The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area On 4 December 2016, following a parliamentary vote in favor of a new criminal code that abolishes capital punishment for all crimes, Mongolia became the 105th country worldwide and the 52nd OSCE participating State to abolish the death penalty in law.144 The decision has been welcomed by the international community. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein hailed the end of the death penalty in the country as a welcome step in the fight for the human rights of all, thanking Mongolia for its strong and sustained leadership on this issue. 145 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), also welcomed the complete abolition of the death penalty in Mongolia. Recalling that most of the OSCE region now recognizes the inherently cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of the death penalty, he called Mongolia’s decision a very positive development and an encouraging example of progress made towards the respect for human dignity and integrity in the OSCE region.146 2.1 Abolitionist participating States Engagement in activities relevant to the issue of the death penalty on the national and international level (Question 1 and 7) Forty-one out of 52 abolitionist participating States submitted replies to OSCE/ ODIHR’s questionnaire on the death penalty. The majority of those replies confirmed that the participating States from this group remained dedicated to international efforts towards the abolition of the death penalty through various initiatives, including different events and activities within and of the OSCE, the UN, the Council of Europe and the EU. A number of OSCE participating States, including Albania, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Montenegro and the Netherlands, reported that they had supported and welcomed the adoption of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution of 1 October 2015 on the question of the death penalty drafted by Switzerland (A/ HRC/RES/30/5). The governments of Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Malta, Spain and Turkey emphasized their work on advancing the international campaign for a moratorium on the death penalty. Several respondents also stressed their active participation in discussions at the UN General Assembly and the endorsement of statements by the UN Human Rights Council calling for abolition. Some of the participating States, for example Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, expressed their support for 144  Amnesty International, “Mongolia: Historic vote abolishes death penalty”, 4 December 2015, <https:// www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/12/mongolia-historic-vote-abolishes-death-penalty/>. 145  United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “Zeid hails end of death Penalty in Mongolia”, 9 December 2015, <http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16857&LangID=E>. 146  Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, “OSCE/ODIHR Director welcomes the abolition of the death penalty in Mongolia”, 11 December 2015, <http://www.osce.org/odihr/209026>. 34