Source: https://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=russian+federation
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 04:12:29+00:00

Document:
U.S. Dept. of State, Background Note: Russia, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3183.htm, Nov. 2, 2011.
 President Boris Yeltsin’s Decree no. 724 of May 16, 1996 “for gradual reduction of the application of the death penalty in conjunction with Russia's entry into the Council of Europe”; Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty: Countries Abolitionist in Practice, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/countries-abolitionist-in-practice, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012. Note that while our standard (used by the United Nations) for determining that a country is abolitionist in practice requires only that no judicial execution has occurred within the last ten years, Amnesty International also offers an evaluation that the Federation has no intent to re-initiate executions.
 Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009.
 Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009.
 U.S. Dept. of State, Background Note: Russia, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3183.htm, Nov. 2, 2011 (information as of Aug. 2011).
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2017, p. 28, ACT 50/7955/2018, Apr. 12, 2018.
 Caroline Sculier, Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. Strategies, Arguments and Perspectives, p. 12, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Feb. 2010.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions 2018, p. 29, 50/9870/2019, Apr. 10, 2019.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions 2017, p. 28, ACT 50/7955/2018, Apr. 12, 2018.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2011, pp. 31, 58, ACT 50/001/2012, Mar. 27, 2012. A moratorium on executions has been in force in the Russian Federation since 1999 and was extended in 2009. Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2010, p. 52, n. 49, ACT 50/001/2011, Mar. 28, 2011. A moratorium on executions has been in force in the Russian Federation since 1999 and was extended in 2009. Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2009, p. 18, ACT 50/001/2010, Mar. 30, 2010.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2007, generally, ACT 50/001/2008, Apr. 15, 2008.
 President Boris Yeltsin’s Decree no. 724 of May 16, 1996 “for gradual reduction of the application of the death penalty in conjunction with Russia's entry into the Council of Europe”; Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty: Countries Abolitionist in Practice, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/countries-abolitionist-in-practice, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 105(2), Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art.357, Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 295, 317, Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 277, Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 59, 66, 277, 295, 317, 357, Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, arts. 60-65, 105, 277, 295, 317, 357, Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty: Countries Abolitionist in Practice, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/countries-abolitionist-in-practice, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 59(2), Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, arts. 21-22, Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Status, Declarations, and Reservations, ICCPR, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Dec. 16, 1966, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-4&chapter=4〈=en, last accessed Feb. 28, 2012.
 Status, Declarations, and Reservations, Optional Prot. to the ICCPR, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Dec. 16, 1966, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-5&chapter=4〈=en, last accessed Feb. 28, 2012.
 Status, Declarations, and Reservations, Second Optional Prot. to the ICCPR, Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty, 1642 U.N.T.S. 414, Dec. 15, 1989, http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-12&chapter=4〈=en, last accessed Feb. 28, 2012.
Supreme Court and Constitutional Court decisions can be accessed at: http://www.vsrf.ru/index.php. The resource is in Russian.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 20, Dec. 12, 1993. See also Article 56(3) on non-derogation.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 15, Dec. 12, 1993.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 125, Dec. 12, 1993.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 46(3), Dec. 12, 1993. See also Article 56(3) on non-derogation.
 Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009; Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2008, p. 20, ACT 50/003/2009, Mar. 24, 2009.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Human Rights Council on its eleventh session, para. 335, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/11/37, Oct. 16, 2009.
 Russia is committed to abolishing the death penalty as a member of the Council of Europe, Hands Off Cain, http://www.handsoffcain.info/news/index.php?iddocumento=10001778, Jan. 1, 2008.
