EU AND COUNCIL OF EUROPE CALL ON ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN TO JOIN PROTOCOL ON BANNING DEATH PENALTY

13 October 2022 :

On the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe firmly reiterated their unequivocal opposition to the death penalty at all times, in all places and in all circumstances.
They also called on Armenia and Azerbaijan, the last two Member States of the Council of Europe that have not yet acceded to Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances to do so without delay.
'The steady worldwide decline in the number of states still applying the death penalty confirms the global trend towards abandoning this cruel, inhuman and ineffective punishment. A minority of 18 states, 9% of the total number of UN Member States, still carried out executions in 2021. We call on those states to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards abolition, the EU and the Council of Europe said in the joint statement.
Death penalty has not been completely annulled in Armenia. A de-facto moratorium on executions is in effect based on the president's constitutional right to issue a pardon. According to the official data, no death sentence has been executed in Armenia since 1991.
The Criminal Code of Armenia envisages capital punishment for such crimes as treason, espionage, terrorism, crimes against the state, banditry and some others.
The basic ban on the death penalty is stipulated by Part 3 of Article 24 of the Constitution. The aforementioned norm is of imperative nature, that is, this prohibition can be overcome only by making appropriate amendments to the Constitution.
At the same time, Article 76 of the Constitution stipulates that during a state of emergency or martial law, derogations from human rights obligations are possible within the framework of international commitments.

 

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