Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed grave concern over statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the country’s government would soon introduce a bill to reinstate the death penalty, and that he would sign such a bill into law, the OSCE Office stated.
OSCE condemns Erdogan’s statements on reintroducing death penalty
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 2, ARTSAKHPRESS: “President Erdogan’s stated readiness to back the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey is alarming, given that most countries in the OSCE region have recognized its inherently cruel, inhuman and degrading nature and no longer impose this punishment,” Director Link said. “Rather than reversing their course, I call on the Turkish authorities to continue to advocate for the global abolition of capital punishment, as they have in the past.”
Michael Georg Link recalled that OSCE countries have all agreed that no circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture or other ill-treatment, or to undercut fundamental fair trial standards.