 Medvedev says Russia's death penalty ban was not his choice, Ria Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100402/158412354.html, Apr. 2, 2010; Caroline Sculier, Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. Strategies, Arguments and Perspectives, p. 13, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Feb. 2010; O.S.C.E.’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area: Background Paper 2011, p. 5, http://www.osce.org/odihr/82896, 2011; Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2010, p. 25, ACT 50/001/2011, Mar. 28, 2011; RIA Novosti choice: The top ten events in the Russian judiciary and legal system in 2009, RIA Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100104/157434175.html, Jan. 4, 2010; U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Human Rights Council on its eleventh session, para. 335, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/11/37, Oct. 16, 2009.
 President’s Decree no. 724 of May 16, 1996 “for gradual reduction of the application of the death penalty in conjunction with Russia's entry into the Council of Europe”; Caroline Sculier, Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. Strategies, Arguments and Perspectives, p. 12, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Feb. 2010; Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty: Countries Abolitionist in Practice, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/countries-abolitionist-in-practice, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2008, p. 20, MDE 50/003/2009, Mar. 24, 2009.
 Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Feb. 28, 2012, reporting that executions were carried out between 1996 and 1999 in the Chechen Republic.
 Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty: Countries Abolitionist in Practice, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/countries-abolitionist-in-practice, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Feb. 26, 2012; Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2008, p. 20, MDE 50/003/2009, Mar. 24, 2009.
 Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009; RIA Novosti choice: The top ten events in the Russian judiciary and legal system in 2009, RIA Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100104/157434175.html, Jan. 4, 2010. We could not find a translation of the full text of the Constitutional Court judgment and the sources that report it are ambiguous as to if the moratorium refers to the imposition of death sentences or only to executions. We believe that the moratorium comprises both application and execution of death sentences, considering that the grounds for the Constitutional Court 1999 judgment were the lack of jury trials and of constitutional safeguards regarding the application of the death penalty. However, Amnesty International reports a commutation of 697 death sentences to life imprisonment at the end of 2009 (Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2010, p. 25, ACT 50/001/2011, Mar. 28, 2011). We couldn't find any other source confirming this commutation. Considering that all death sentences were commuted in 1999 (Mark Warren, The Death Penalty Worldwide: Estimated Death Row Populations, http://users.xplornet.com/~mwarren/global.htm, Jan. 21, 2012; Caroline Sculier, Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. Strategies, Arguments and Perspectives, p. 12, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Feb. 2010), a new commutation in 2009 could only mean either that the 1999 commutation did not, after all, encompass all persons on death row or that new death sentences had been passed after 1999. The latter would mean that the 1999 judicial moratorium applied only to executions. However, we could not find evidence of death sentences imposed after 1999 - there are no death sentences reported at least since 2006 and the fact that Russia became a member of the Council of Europe makes the imposition of death sentences between 1999 and 2006 very unlikely.
 Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009; http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100104/157434175.html. We could not find a translation of the full text of the Constitutional Court judgment and the sources that report it are ambiguous as to if the moratorium refers to the imposition of death sentences or only to executions. We believe that the moratorium comprises both application and execution of death sentences, considering that the grounds for the Constitutional Court 1999 judgment were the lack of jury trials and of constitutional safeguards regarding the application of the death penalty. However, Amnesty International reports a commutation of 697 death sentences to life imprisonment at the end of 2009 (Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2010, p. 25, ACT 50/001/2011, Mar. 28, 2011). We couldn't find any other source confirming this commutation. Considering that all death sentences were commuted in 1999 (Mark Warren, The Death Penalty Worldwide: Estimated Death Row Populations, http://users.xplornet.com/~mwarren/global.htm, Jan. 21, 2012; Caroline Sculier, Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. Strategies, Arguments and Perspectives, p. 12, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Feb. 2010), a new commutation in 2009 could only mean either that the 1999 commutation did not, after all, encompass all persons on death row or that new death sentences had been passed after 1999. The latter would mean that the 1999 judicial moratorium applied only to executions. However, we could not find evidence of death sentences imposed after 1999 - there are no death sentences reported at least since 2006 and the fact that Russia became a member of the Council of Europe makes the imposition of death sentences between 1999 and 2006 very unlikely.
