3.2 Kazakhstan Relevant International Instruments International Instruments Ratification Status ICCPR Ratified Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR Not signed Status: de facto abolitionist Legal Framework An amendment of 21 May 2007 to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty in all cases save for acts of terrorism entailing loss of life and for especially grave crimes committed in wartime. The Criminal Code needs to be amended in accordance with this constitutional amendment, as it provides that the following 10 offences carry the death penalty:49 murder with aggravating circumstances; terrorism; attempt on the life of a person administering justice or preliminary investigations; attempt on the life of the president; state treason; sabotage; planning, preparation, or conduct of aggressive war; use of prohibited means and methods of conducting war; genocide; and mercenary participation in armed conflict. The death penalty is also envisaged for eight military crimes committed in time of war.50 The Criminal Code provides for alternatives to the death penalty. Moratorium In December 2003, a presidential decree placed a moratorium on executions until the full abolition of the death penalty.51 Subsequent amendments to the Criminal Code 49  Article 15 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 30 August 1995. Also see Article 49 (1) of the Criminal Code, 1 January 1998. 50  Articles 96 (2), 156 (2), 159 (2), 160, 162 (4), 165, 167, 171, 233, 340, 367 (2), 368 (3), 369 (3), 373 (3), 374 (3), 375 (3), 380 (3), 383 of the Criminal Code. 51  Presidential Decree No. 1251 “On the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, 17 December 2003. 17