The European Union welcomed the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Armenia on December 15, 1989, aimed at the abolishment of death penalty by Armenia. Thus, Armenia became the 89th State party of it. This is mentioned in the the EU Speaker’s statement.
“On 19 March 2021, Armenia deposited the instrument of ratification on the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, becoming its 89th State party.
While the Armenian Constitution already protects the right to life and prohibits the death penalty, Armenia makes this abolition irreversible with its accession to this protocol.
The EU welcomes this important decision, which is in line with the world trend to abandon the most inhuman and cruel punishment,” EU Spokesperson’s
statement reads.
On September 5, 2019, the Government of Armenia approved the proposal to sign the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to abolish the death penalty. The Armenian Parliament adopted the relevant law on January 19, 2021, and it entered into force on February 10 - the day after President Armen Sarkissian signed it.
The Second Optional Protocol on the Abolition of the Death Penalty stipulates that no person under the jurisdiction of a State party to the Protocol shall be subject to death penalty, and that each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction.
