Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, recently praised the decision of Armenian President Robert Kocharyan to commute all remaining death sentences in the nation to life in prison. “I am delighted that President Kocharyan has taken such a positive and commendable step forward. The death penalty is an affront to all notions of dignity and human rights, and has no place in the Europe of today,” Schwimmer said. The President’s decision to commute the death sentences is in line with Armenia’s efforts to comply with standards set by the Council of Europe that forbid member nations from maintaining capital punishment. (The Council of Europe Press, August 2, 2003). See International Death Penalty.