(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 3. President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a Decree granting authority to
sign Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the abolition of the death
penalty in all cases, trend reports.
Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head
of the Department for Work with Law Enforcement Bodies of the
Presidential Administration Fuad Alasgarov spoke on President Ilham
Aliyev's initiative with AZERTAC.
Azerbaijan marks the 25th anniversary of the abolition of the
death penalty in 2023. The humanistic policy of National Leader of
the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev resulted in the establishment
of a moratorium on the death penalty in 1993. The country
reconstructed pardon and amnesty institutions, and took important
steps to ensure human rights and freedoms. The death penalty
initiative was one of the most prominent examples of this
policy.
National leader Heydar Aliyev, in his historic address to the
Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan on February 3, 1998,
stressed that the right to life is the inalienable right of every
person, regarded the death penalty as an inhuman and brutal measure
running counter to human dignity, expressed his confidence that the
abolition of this type of punishment would not only be a historic
event, but also a decisive step in humanization of criminal law
policy and the reform of the legal system.
Following this initiative, based on humanism, justice, freedom,
Azerbaijan became the first country in the East to abolish the
death penalty.
Along with adopting the key acts of national law on the
abolition of the death penalty, the great leader also initiated the
country's accession to the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the
abolition of the death penalty, as well as Protocol No. 6 of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms.
Although these 1980 international documents provided for the
abolition of the death penalty, this type of punishment was being
applied for war crimes. However, the evolution of international
human rights law continued towards the abolition of the death
penalty in all cases, resulting in the adoption of Protocol No. 13
of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms.
Adhering to the national leader's humanistic policy, Azerbaijan
never intended to apply the death penalty, and the national
legislation doesn't envisage the death penalty for any crimes. On
the contrary, targeted and sustained action is being taken to
further liberalize the criminal law policy.
The amnesty acts, taken following the initiative of President
Ilham Aliyev, spread to over 57,000 people, the Presidential
Decrees on pardon covered around 5,900 people. Meanwhile, the
conceptual changes made to the criminal legislation have led to
decriminalization of many acts, and the use of alternative
punishments and measures of procedural coercion society has
expanded significantly.
Taking into account the international efforts to completely ban
the death penalty, including for crimes committed during war or
with an imminent threat of war, on February 3, 2023, President of
the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev gave relevant instructions
related to the signing of Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the
abolition of the death penalty in all cases, on behalf of the
Azerbaijan Republic.
This step taken by President Ilham Aliyev demonstrated once
again his will to ensure the right to life at the highest
level.