death_penalty_new.qxd 02-08-27 12:57 Page 16 THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA 4. THE USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE REGION For the purpose of this study, each participating State has been classified as abolitionist, partly abolitionist, de facto abolitionist or retentionist. The four terms have been defined in the following way. Abolitionist: The death penalty has been abolished for all offences committed in peacetime and wartime. Partly abolitionist: The death penalty has been abolished for all offences committed in peacetime but is retained for certain offences committed in wartime. De facto abolitionist: The death penalty is retained for certain offences committed in peacetime and wartime although executions are not carried out. Retentionist: The death penalty is retained for certain offences committed in peacetime and wartime and executions are carried out. As of 30 June 2002, 43 OSCE participating States are abolitionist. Of the remaining 12 participating States that retain the death penalty in some form, three are partly abolitionist, four are de facto abolitionist and five are retentionist29. The three participating States that have partly abolished the death penalty are Albania, Greece and Latvia. The four participating States that have de facto abolished the death penalty are Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Turkey. The five participating States that retain the death penalty are Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, the United States of America and Uzbekistan. In addition, the death penalty is also retained in some form in four internationally unrecognized separatist regions. These are Nagorno-Karabakh (within Azerbaijan), Abkhazia and South Ossetia (both within Georgia) and Transdniestria (within Moldova). This Chapter focuses on the use of the death penalty in these 12 participating States and the four internationally unrecognized separatist regions. In addition, there are also entries on three participating States that have only recently become abolitionist or retain the death penalty in anomalous or inactive legal provisions. Each entry consists of four sections. These are the relevant international instruments, legal framework, statistics and international standards. 29 Since the reporting period covered by this paper there have been significant changes to the Turkish law on the death penalty. See entry 4.15 on Turkey. 16