Reintroduction of death penalty in Kyrgyzstan to violate international law - UN Human Rights Chief
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk calls on Kyrgyz authorities to halt immediately efforts to reintroduce the death penalty, saying that “such a retrograde move would be a serious breach of international law,” Kazinform News Agency reports.
According to an official statement from the UN Human Rights Office, Kyrgyzstan stopped using capital punishment in 1998 and then permanently prohibited its use in law in 2010, after ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). That treaty obliges States Parties to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.
“The rights enshrined in the Covenant and the Second Optional Protocol, once afforded, then belong permanently to the people in the territory of the State party and cannot be taken away, no matter the justification that is offered,” the High Commissioner said.
He emphasized that no justice system is perfect, and if the death penalty were reintroduced, it would in time lead to the death of innocent people at the hands of the State.
“The UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees implementation of the ICCPR, has made clear that, as the Covenant and the Second Optional Protocol do not contain provisions for their denunciation, abolition of the death penalty is legally irrevocable for States that have accepted those treaties. This also means that States are barred from reintroducing it.” reads the statement.
In addition, a State that has ratified the Protocol without reservations is not permitted to carry out the death penalty, even for the most serious crimes.
“Kyrgyzstan has for a number of years been part of the growing – and very welcome – international consensus for the universal abolition of the death penalty. The current draft legislative initiatives also run counter to the spirit of the pledges the country has made, including most recently its backing for a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling on States to ratify the Second Optional Protocol,” Türk said.
Some 170 States have abolished or introduced a moratorium on the death penalty in law or in practice.
On September 30, mass media reported about the abduction, rape, and murder of a 17-year-old girl in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. The case was taken under personal control of Sadyr Japarov, who proposed to reintroduce the death penalty for particularly grave crimes, such as child rape and the rape and murder of women.
The proposals are currently available for public discussion and are set to be voted on in a referendum. If approved, they will be submitted to the Parliament.
