II. The Status of the Death Penalty in the OSCE Area 1. Children of parents sentenced to death or executed5 The death penalty has a noteworthy impact not only on accused and convicted people, but also on the children of such people. Although there is still an urgent need for more research into the situation of children of those sentenced to death or executed, there is a growing body of evidence that documents the specific and serious mental health implications of capital punishment for these children.6 Such children are affected by issues comparable to those experienced by children of imprisoned parents, as well as by repercussions unique to children of parents sentenced to death.7 However, their experiences are often overlooked in criminal justice processes by the public, as well as states in the wider framework of their obligation to prevent torture or other ill-treatment. Children might therefore be considered the hidden and indirect victims of capital punishment.8 Remembering that many of those facing the death penalty in retentionist states are parents, can contribute to rehumanizing death row prisoners in public perception, as well as reminding authorities and the public to consider the damage the death penalty does to those connected to the sentenced person. Considering that the majority of OSCE participating States have abolished, in law and in practice, the death penalty, or are considered de-facto abolitionists, one of the issues to explore in the OSCE is 5  The following sub-section is partly based on a legal memorandum prepared by the Sussex Law School at the University of Sussex, “Human Rights Law Clinic Papers 2017 - the impact of the death penalty on children of parents sentenced to death” (2017), commissioned by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (Sussex Legal Memo), <https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=clinic2017-yeboahappiah-deathpenaltyparents-final.pdf&site=408>. 6  United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Secretary-General, “Question of the death penalty”, A/HRC/24/18 (1 July 2013), para. 77, <https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G13/157/38/PDF/ G1315738.pdf?OpenElement>.. 7  Olivier Robertson and Rachel Brett, “Lightening the Load of the Parental Death Penalty on Children”, Quakers United Nations Office, June 2013, at 46, <http://www.quno.org/sites/default/files/resources/Lightening%20 the%20Load.Web_.EN_.pdf>. 8  ‘“Hidden” victims: the children of parents on death row’, OHCHR, 10 October 2013, <http://www.ohchr.org/ EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HiddenVictims.aspx>.