The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) welcomes Kazakhstan's ratification on 24 March 2022, of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
In a statement, ICDP President Navi Pillay noted that Kazakhstan's ratification of the Second Optional Protocol "is an international reaffirmation of its commitment to the total abolition of the death penalty and follows the country’s abolition of the death penalty for all crimes and without any caveats on December 29, 2021. Thus, Kazakhstan has made an important step which moves the Central Asian region closer towards becoming a death penalty-free region. This important decision is special as the country is an important member state of the ICDP’s Support Group. Thanks to this historic decision of Kazakhstan, worldwide abolition of the death penalty is closer today than ever before."
At the same time, the Commission positively noted the proposal of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, voiced in his recent State-of-the Nation Address to the People of Kazakhstan "New Kazakhstan: the Path of Renewal and Modernization", on making appropriate amendments to the abolition of the death penalty in the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was emphasized that "such a constitutional amendment will further consolidate Kazakhstan’s abolition of capital punishment and end this cruel inhuman punishment that has no place in the world today."
Kazakhstan is one of the founders of the Support Group of the ICDP. The Commission's work is supported by a geographically diverse group of 23 member states committed to the abolition of the death penalty. Its Secretariat is based in Madrid and is responsible for the day-to-day work of the Commission.
