The introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty...

The introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty in Kazakhstan had not helped resolve all problems facing prison inmates with death penalty sentences, said Ivar Vikki, head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's center in Almaty. Speaking at a roundtable session in Astana, Vikki complained that the issue of people sentenced to death was not resolved when the death penalty moratorium was introduced and suggested providing some status for people sentenced to death whose pardon pleas had been rejected. The country lacked comprehensive guidelines envisioning the possibility for people to be released on parole, the OSCE official said, adding that the constitutional rights of people who had been sentenced to death were not observed in full.