 For example, Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 15, Dec. 12, 1993.
 Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Concerning Abolition of the Death Penalty, Strasbourg, 1983; Council of Europe, Protocol no. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty, Chart of signatures and ratifications, Status as of Mar. 2, 2012, http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=114&CM=8&DF=02/03/2012&CL=ENG, last accessed Mar. 2, 2012. This document has been ratified by every other Member State of the Council of Europe and was signed by the Russian Federation, in part as part of an agreement to obtain membership in the Council of Europe. Additionally, only one nation in Europe (Belarus, not a member of the Council of Europe) carries out executions. This tends to support reports that judges were influenced by the Federation’s obligations under treaty and customary law. Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Andrei Skvarsky, Russia: Death Penalty Moratorium Extended Indefinitely, Global Voices, http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/01/09/russia-death-penalty-moratorium-extended-indefinitely/, Jan. 9, 2010.
 Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, art. 310(3), Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 89, Dec. 12, 1993.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 59(3), Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 20, Dec. 12, 1993. See also Articles 47(2) & 123(4), guaranteeing the right to trial by jury in criminal cases or any case stipulated by federal law; Article 56(3) on non-derogation.
 Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009; RIA Novosti choice: The top ten events in the Russian judiciary and legal system in 2009, RIA Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100104/157434175.html, Jan. 4, 2010.
 Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, art. 354(4), Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, art. 355, Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, art. 360, Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, art. 361 et seq., Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 Mark Warren, The Death Penalty Worldwide: Estimated Death Row Populations, http://users.xplornet.com/~mwarren/global.htm, Aug. 6, 2010; Caroline Sculier, Towards a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. Strategies, Arguments and Perspectives, p. 12, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Feb. 2010.
 U.S. Dept. of State, 2010 Human Rights Report: Russia, Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eur/154447.htm, April 8, 2011; Amnesty Intl., Annual Report 2011, Russian Federation, http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/russia/report-2011, last accessed Mar. 6, 2012.
 U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Committee Against Torture, Consideration of Reports Submitted by State Parties under Article 19 of the Convention, Concluding Observations and Recommendations: Russian Federation, paras. 8, 17, 20-24, U.N. Doc. CAT/C/RUS/CO/4, Feb. 6, 2007.
 U.S. Dept. of State, 2010 Human Rights Report: Russia, Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eur/154447.htm, April 8, 2011; Official site of the President of Russia, Draft law aimed at humanization of criminal legislation has been submitted the State Duma, http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/2345, Jun. 7, 2011.
 U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Committee Against Torture, Fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2010: Russian Federation, paras. 292-298, U.N. Doc. CAT/C/RUS/5, Dec. 28, 2010. According to the report, the “Outline” was approved by Government Order No. 1772-r.
 European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, States: Documents and Visits, Russian Federation, http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/states/rus.htm, last accessed Mar. 12, 2012.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art. 59(2), Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009Dec. 28, 2004.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art.59(2), Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009Dec. 28, 2004.
 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, art.59(2), Law No. 63-FZ of Jun. 13, 1996, as amended through to Jul. 29, 2009.
 Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 3-P/1999, Feb. 2, 1999; Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Decision No. 1344-O-R/2009, Nov. 19, 2009; Valery Pankrashin, Russia to Decide on Death Penalty Moratorium, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8352090.stm, Nov. 10, 2009; Denis Pinchuk, Russian Court Extends Moratorium on Death Penalty, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLJ330478, Nov. 19, 2009; Amnesty Intl., Death Sentences and Executions in 2008, p. 20, ACT 50/003/2009, Mar. 24, 2009; Amnesty Intl., Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries, last accessed Sep. 17, 2010.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 48, Dec. 12, 1993. See also Article 56(3) on non-derogation. Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, art. 51(5), Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Committee Against Torture, Consideration of Reports Submitted by State Parties under Article 19 of the Convention, Concluding Observations and Recommendations: Russian Federation, para. 8, U.N. Doc. CAT/C/RUS/CO/4, Feb. 6, 2007; U.S. Dept. of State, 2010 Human Rights Report: Russia, Denial of Fair Public Trial, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eur/154447.htm, Apr. 8, 2011.
