The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area On 30 September 2015, the Governor of Oklahoma issued a 37-day stay of execution only minutes before a prisoner was due to be killed, after the prison department revealed it did not have one of the drugs required for the lethal injection. On 10 December 2015, Norway, on behalf of the OSCE participating States Iceland, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, San Marino, Switzerland and Norway, strongly condemned an execution in Georgia that took place on 8 December 2015 and on which American media reported.98 Secret executions and lack of transparency As noted by the UN Secretary-General, the continued lack of transparency on the part of some governments concerning the numbers of persons who have been executed is incompatible with human rights. States should refrain from carrying out executions in secret and strive to take all measures necessary to guarantee access to information on the death penalty, including advance notice to family members regarding the date of execution.99 The lack of transparency has direct consequences for the human rights not only of the persons sentenced to death, but also for other affected persons.100 Similarly, as mentioned by the United Special Rapporteur on torture in the introduction to this paper, the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated in a case concerning Belarus, where this practice is often observed, that for a convict and her or his family, a lack of transparency can result in inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment within the meaning of article 7 of the ICCPR. The Committee against Torture has also expressed deep concern over the unnecessary secrecy and uncertainty surrounding executions. It noted that refusing to provide advance notice of the date and time of execution to convicted persons and their family members was a clear human rights violation.101 Similarly, the EU has stated that where capital punishment occurs, it may not be carried out in secrecy and that the family and lawyers of prisoners on death row must be notified of details of their execution.102 In a statement on 10 October 2012, the Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) stated that, “Belarus continues to carry out executions in a particularly cruel way: the condemned are shot in the head, and their families are not told in advance. Belarus knows that ending this barbaric practice is an essential condition for joining 98  Permanent Delegation of Norway to the OSCE, statement on capital punishment in the USA, Vienna, 10 December 2015, <http://www.norway-osce.org/PageFiles/750590/12-10%20Death%20Penalty%20USA.pdf;m>, response of the United States Mission to the OSCE, Vienna, 10 December 2015 at <http://www.osce.org/ pc/212931?download=true>. Also see, Rhonda Cook, “Georgia Executes Brian Keith Terrell after Struggling to Find Vein”, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Dec. 9, 2015, <http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/brian-keith-terrells-execution-still-on-as-lawyers/npfLW/>. 99  Secretary General, op. cit., note 22, para.58. 100  See, Economic and Social Council, resolution 1989/64, 24 May 1989, <https://www.unodc.org/documents/ commissions/CCPCJ/Crime_Resolutions/1980-1989/1989/ECOSOC/Resolution_1989-64.pdf>. 101  See, Concluding observations on the second periodic report of Japan, 28 June 2013, CAT/C/JPN/CO/2, para. 15, <http://www.refworld.org/publisher,CAT,JPN,51dfe6614,0.html>; and Secretary General, op. cit., note 22, para 51-52. 102  EU Guidelines, op. cit., note 8. 26