Based on the Decree of President Ilham Aliyev dated February 3, on March 8, the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe Fakhraddin Ismayilov in Strasbourg, in the presence of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Peychinovich Buric, signed Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the protection of guman rights and fundamentar freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, APA reports citing the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe.
As is well known, on the initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, a moratorium on the execution of the death sentence was first introduced in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1993, and the application of the death penalty was abolished in our national legislation in 1998.
However, the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party, as well as Protocol No. 6 of the Convention "On the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," reserved the possibility of applying the death penalty as an exceptional case for war crimes committed during the war. But, in accordance with the Great Leader's humanitarian policy, our country has never intended to use the death penalty.
Thus, by joining Protocol No. 13 following the completion of the relevant domestic ratification process, the Republic of Azerbaijan will have officially confirmed its intention to completely prohibit the death penalty, including for crimes committed during wartime or under imminent threat of war, as well as to guarantee the highest level of the right to life.
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