PACE Urges Russia To Abolish Death Penalty

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Monitors from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly have reiterated calls for Russia to abolish the death penalty. Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Luc Van den Brande and Theodoros Pangalos said the Council of Europe insisted Russia remove the death penalty from its books, a commitment it undertook when it joined the body in 1996.

After joining the council, Russia imposed a moratorium on executions. But it remains the only country among the council's 46 members not to have ratified a protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the abolition of the death penalty.

The PACE monitors today concluded a three-day visit to Russia to assess its progress in honoring its commitments to the council, Europe's top human rights watchdog.

The monitors said they had noted some positive developments. They also voiced concerns over some aspects of Russian electoral law ahead of forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

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Posted March 29th, 2007 by Dinka

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