UZBEKISTAN WILL ANNUL CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN 2008

President Islam Karimov has signed a decree cancelling the death penalty in Uzbekistan. "Proceeding from generally recognized principles and norms of international law, provisions of the Uzbek Constitution proclaiming the right to life, and also with the purpose of implementing measures to further liberalize criminal punishment, the death penalty shall be cancelled in the Republic of Uzbekistan as of January 1, 2008, as a form of criminal punishment and shall be replaced by sentence for life or long prison terms," the decree says. "Individuals sentenced to life or to long prison terms shall serve their terms at correctional institutions featuring special conditions".  The document said the Uzbek government should undertake measures to change opinion of the people on death penalty and develop programme on creation of infrastructure to hold prisoners, jailed for long term.
The Uzbek state-owned media was entrusted to explain population importance of abolishment of death penalty.
Currently, two clauses – terrorism and premeditated murder in aggravating circumstances – of Uzbek Criminal Code envisage death penalty.