COUNCIL OF EUROPE. PACE WANTS RUSSIA TO RATIFY PROTOCOL ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe President Rene van der Linden said the European community would urge Russia to ratify the Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, which abolishes the death penalty, as soon as possible. Linden told a news conference ahead of the PACE autumn session that the Russian parliament should consider the issue immediately. If this document is not ratified for the January session, stronger pressure will be brought on the Russian delegation, Linden said. Asked whether the Russian delegation could be stripped of its powers should Russia fail to ratify the protocol by that time, Linden said no. When Russia was admitted to the Council of Europe in 1996, it committed itself to abolishing the death penalty.