Mongolia 'to abolish death penalty'
18/01/2010
The Mongolian government has expressed its intentions to abolish the death penalty, pointing out that the majority of the world's countries made this decision long ago.
According to the current president of the country Tsakhia Elbegdorj, action will be taken immediately to pardon those currently on death row and sentences will be converted to 30-year jail terms.
Mr Elbegdorj stated that there have been several cases in which people have had the penalty overturned due to the appearance of new evidence in their favour.
The country chooses not to disclose the number of people who are executed every year in Mongolia.
However, the Times pointed out, the transition may not be an easy one, as the president's announcement was not met with enthusiasm in parliament and previous plans have been abandoned.
"I ask Mongolia to put behind us this death penalty which degrades our dignity to death. The road a democratic Mongolia has to take ought to be clean and bloodless," he declared.
Countries that still practise the death penalty include China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA.
According to Amnesty International, it is the "ultimate denial of human rights".
Written by Clare Devlin
