The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2017 Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia have either introduced such legislation or announced plans to do so.117 2.2 Abolitionist participating States In the OSCE region, 52 out of 57 participating States are classified as abolitionists, meaning that the death penalty has been abolished for all crimes, in law and in practice. Although during the reporting period no relevant changes were made or proposed as to the reinstatement of the capital punishment, concerns were raised with regard to two particular situations. In Turkey, after the attempted coup in July 2016 and in the wake of the April 2017 referendum, the Turkish President spoke in favour of its reintroduction, leading to international criticism.118 In its reply to the 2017 ODIHR questionnaire, Turkey made no mention of the reinstatement of capital punishment. In December 2015, following a parliamentary vote in favor of a new Criminal Code, Mongolia became the 105th country worldwide and the 52nd OSCE participating State to abolish the death penalty in law for all crimes. The new Criminal Code should have entered into force in September 2016, but on 30 August 2016 the Mongolian Parliament adopted a law that postponed the implementation of the new Criminal Code by a further ten months.119 Twenty-seven out of 52 abolitionist States submitted their replies to the ODIHR’s questionnaire 2017 on the death penalty. Participating States engagement in national or international activities relevant to the issue of the death penalty Several OSCE participating States highlighted their participation in the “Biennial High-Level Panel on the Death Penalty”,120 which was held on 1 March 2017 during the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Panel was organized in accordance with two Human Rights Council resolutions on the question of 117  “At Least Seven States Introduce Legislation Banning Death Penalty for People with Severe Mental Illness”, Death Penalty Information Center, <https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/6673>. 118  OSCE PA, “OSCE PA human rights Chair Sanchez Amor calls for rule of law in Turkey”, 4 November 2016, <https://www.oscepa.org/parliamentary-diplomacy/helsinki40/project-news/press-releases/2016/2632-osce-pahuman-rights-chair-sanchez-amor-calls-for-rule-of-law-in-turkey>; see also ODIHR press statement, note 60, 119  “Mongolia: Logistical Challenges Should not Delay Abolition of Death Penalty and Measures to Combat Torture”, Amnesty International, 13 September 2016, <https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa30/4806/2016/ en/>. 120  34th session of the Human Rights Council, Biennial high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty, Theme: The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 1 March 2017, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session34/Documents/CN_DEATH_PENALTY.doc>. 35