Kyrgyzstan considers return of death penalty

Kyrgyzstan president, Sadyr Japarov. Photo credit: Wikipedia

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Kyrgyzstan’s constitutional court on Wednesday started examining a draft law backed by President Sadyr Japarov that would bring back the death penalty in the Central Asian state.

The UN human rights high commissioner has opposed the move to bring back executions.

The court has said that under the law, death could be ordered for “particularly serious sexual crimes on children” and for “murders committed with rape”.

If the court rules that the new law is constitutional, it would be sent back to parliament to organise a referendum on amending Article 25 of the constitution, Japarov said in October. It was not known when the court would give a decision.

Japarov proposed bringing back the death penalty after the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in September that drew widespread outrage in the country of seven million people.

Kyrgyzstan’s last execution was in 1998. The death penalty was abolished in 2007.

Kyrgyzstan was once considered one of the most democratic of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, but several rights groups have condemned worsening conditions since Japarov came to power in 2021.

UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk said in October that bringing back executions in Kyrgyzstan would be a “serious violation of international law”. Kyrgyz rights groups have said the country needs to improve criminal inquiries and police training.

AFP

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