The death penalty is enforced for 41 offenses (27 peacetime...

The death penalty is enforced for 41 offenses (27 peacetime and 14 wartime) and in 1997 was extended to gangsterism. In conformity with current legislation, the death penalty cannot be applied to minors under 18, pregnant women and women with children under 12 months old. Reportedly, a new Penal Code reducing the number of capital offenses is to be put before Parliament. Retention of the death penalty is considered necessary due to an increase in serious crimes. Nevertheless, in June 1997 the Government announced a moratorium on executions, pending the outcome of peace negotiations, passed on opposition supporters for crimes connected with the civil war. Tajikistan's courts have increasingly resorted to the death penalty in an attempt to restore stability to the war-scarred country of 5.7 million people. While some semblance of economic and political stability has returned since the end of the 1992-1997 civil war, drug smuggling, kidnappings and gun battles between warlords still plague the country.