Kazakhstan’s president signs law abolishing death penalty

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev today (29 December) signed the Law 'On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Abolition of the Death Penalty'.

Last year, in line with Kazakhstan’s principles and the direction of its political development, the country took the decision to join the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – an international protocol on the abolition of the death penalty.

This was announced in President Tokayev’s statement at the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2020, during which he emphasized the nation’s commitment to enforcing the fundamental right to life and human dignity.

Kazakhstan’s Parliament ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on December 23 at a plenary session of the Senate.

During deliberations on this subject earlier this year at the National Council of Public Trust, the Head of State stressed that the abolition of the death penalty should be adopted without any reservations, thereby supporting the position of Kazakh human rights activists on this issue.

Kazakhstan’s decision to abolish the death penalty ensures that the criminal legislation in the country is humane.

Today, President Tokayev also signed the Law "On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan". He announced the initiative to develop this law in January 2021 at the opening of the first session of the Parliament of Kazakhstan of the VII convocation.

This law significantly expands the powers of Kazakhstan’s Ombudsperson for Human Rights and clearly defines the legal status of the office.

The adoption of these laws is in line with the course of the Government towards ensuring the protection of human rights and political modernization in Kazakhstan. They form part of large-scale political reforms of the President and his ‘Listening State’ initiative.

Both Laws were signed following extensive discussions between the government and the representatives of Kazakh civil society and human rights activists, including at the National Council of Public Trust.

The death penalty in Kazakhstan was completely suspended in 2003 by the Decree of Kazakhstan’s First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, on the introduction of a moratorium.

While Kazakhstan has not carried out an execution in almost two decades, prior to the complete abolition of the death penalty, death sentences were handed down in most rare cases to those convicted of serious crimes.

In 2020, Kazakhstan joined the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty included in the International Bill of Human Rights.

Source: eureporter.co, Staff, December 30, 2021

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