Lower House Passes unanimously  Moratorium On Death Penalty.

Tajikistan's lower house of parliament has unanimously adopted a moratorium on the death penalty.

The lower house, the Majlisi Namoyandagon, set no end date for the moratorium, which is to take effect immediately after becoming law. The bill sets the maximum sentence for a crime at 25 years in prison.

The moratorium must still be approved by the upper house of parliament, which is considered a formality, and must be signed by President Emomali Rakhmonov, who proposed the moratorium in April.

However, parliamentarian Shermahmad Shoev said the courts are already abiding by the moritorium.

"Keeping in mind the experience of most of the countries in the world that have abolished or suspended this kind of punishment, Tajikistan has also chosen this path," Shoev said. "In Tajikistan, the death sentence will be not carried out anymore and this kind of punishment has been already suspended [in the courts]."

Last year, Rakhmonov reduced the number of crimes punishable by death from 15 to five and revoked its use against women and minors.

Amnesty International has strongly criticized the death penalty in Tajikistan, but the number of executions carried out in the Central Asian country is unknown.

Tajikistan's parliament on Wednesday unanimously adopted a moratorium   on the death penalty after strong international criticism of its practice in   this former Soviet republic.

   President Emomali Rakhmonov had proposed the moratorium in April during an   annual address to lawmakers. Last year, he reduced the number of crimes   punishable by death from 15 to five and revoked its use against women and minors.

   The Majlisi Namoyandagon, the lower house of parliament, approved the moratorium and set 25 years in prison as the maximum sentence in the Central Asian nation, said parliament spokesman Makhmadato Sultonov. No end date was set for the moratorium, which takes effect immediately.

  Amnesty International had strongly criticized the death penalty in Tajikistan, noting relatives of convicts also suffered due to state policies carried over from Soviet times that treated executions as state secrets. The number of executions carried out here is unknown.

The London-based human rights group had also called for the government to halt the executions of four people convicted in 2003 of terrorism, hostage-taking and murder.

  Another four members of their group were executed in April.

   The families of the condemned men claimed they were beaten and tortured in custody. With the new moratorium, those remaining on death row will avoid execution.

   Tajikistan is striving to bolster its sovereignty and gain international support after suffering a five-year civil war in the 1990s that paralyzed the country's economy. Many families rely on income from work abroad.

 Lilia Zakharieva, human rights officer with the U.N.

 Tajikistan Office of Peace-building that monitors the civil war cease-fire,  praised the adoption of the death penalty moratorium.

 <This is an act of humanity and democracy,> she said.

  <It is an indicator showing the development of the country in a more democratic direction.>