SWITZERLAND WELCOMES "ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT"

Ulaanbaatar, /MONTSAME/ The Swiss Confederation has reported that it welcomes the intention to ban the capital punishment announced by Mongolia's President Elbegdorj on 14 January 2010.
"Last Thursday, the President Elbegdorj announced a moratorium on capital punishment in Mongolia, which takes effect immediately. The President ordered that death penalties that have already been pronounced should be commuted to 30-year prison sentences. Switzerland welcomes this move, by which Mongolia has assumed a pioneering role in the East Asian region. It encourages Mongolia to change the moratorium into a formal abolition of capital punishment," says the report.
"Abolition of capital punishment is a priority of Swiss foreign policy in the context of the protection and the promotion of human rights. Switzerland attaches particular importance to respecting human dignity. It therefore welcomes the fact that an increasing number of states have abolished capital punishment. In order to accelerate this trend, the next World Congress against the Death Penalty will be held in Geneva from 24 to 26 February 2010 under the auspices of Switzerland," it says.
B.Khuder