On 24 June 2022, ICDP co-organized with Kazakhstan a side event at the sidelines of the 50th Human Rights Council consisting of a roundtable on lessons learned by countries from national experiences in the global campaign for a universal abolition of death penalty. ICDP Vice President Dreifuss and the ICDP Secretariat participated in the side event. The speakers participating in the roundtable presented their experiences as their countries abolished death penalty and this included the abolitionist routes adopted by Sierra Leone (who abolished the death penalty in October 2021) and Kazakhstan (who abolished the death penalty in December 2021). The date of the side event, 24 June, was symbolic for Kazakhstan as their ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in March 2022, came into effect on that day. The Permanent Representatives of Turkmenistan and Switzerland briefly spoke about the national experiences of their countries in the voyages to abolish the death penalty, but also highlighted, along with ICDP Vice President Ruth Dreifuss, the importance of multilateral effort, of political leadership despite their different experiences towards abolition, and the need of increasing the message of abolition of capital punishment. This message was echoed by the Permanent Representatives of Sierra Leone and Kazakhstan. ICDP Vice President Dreifuss mentioned the importance of regional death penalty free zones and the Permanent Representatives of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan confirmed their commitment to the goal of Central Asia and Mongolia as a zone free of the death penalty. The presentations were followed by a productive interactive session.
The speakers at the roundtable included:
- Kazakhstan's Permanent Representative Ambassador Yerlan Alimbayev
- ICDP Vice President Ruth Dreifuss
- Switzerland's Permanent Representative Ambassador Jürg Lauber
- Sierra Leone's Permanent Representative Dr Lansana Gberie
- Turkmenistan's Permanent Representative Ambassador Atageldi Haljnaov
The roundtable was moderated by ICDP Director of Policy Dr Rajiv Narayan.
For more information on this side event, please click here.
