Bishkek, Dec. 11, 2025. /Kabar/. Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarifies on the situation surrounding the initiative to introduce the death penalty, noting that the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic has ruled that reinstating capital punishment is impossible given the country's existing international obligations.
According to the ministry, the recent increase in aggravated murders of children and women has shocked the entire country.
Concerned about the rise in violent crimes against women and children, the head of state has taken the murder case of a 17-year-old girl from Karakol under his personal supervision and instructed the country's competent government agencies to submit proposals for legislative amendments allowing for the death penalty for child rape and murder involving rape.
From October 13 to 28, 2025, the relevant draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Amending the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" and the draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Repealing the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty, Adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 44/128 of 15 December 1989" of March 16, 2010, No. 52" underwent public discussion. Following the public discussion, the majority of participants opposed the introduction of the death penalty.
On December 2, 2025, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Zhaparov, submitted the draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Amending the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" to the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic for an official opinion.
On December 10, 2025, the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, based on a combination of constitutional and international legal arguments, ruled that reinstating the death penalty through a constitutional amendment is unconstitutional, unacceptable, and impossible. Accordingly, the draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Amending the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" cannot be submitted to a referendum, and all procedures for implementing the initiative for its adoption are subject to termination upon the entry into force of the Constitutional Court's opinion.
It should be noted that the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Kyrgyz Republic is a party, aims at the complete and final abolition of the death penalty and does not provide for a denunciation mechanism. This means that by acceding to the Protocol, the state has assumed a perpetual obligation not to reintroduce or resort to the death penalty under any circumstances. Reintroducing the death penalty in domestic law under these circumstances would inevitably place the Kyrgyz Republic in violation of its treaty obligations, which is incompatible with the constitutionally enshrined recognition of international law and the principle of the good faith implementation of international treaties.
Kyrgyzstan, as a state governed by the rule of law, will continue to faithfully fulfill all its international obligations. At the same time, within the framework of these obligations, efforts to amend national legislation to strengthen penalties for crimes against children and women will continue.