The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2019 2.2.3 Concerns around reintroduction of the use of the death penalty or the extension of its scope Despite the global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty, for many reasons brought to light in this report, there have also been discussions in numerous countries, including in the OSCE region, about bringing back the death penalty for specific crimes that do not necessarily meet the criteria of “most serious.” General Comment No. 36 clearly states that abolition of the death penalty is “legally irrevocable.” It adds that a state cannot transform an offence into a capital offence, unless it was already one upon ratification of the ICCPR.263 As highlighted in the UN Secretary-General’s report on the question of the death penalty264, there were widely reported discussions of reintroducing the death penalty in two abolitionist states, Mongolia and Turkey. On 2 April 2018, the President of Mongolia announced that he would be submitting a draft law to Parliament, suggesting that in cases of child sexual abuse, the perpetrator should face the death penalty.265 He stated that this was motivated by the fact that he had received many verbal and written requests from citizens regarding the reinstatement of capital punishment and ran a public poll through his official website for one month. The EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democratisation 2018 stated that if Mongolia reintroduced the death penalty, it would go against Mongolia’s international commitments.266 Mongolia has, however, requested EU support with arguments against the death penalty, suggesting openness to strengthening public opinion against capital punishment.267 As discussed above regarding participating States’ engagement in national or international activities relevant to the issue of the death penalty, Mongolia has, since April 2018, consistently and actively contributed to the abolitionist movement.268 During this reporting period, the Turkish President suggested that Turkey would like to reintroduce the death penalty. In August 2018, it was reported that capital punishment would be restored for “terrorism offences and the murder of women and 263  General Comment No. 36, op. cit., note 10, para. 34. 264  Report of the Secretary-General, Question of the death penalty, op. cit., note 198, para. 12. 265  “President Battulga to present to parliament draft bill on reinstating capital punishment for child sexual abuse offender”, Office of the President website, 2 April 2018, <https://president.mn/en/2018/04/02/president-battulga-to-present-to-parliament-draft-bill-on-reinstating-capital-punishment-for-child-sexual-abuse-offenses/>. 266  “Mongolia - EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democratisation 2018”, EU EEAS website, 5 May 2019, <https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-Homepage/62405/mongolia-eu-annual-report-human-rights-and-democratisation-2018_pt>. 267  Ibid. 268  Consider their key involvement in launching the Global Alliance for Torture-free Trade. 51