Annex 3 Relevant Recommendations Made at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in 2007 Views were exchanged on the question of the abolition of capital punishment during working session 9. Some participants expressed the view that death was a just punishment for those who showed no respect for human life, while others said that capital punishment might in itself violate the right to life. A number of interventions questioned whether capital punishment presented an effective deterrent, and expressed concern that any miscarriage of justice would be irreversible. Speakers noted that the trend in the OSCE region was towards abolition and that in some states where the death penalty remained, de facto moratoriums were either in place and/or the number of offences that carried the death penalty had been reduced. A few OSCE participating States repeated their commitment to removing the death penalty but explained that they first needed to build up the capacity of their prisons to house more prisoners serving life sentences. A majority of participating States called for universal abolition of the death penalty, not just in the OSCE region, and many interventions supported the initiative to adopt a resolution at the 67th UN General Assembly session calling for a global moratorium on the use of capital punishment.88 The following recommendations were made:89 • The death penalty should be abolished; • Those OSCE participating States that have not yet done so should establish a moratorium on executions in the meantime; • Those OSCE participating States that have not yet done so should ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Optional Protocol to the Convention 88  “Human Dimension Implementation Meeting Consolidated Summary”, OSCE/ODIHR, 24 September – 5 October 2007, p. 26. 89  Ibid., pp. 78-81. 43