AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Open Letter

20 April 2005

   A coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for a death
 penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia


 The organizations joining this appeal are unconditionally opposed to the
 death penalty in all circumstances in all countries around the world on
 the grounds that it is a violation of the right to life and that it is the
 ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As long as the death
 penalty is maintained, the risk of executing the innocent can never be
 eliminated. Executions are brutalizing and only serve to reinforce the
 cycle of violence. They achieve nothing but revenge and cause anguish for
 the innocent relatives of those who are executed.

         One hundred and twenty countries -- more than half of the
 countries in the world -- have now abolished the death penalty in law or
 practice. An average of over three countries a year have abolished the
 death penalty in law or, having done so for ordinary offences, have gone
 on to abolish it for all offences.


         On 20 April 2005, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
 adopted a resolution on the question of the death penalty calling for a
 moratorium on executions and the observance of international safeguards in
 death penalty cases. We welcome its adoption and urge all countries in
 Europe and Central Asia that retain the death penalty to follow the
 Commission's recommendations.

         In particular, we are calling on the relevant authorities in Belarus and
 Uzbekistan, whose countries are the last executioners in Europe and Central
 Asia, to move swiftly towards abolition by introducing a moratorium on death
 sentences and executions as a first step with a view to complete abolition
 of the death penalty in due course.

         We are calling on the governments of all countries and territories
 in the region that currently have moratoria in place to fully abolish the
 death penalty as a matter of urgency.

         We urge the Presidents to exercise political leadership on this
 issue and to do all within their remit to further the trend towards
 abolition in the region.

         The introduction of moratoria in Belarus and Uzbekistan is particularly
 pressing as flawed criminal justice systems in both
 countries provide a fertile ground for judicial error. There have been
 credible allegations of unfair trials, and torture and ill-treatment,
 often to extract "confessions", on a regular basis. In Belarus between four and
 seven people have reportedly been sentenced to death and
 executed every year since 2000. President Islam Karimov said at a press
 conference in December 2004 that between 50 and 60 people had been
 sentenced to death in Uzbekistan in 2004. However, both governments have
 consistently failed to publish
 comprehensive statistics on death sentences and executions. The
application of the death penalty in Belarus and Uzbekistan is surrounded by
 secrecy. As a result death row prisoners and their
 relatives are subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment. Neither the
 prisoners nor their relatives are informed of the date of the execution in
 advance, denying them a last chance to say goodbye. The body of the
 prisoner is not given to the relatives for burial and they are not
 informed of the place of burial.

         Around 150 prisoners have "accumulated" on death row since Kyrgyzstan
 introduced a moratorium on executions in December 1998. Many death row
 prisoners have been waiting for years in a state of continued uncertainty
 as to their ultimate fate, which constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading
 treatment. Kazakstan as well as the internationally unrecognized regions of
 Abkhazia and the Dnestr Moldavian Republic have also continued to pass death
 sentences.

         Russia has a moratorium on death sentences and executions in place and
 is now the only country of all 46 members of the Council of Europe that has still
 not abolished the death penalty in law despite its promise upon accession
 to the organization to abolish it no later than 1999. Tajikistan and the
 internationally unrecognized region of South Ossetia also have moratoria on
 death sentences and executions in place.

         In  most of the countries in the region that no longer carry out
 executions, relatives of death row prisoners, who had previously been
 executed, have still not been able to find out where their loved ones were
 buried. In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, for example, domestic legislation till
 stipulates that the place of  burial is not disclosed.

         We are concerned that the conditions on death row in the region
 fall far short of international standards. In Belarus, for example, death row
 prisoners are not entitled to any outdoor
 exercise and electric lighting is on day and night. In Kyrgyzstan some death row
 prisoners have reportedly lost mobility due to lack of exercise.

         Many governments in the region have frequently referred to public
 opinion as a key argument against introducing a moratorium or abolishing
 the death penalty. At the same time, several countries prevent an informed
 public debate from taking place by withholding vital information about the
 application of the death penalty, including comprehensive statistics on
 death sentences and executions. In Belarus and Uzbekistan there have been
 instances where the authorities have actively limited the
 peaceful expression of opinions on the death penalty, including by
 harassing and intimidating activists.

         The organizations joining this appeal believe that governments
 should lead public opinion in matters of human rights and criminal policy.
 Historically it has almost always been the case that the death penalty has
 been abolished by governments even though significant sectors of the
 public favoured its retention.

         We urge the governments in Europe and Central Asia to refrain from
 deporting people to countries where they are at risk of being sentenced to
 death, in line with international treaty obligations. Many countries have
 in the past facilitated such deportations and the death verdicts have
 often been pronounced in unfair trials accompanied by torture allegations.
Russia deported at least two men to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001 and 2000
 respectively where both were sentenced to death, in violation of Russia's
 human rights commitments as a member of the Council of Europe. Kyrgyzstan
 deported people to executions in China and Uzbekistan only months after
 Kyrgyzstan had put a moratorium in place citing its commitment to protect
 human rights. Other countries that deported people to executions in recent
 years included Kazakstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

 Background

           In the nineteenth century and the period leading up to the Second World
 War, the death penalty was permanently abolished in several European
 countries. Out of the atrocities of the Second World War came a new thirst
 for human rights resulting, among others, in a new wave of moves towards
 abolition of the death penalty. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the
 creation of independent states from Eastern Europe to Central Asia gave a
 new impetus to the drive towards a death penalty-free zone in Europe and
 Central Asia.

