Kyrgyz Activists Seek Speedy End To Death Penalty

(RFE/RL) BISHKEK, November 30, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- An estimated 400 rights activists demonstrated in central Bishkek today to demand that authorities quickly abolish the death penalty, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Kyrgyzstan introduced a moratorium on executions in 1998, but courts continue to hand down death sentences.

The Justice Ministry earlier said on September 8 that a draft bill seeking to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment had been sent to parliament.

In September, there were reportedly 167 inmates on death row in the country.

Turkmenistan is the only of the five Central Asian republics to have abolished the death penalty. Uzbek authorities have pledged to do the same in 2008.