UZBEKISTAN JOINS INTERNATIONAL PROTOCOL ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY

Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed the law "The accession by the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty", the presidential press office told Interfax.
The bill was passed by Uzbekistan's Legislative House on October 30, 2008, and was approved by the Senate on December 5, 2008. 
On August 1, 2005, the president signed a decree abolishing the death penalty in Uzbekistan, followed by the passing of the changes and amendments to several Uzbek laws due to the abolition of the death penalty, the press office said. According to these documents, the death penalty has been excluded from the Uzbekistan criminal penalties since the beginning of 2008.