death_penalty_new.qxd 02-08-27 12:57 Page 48 THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA 4.14 TAJIKISTAN174 RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS International Instruments Signed Ratified Article 6 of the ICCPR Yes Yes Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR No No Article 37 (a) of the CRC Yes Yes LEGAL FRAMEWORK Status: Retentionist Scope: The death penalty is legal punishment in peacetime and in wartime. The Constitution of the Republic of Tajikstan provides that “No one shall be deprived of his life except by order of the court for the gravest crimes”175. The Criminal Code envisages the death penalty for 15 crimes. These are murder, rape, terrorism, taking hostages, hijacking, banditry, illicit trafficking of narcotics, illicit cultivation of illegal substances, robbery, attempted killing of a statesman or a public figure, violent capture of authority, war of aggression, genocide, biocide, and the deliberate infringement of the norms of international humanitarian law176. The Presidential Administration of Tajikistan has set up a working group to review the current Criminal Code. There have been indications that the death sentence may be removed for certain crimes. These are genocide, biocide and the cultivation of illegal substances. 174 175 176 This entry was written with the assistance of the OSCE Mission to Tajikistan. The Delegation of the Republic of Tajikistan to the OSCE did not complete our questionnaire on the death penalty. Article 18 of the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, 6 November 1994. Articles 104(2), 138(3), 179(4), 181(3), 184(3), 186(1) and (3), 200(3), 204(3), 249(4), 310, 306, 395(2), 398, 399 and 403(2) of the Criminal Code, 21 May 1998. 48