         We have great sympathy with the victims of crime and recognize the
 duty of governments to tackle problems of law and order. However,
 scientific studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence
 that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other
 punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation
 between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the UN in 1988
 and updated in 2002, concluded that "it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis
 that capital punishment deters
 murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application
 of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment."

___________________________________________________________________________

 International non-governmental organizations

 Amnesty International - Irene Khan, Secretary General;
 ECPM, Ensemble contre la peine de mort - Michel Taube, President;
 FIDH, International Federation for Human Rights - Sasha Koulaeva, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk;
 Human Rights Watch - Rachel Denber, Acting Executive Director for Europe and Central Asia;
 ICJ, International Commission of Jurists - Nicholas Howen, Secretary General;
 International Federation of ACAT, Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture - Sylvie Bukhari-de Pontual;
 International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights - Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director;
 International League for Human Rights - Scott Horton, President;
 OMCT-Europe, World Organisation Against Torture - Laetitia Sedou, European Co-ordinator;
 Penal Reform International - Paul English, Executive Director;

 Regional non-governmental organizations

 ACAT México [Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture] - Fabienne Cabaret, Legal Coordinator (Mexico);
 Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants - Esther C Bangcawayan, Women Program / Area Co-ordinator (Hong Kong);
 Asian Human Rights Commission - Basil Fernando, Executive Director (Hong Kong);
 Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty - Dorina Lisson, President  (Australia);
 Azerbaijan Foundation for Democracy and Human Rights Protection - Rena Sadaddinova (Azerbaijan);
 Azerbaijan Human Rights Center - Eldar Zeynalov, Director (Azerbaijan);
 Belarusian Helsinki Committee - Dzmitry Markusheuski, Press Secretary (Belarus);
 Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Nigina Bakhrieva, Program Director (Tajikistan);
 Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development - Emil Adelkhanov, Deputy Chair of the Council (Georgia);
 Center of Legal Aid for Ethnic Minorities - Guncham Nurakhunova, Director (Kazakhstan);
 Centre for Civil Initiatives - Albert Voskanyan, Director (Nagorno-Karabakh);
 Centre for Humanitarian Programs - Batal Kobahiya (Abkhazia);
 Chernihiv Public Committee of Human Rights Protection - Oleksiy Tarasov, Chair (Ukraine);
 Congress of Caucasian Women - Maka Khangoshvili, Chair (Georgia);
 Death Penalty Focus - Lance G. Lindsey, Executive Director (United States of America);
 Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights - Nana Kakabadze, Chair (Georgia);
 Helsinki Citizens' Assembly  of Azerbaijan - Arzu Abdullaeva (Azerbaijan);
 Helsinki Citizens' Assembly of Vanadzor - Artur Sakunts (Armenia);
 Human Rights Center "Fray Francisco de Vitoria" - Miguel Concha Malo, Chair of the Board (Mexico);
 Human Rights Committee - Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada (Mexico);
 Human Rights Information and Documentation Centre - Ucha Nanuashvili, Executive Director (Georgia);
 Human Rights Network "Todos los Derechos para Todos" [All Rights for All] - Edgar Cortés, Secretary General (Mexico);
 Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan "Civil Assistance" - Ruslan Sharipov, Chair (Uzbekistan);
 Independent Human Rights Group - Dinara Sayakova, Director (Kyrgyzstan);
 Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan - Surat Ikramov, Chair (Uzbekistan);
 Institute of Peace and Democracy - Leyla Yunus (Dr.), Director (Azerbaijan);
 Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - Arianna Ballotta, President (Italy);
 Joint Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty - Father Franco Mella (Hong Kong);
 Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing - Bill Pelke, President (United States of America);
 Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese - Christine Or (Hong Kong);
 Legal Aid Society - Nozima Kamalova (Uzbekistan);
 Legal Forum Association - Yury Shentsov, Executive Director (Kyrgyzstan);
 Legal Initiative - Valeri Fadeev, Chair (Belarus);
 Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights - Fabián Sanchez Matus, Director (Mexico);
 Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture - Tamara Chikunova, Chief-Coordinator (Uzbekistan);
 Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights - Hon. Renny Cushing, Executive Director (United States of America);
 Norwegian Helsinki Committee - Bjorn Engesland, Secretary-General (Norway);
 Professional Assistance - Yelena Volochay, Member of Board (Ukraine);
 Public Committee for Aid to Refugees "Civil Assistance" - Svetlana Gannushkina (Russia);
 Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - Rick Halperin, President (United States of America);
 Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights - Farid Tukhbatullin (Turkmenistan);
 Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation on Human Rights - Tadzhigul Begmedova, Chair (Turkmenistan);
 United Filipinos in Hong Kong Secretariat - Emmanuel C Villanueva, Secretary-General (Hong Kong);
 Uzbekistan Human Rights Society "Ezgulik" - Vasila Inoyatova, Chair (Uzbekistan);
 Women's Association of Abkhazia - Natella Akaba, Chair of the Steering Board (Abkhazia);
 Youth Human Rights Group - Maria Lisitsyna, Chair of the Coordinating Council (Kyrgyzstan).



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