The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends and Perspectives.7 In the preface, UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-Moon noted that there was no place for the death penalty in the 21st century and that leaders worldwide should work towards its abolition.8 On 9 October 2014 in Geneva, the European Union (EU) and Italy organized the event Justice that Kills – The Death Penalty in the 21st Century, as part of the World Day against the Death Penalty. The participants discussed and challenged justifications for the death penalty in today’s society.9 On 10 October 2014, on the occasion of the 12th World Day against the Death Penalty, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter launched an international call to abolish the death penalty, which was signed by foreign ministers of 12 countries.10 The objective of the international call was to develop an open and respectful discussion among countries, and to encourage their efforts towards abolition. The initiative came as part of the Swiss government’s 2013–2016 strategy for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. The goal of the strategy is to promote the abolition of or a moratorium on executions at the global level by 2025.11 On 4 March 2015, during its the 28th Session, the UN Human Rights Council held a biennial high-level panel on Regional efforts, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and challenges faced in that regard, focused on efforts aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and challenges countries and organizations are facing in reaching that goal. The panel reiterated the importance of activities at the regional level, emphasizing the likelihood of success in the abolition of the death penalty when countries have similar historical, social and cultural ties.12 Joachim Rücker, President of the Human Rights Council, stated that the death penalty was an extreme form of 7  Moving Away from the Death Penalty: National Leadership; High-level event of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 25 September 2014, <http://www. ohchr.org/EN/Issues/DeathPenalty/Pages/DPIndex.aspx>. 8  Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends and Perspectives (New York: OHCHR, 2014), <http://www. ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/DeathPenalty/MovingAwayDP.pdf>. 9  “World Day against the Death Penalty 2014, Geneva: The EU delegation in Geneva is organizing a conference entitled ‘Justice that kills – the death penalty in the 21st century’”, International Commission against the Death Penalty, 1 October 2014, <http://www.icomdp.org/2014/10/world-day-against-the-death-penalty-2014-geneva-the-eu-delegation-ingeneva-is-organizing-a-conference-entitled-justice-that-kills-%e2%80%93-the-death-penalty-in-the-21st-century/>. 10  The response of Switzerland to the 2015 OSCE/ODIHR Questionnaire on the state of death penalty; “Swiss launch joint declaration against death penalty”, Swiss Info, 10 October 2014, <http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/executions_swisslaunch-joint-declaration-against-death-penalty/41053904>. 11  Ibid. 12  “The 28th regular session of the Human Rights Council (2 to 27 March 2015)”, the UN Human Rights Council, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session28/Pages/28RegularSession.aspx>. 7