Death Penalty News

The Belarusian democratic forces have taken an additional step toward aligning their vision of a future Belarus with European human rights standards by adopting a Memorandum on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Belarus. The document was passed by the Coordination Council on 17 June 2025 and supported by the United Transitional Cabinet and the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.  The Memorandum demonstrates a unified commitment of the democratic forces to ending capital punishment in Belarus in all cases and under all circumstances.

The Permanent Representative of Armenia to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Arman Khachatryan, in the presence of Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, has deposited the ratification instrument, thereby completing the process of ratification by Armenia of Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which represents the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances.

The 8th World Congress against the Death Penalty took place in Berlin on 15-18 November 2022.  This event brings together more than 1000 participants from 90 countries– human rights activists and public figures who work towards the abolition. The Council of Europe’s Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, participated in the opening ceremony on 15 November.  The Council of Europe also took part in the “Abolitionist Village” – a dedicated space where the Council of Europe’s delegation promoted the Organisation’s work and publications on the abolition.  In addition, the Council of Europe’s delegate, Mr Sergey Dikman, spoke at the panel “How to make the abolition of the death penalty irreversible?” where he reflected on the role of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights in setting up the scene for a complete abolition in Europe.  A financial support was provided to the exhibition “Faces of abolition” exhibited at the Humboldt University of Berli...

Human Rights organizations warn that victims of the Kremlin will now find it hard to hold Moscow accountable. The Russian Federation's exit from Europe's top human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has been condemned by human rights groups concerned about the impact on victims of the Kremlin's rights abuses. "Russia leaving the Council of Europe sends the message that its leadership disregards human rights," Philippe Dam, acting EU Director of Human Rights Watch, told DW. "The Kremlin is clearly trying to step away from any scrutiny over its actions against the rights of its people," he added. Russia's withdrawal announcement came during an emergency session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to formally expel Moscow from the council over its invasion of Ukraine. In a statement released on its Telegram account, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it decided to "part with such a Council of Europe without regret." Th...

March 15 (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday quit the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog based in Strasbourg, pre-empting possible expulsion over its attack on its neighbour Ukraine. Pyotr Tolstoy, head of the Russian delegation at the Council's Parliamentary Assembly, said on his Telegram channel that he had handed over a letter from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announcing Moscow's decision. The Council of Europe, whose brief is to uphold human rights and the rule of law and is separate from the European Union, had suspended Russia's membership on Feb. 25, the day after it invaded Ukraine. Moscow said last week that the U.S.-led NATO alliance and EU countries were undermining the Council and Russia would no longer participate. RELATED |  Russia Quits Europe’s Rule of Law Body, Sparking Questions Over Death Penalty RELATED | Russia | Dmitry Medvedev calls on Russia to reintroduce death penalty On Monday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal urged the Council to expel...

Russia has announced it will withdraw from Europe’s oldest rule-of-law body, the Council of Europe, sparking questions over the future of the Kremlin’s moratorium on the death penalty. The Kremlin placed a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which remains enshrined in Russian law, as a condition of Council of Europe membership in 1996. The Council of Europe suspended all Russian representatives from participation the day after President Vladimir Putin announced an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. The decision did not affect the European Court of Human Rights. Former President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia’s suspension from the Council of Europe was a “good opportunity” to reinstate the death penalty. RELATED |  Russia | Dmitry Medvedev calls on Russia to reintroduce death penalty The move would also ban Russians from filing claims with the European Court of Human Rights. “Russia will not participate in the transformation of the oldest European organization into another platfo...

After the Council of Europe on Friday suspended Russia’s rights of representation, the country’s deputy chairman of the Security Council says this is a good opportunity to restore the death penalty for the most severe crimes. Capital punishment has not been allowed in Russia since then-President Boris Yeltsin in 1996 established a moratorium on the law, a ruling later confirmed by the country’s Constitutional Court in 1999. No member country of the Council of Europe can have the death penalty. On February 25, a day after Putin launched war on Ukraine, the Committee of Ministers in the Council of Europe decided to suspend Russia from its rights of representation, both in the Committee and in the Parliamentary Assembly. The decision has immediate effect and is made as a direct result of Russia’s armed attack on Ukraine. However, Russia is still a member of the Council of Europe and party to the relevant conventions, including the European Convention on Human Rights. For the former Prime ...

Capital punishment has not been applied by Moscow since 1996 The moratorium on capital punishment imposed in Russia in 1997 after the country joined the Council of Europe could be lifted in the future, the chairman of the country’s Constitutional Court said on Tuesday. In a book published on the website of the court, Valery Zorkin suggested that the country return to the doctrine of national identity and that constitutional control means Moscow should make its own laws, rather than take influence from other countries in Europe.  In Zorkin’s view, the introduction of a moratorium on capital punishment was a concession to values which are not inherent in Russia. “The fact that the Constitutional Court has made a decision making it impossible to use the death penalty in Russia at this historical stage of its development does not rule out the possibility of a return to this form of punishment in the future,” Zorkin said. Russia has an indefinite moratorium on the application of capital...

The European and World Day against the Death Penalty, the European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their firm opposition to capital punishment at all times and in all circumstances. The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment contrary to the right to life. Its abolition is essential to ensure respect for human dignity. This year’s World Day is dedicated to women. Although women represent a small percentage of global death sentences, gender-based discrimination continues to impact women at all levels of the criminal justice system. In some countries, women are sentenced to death at higher rates than men for offences linked to sexual morality, such as adultery. Moreover, mitigating circumstances related to gender-based violence and abuse are rarely taken into consideration during the criminal process. The abolition of the death penalty is primarily a question of political will. We welcome the fact that the number of countries that are still executing people ha...

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday he will lead a global campaign to end state-sponsored executions. PARIS (Reuters) - France will launch a campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as part of its upcoming presidency of the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday. A conference will be held in Paris gathering civil society groups from countries where the death penalty is in use or suspended, Macron said in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of France’s abolition of the punishment. France, which will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2022, will also work with other member states towards a United Nations resolution requiring countries to report each year the number of death penalty sentences given and executions carried out, he said. Macron was speaking alongside Robert Badinter, the justice minister of late President Francois Mitterrand who steered the abolition of the death penalty through the Fre...

On 23rd September twenty three members of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly signed and presented a written declaration supportive of Kazakhstan and welcoming the country's action to abolish the death penalty. The declaration states: "We welcome the decision by the Kazakh authorities to abolish the death penalty entirely by signing the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. We mostly welcome the statement of the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the General Debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly where he underlined the strong position of the State to fulfil the fundamental right to life and human dignity and his decision to join the Second Optional Protocol. This decision is in keeping with the values and principles of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as set out in Resolution 2193 (2017) “The relations of th...

The Council of Europe continues to call on Minsk to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its abolition, a spokesperson for the organization told Sputnik, commenting on the consent of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to put the issue to a referendum. On Tuesday, Lukashenko said that the majority of Belarusians, in his opinion, are in favor of preserving capital punishment, but agreed to submit the issue of its abolition to a separate referendum in the future. “The position of the Council of Europe on death penalty is well known: death is not justice, and capital punishment does not deter crime. As a first step towards abolition of the death penalty, the Council of Europe has repeatedly called on Belarusian authorities to impose a moratorium on its use,” the spokesperson said. RELATED | Proposal to hold referendum on death penalty in Belarus On Tuesday, after Lukashenko announced that Belarus will hold a referendum on a new constitution in February...