The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2021 justice process, and that innocent people would not be executed.51 Experience from Virginia seems to underpin that thorough communication of factual information can help to dispel some of the myths that surround the death penalty and help change public opinion.52 CSOs can also be influential in making sure that key human rights concerns related to death penalty cases are brought to light, for example in the form of “friend of the court letters” opposing the death penalty for persons with intellectual disabilities.53 In Virginia, working in co-operation with defence attorneys, the submission by civil society of intervenor briefs supporting post-conviction appeals helped keep challenges to death sentences on various grounds percolating through the appellate courts.54 This increased the likelihood that the United States Supreme Court would take on the issue and was very important in terms of leading to the Atkins v. Virginia 2002 judgment that found unconstitutional the sentencing to death or execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities. CSOs also played a key role in pushing for reforms in Kazakhstan, where a substantial number of human rights defenders and CSOs advocated for abolishment of the death penalty for many years.55 Advocacy by such organizations often focused on interacting with government officials to push for final steps towards full abolition in law.56 CSOs were also influential in raising public awareness about the death penalty, emphasizing the fact that miscarriages of justice are possible and that Kazakhstan should move towards compliance with its international obligations and ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, for example. Some observers pointed out the impact of civil society in their work with parliamentarians, mobilizing and convincing MPs of reasons against the death penalty. Contributions of CSOs included participation in one of the meetings for the Working Group on the Criminal Code at the Parliament on 19 November 2013, which brought together representatives of the General Prosecutor’s office, MPs, state officials, lawyers and civil society representatives. The discussion focused on the death penalty 51 Interview with Mark Warren, op. cit., note 46. 52 Ibid. 53 ACLU, High Court Rules That Executing the Mentally Retarded Is “Cruel and Unusual” Punishment, 20 June 2002. 54 Interview with Mark Warren, op. cit., note 46. 55 Penal Reform International, The abolition of the death penalty and its alternative sanction in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, May 2013. 56 Ibid. 20