 Constitution of the Russian Federation, art. 48, Dec. 12, 1993. See also Article 56(3) on non-derogation. Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, arts. 51(5), 364(3)(4), Law No. 174-FZ of Dec. 18, 2001, as amended through to Jun. 1, 2005.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Leandro Despouy: Russian Federation, paras. 93-97, A/HRC/11/41/Add.2, Mar. 23, 2009.
 U.S. Dept. of State, 2010 Human Rights Report: Russia, Denial of Fair Public Trial, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eur/154447.htm, Apr. 8, 2011; Amnesty Intl., Annual Report 2011, Russian Federation, http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/russia/report-2011, last accessed Mar. 6, 2012.
 U.N. CCPR, Human Rights Committee, Consideration of Reports Submitted by State Parties under Article 40 of the Convention, Concluding Observations and Recommendations: Russian Federation, para. 12, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/RUS/CO/6, Nov. 24, 2009.
 U. N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Committee, Communication No. 1304/2004, Khoroshenko v. Russian Federation, Views adopted on 29 March 2011, UN Doc. CCPR/C/101/D/1304/2004, Apr. 29, 2011.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Russian Federation, para. 85(2), U.N. Doc. A/HRC/11/9, Mar. 3, 2009.
 U.N.G.A., Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Russian Federation, para. 76, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/11/9, Mar. 3, 2009.
 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Resolution 1187(1999), Europe: a death penalty-free continent, http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta99/ERES1187.htm, May 26, 1999; Resolution 1277(2002), Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta02/ERES1277.htm, Apr. 23, 2002; Resolution 1455(2005), Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta05/ERES1455.htm, Jun. 22, 2005; Recommendation 1760(2006), Position of the Parliamentary Assembly as regards the Council of Europe member and observer states which have not abolished the death penalty, http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta06/erec1760.htm, Jun. 28, 2006.
The Russian Federation became a Member of the Council of Europe in 1996. As a condition of accession to the organization, it committed itself to abolishing the death penalty and to ratifying Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty (allowing for exceptions for acts committed in time of war or of imminent threat of war), within three years of joining the Council. Although Russia ratified the Convention, it only signed the Protocol (in April 6, 1997)  and the ratification process is still pending. Russia is the only Member State of the Council of Europe which has not ratified this Protocol. It is also one of the few Member States that is not a party to Protocol no. 13 to the Convention, Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in All Circumstances  .
 Council of Europe, Protocol no. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty, Chart of signatures and ratifications, Status as of Mar. 2, 2012, http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=114&CM=8&DF=02/03/2012&CL=ENG, last accessed Mar. 2, 2012.
 Council of Europe, Protocol no. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in All Circumstances, Chart of signatures and ratifications, Status as of Mar. 2, 2012, http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=187&CM=8&DF=02/03/2012&CL=ENG, last accessed Mar. 2, 2012.
 U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Committee Against Torture, Consideration of Reports Submitted by State Parties under Article 19 of the Convention, Concluding Observations and Recommendations: Russian Federation, paras. 8, 17, 20-24, U.N. Doc. CAT/C/RUS/CO/4, Feb. 6, 2007; U.S. Dept. of State, 2010 Human Rights Report: Russia, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eur/154447.htm, Apr. 8, 2011.

References: art. 105
 art.357
 art. 295
 art. 277
 art. 59
 art. 59
 art. 20
 art. 15
 art. 125
 art. 46
 art. 15
 art. 310
 art. 89
 art. 59
 art. 20
 art. 354
 art. 355
 art. 360
 art. 361
 art. 59
 art.59
 art.59
 art. 48
 art. 51
 art. 48
 v.