The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area crime trends before and after the moratorium, conducting sociological studies and considering the possible ratification by Tajikistan of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.89 According to the Dushanbe-based public foundation “Nota Bene”,90 the Working Group, which consists of key officials from the executive, the judiciary and the Ombuds Institution of Tajikistan, has been active in co-operating with civil society to raise public awareness of the issue of the death penalty.91 However, the Working Group has not reported on the results of its work or findings since its establishment in 2010.92 On 9 and 10 July 2013 in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Committee considered the second periodic report of Tajikistan on its implementation of the ICCPR. On 23 July 2013, the Committee adopted its Concluding Observations, which recommend Tajikistan “expedite its efforts to abolish the death penalty from its Criminal Code and […] ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant […]”.93 In its response to the ODIHR questionnaire on the death penalty, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Tajikistan to the OSCE highlighted that public support for the death penalty is one of the issues that needs to be addressed before the adoption of a law providing for its complete abolition.94 According to a sociological survey conducted by the public foundation “Nota Bene” between June and August 2013, out of 2,074 respondents aged 18 and older, 67 per cent supported the abolition of the death penalty.95 The result shows a 6 per cent increase in respondents favouring the complete elimination of capital punishment, and a decrease of almost 10 per cent of respondents in favour of retaining the death penalty, as compared to a similar public opinion survey conducted between November and December 2010.96 The experiences of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in working towards the full abolition of the death penalty was the focus of a regional conference held on 89  Ibid. 90  “Nota Bene” is a human rights and democracy think tank that works to promote human rights and the development of civil society in Tajikistan. For more information, see the official website: <http://www.notabene.tj/>. 91  “Death Penalty: Sociological Survey of Public Opinion on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the Republic of Tajikistan”, Public Foundation “Nota Bene”, Dushanbe 2013, <http://notabene.tj/documents/New2014_02/ SDC_2013__Rus.pdf>. 92  Ibid. 93  “Concluding observations on the second periodic report of Tajikistan”, UN Human Rights Committee, 26 July 2013,<http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2f TJK%2fCO%2f2&Lang=en>. 94  Tajikistan Response, op. cit., note 84. 95 T h e respondents were interviewed across 34 districts of Tajikistan; 60.9 per cent were men and 39.1 per cent women. Public opinion survey on the death penalty, op. cit., note 91. were 96  “Death Penalty: Public Opinion in the Republic of Tajikistan”, Public Foundation “Nota Bene”, Dushanbe 2010, <http://www.notabene.tj/documents/publication/Smertnaya_kazn_issledovanie.pdf>. 24