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Human Rights Commissioner Strässer on the abolition of the death penalty in Mongolia
The Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Christoph Strässer, issued the following statement on 15 December on the abolition of the death penalty in Mongolia:
I expressly welcome the definitive abolition of the death penalty in Mongolia. By making the final amendments to eliminate capital punishment from Mongolian law, the country has taken a further vital step to safeguard human rights and fundamental freedoms. Mongolia is thus an encouraging example for the region and for the world.
Background information:
Mongolia introduced a moratorium on executions in 2010. Two years later the Mongolian parliament ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The abolition of the death penalty has now been enshrined in the Mongolian Criminal Code.
On 4 December 2015 the Mongolian parliament passed a new Criminal Code from which capital punishment has been eliminated. The new Criminal Code, which also enacts other legal reforms, will come into effect on 1 September 2016.
Mongolia is thus the 105th country in the world to definitively abolish the death penalty. Germany and its EU partners oppose the death penalty on ethical and moral grounds as well as for reasons of legal policy and are campaigning worldwide for the abolition of this cruel form of punishment.