NEW RESOURCES: The Status of the Death Penalty in Countries Comprising the European Security Area

The OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the world’s largest regional security organization comprised of 56 States including the U.S., recently published a 2009 Background Paper on The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area. It was prepared by the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and updates the 2008 background paper of the same title. The 2009 paper highlights the changes in status of the death penalty in participating OSCE states. Of the 56 countries, only the U.S. and Belarus retain an active death penalty. The Russian Federation and Tajikistan retain the death penalty but are not carrying out executions. The full text of the paper can be found in English and Russian on ODIHR’s publication page.

(The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (2009)). Posted Oct. 28, 2009. See also International and Studies.