the Americas to reflect the regional and international momentum to abolish the death penalty. At this hearing, the Member States sought to place the topic of the death penalty on the agenda of the Organization of American States and its specialized bodies.7 From 12 to 15 June 2013, the Fifth World Congress against the Death Penalty was held in Madrid. The Congress brought together representatives of states, international organizations and civil society, with the aim of outlining and discussing an international strategy on abolition of the death penalty worldwide. The governments of Spain, Norway, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Germany and Luxembourg were among co-organizers of the Congress.8 4  Because Mongolia became a participating State in November 2012 and, therefore, is mentioned for the first time in this background paper, some significant developments that occurred prior to the reporting period are also highlighted. 5  “Campaign for the abolition of the death penalty – The death penalty: from moratorium to abolition: meeting”, France Diplomatie, 27 September 2012, <http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/global-issues/united-nations/unga-67th-session/ article/campaign-for-the-abolition-of-the>. According to the UN News Centre, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon applauded the French initiative and expressed hope that “it would help reinforce the emerging consensus on abolition”; also see “UN chief applauds French Government for anti-death penalty initiative” UN News Centre, 9 October 2012, <http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43247&Cr=death+penalty&Cr1=#.Uf-dyZI3Cus>. 6  “Promoting Abolition of the Death Penalty: Guidelines for the Norwegian Foreign Service”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, 10 October 2012, <http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/documents/veiledninger/2012/promoting-abolition-of-the-death-penalty.html?id=704827>. 7  “Inter-American Commission on Human Rights discusses death penalty”, World Coalition against the Death Penalty, 14 March 2013, <http://www.worldcoalition.org/iachr-oas-americas-human-rights-caribbean-death-penalty-moratorium-abolition-debate.html> 8  “5th World Congress against the Death Penalty”, congress.abolition.fr, June 2013, <http://congres.abolition.fr/ world-congress-in-madrid/partners/article/states-intergovernmental>. 6