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No Way to Abolish Capital Punishment
For PACE President René van der Linden, one of the top concerns in Russia is to urge the country’s authorities to abolish death penalty. Russia hasn’t sealed the respective sixth protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, although the death penalty moratorium is in force in the country from 1996.
To-date, 97 states have abolished death penalty either completely or at least for all crimes but for committed in time of the war; 25 states have retained the capital punishment provision in the laws but don’t apply it in practice; 74 states have maintained the capital punishment right, though not all of them use it.
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rene van der Linden arrived in Moscow March 27 to discuss with authorities the priorities of the next chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which Russia will hold from May to November 2006. One of the highlights of the tour is the death penalty abolishment. It appears the European leaders have resumed pressurizing Russia in this issue.
Most Russians, however, favor the capital punishment. The 74 percent polled by Public Opinion Foundation in February 2006 said yes when asked about admissibility of the death penalty (vs. 79 percent five years ago). Moreover, 63 percent of respondents viewed the death penalty moratorium as a mistake and only 4 percent backed up the complete abolishment of capital punishment in Russia.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 28, 2006
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