"The global abolition of the death penalty is important both in order to protect human dignity and to avoid irreparable damage, particularly as no judicial system is flawless. Furthermore, the available data imply that capital punishment does not reduce the level of crime," the ministry wrote.

"This is why we would like to take this opportunity to urge all states that still apply the death penalty to abolish it as soon as possible or to establish a moratorium on its use."

The ministry highlighted as particularly problematic the execution of the death penalty on minors, pregnant women or people with mental illnesses or disabilities, stressing this ran contrary to international human rights law.

It praised the 6th World Congress against the Death Penalty, which was hosted in June this year by Oslo, and pointed to a meeting in the autumn of the UN General Assembly Third Committee, which will again pass resolution on a death penalty moratorium, strongly supported by Slovenia.

"The successful adoption of UN resolutions on this topic in the past clearly shows that a growing number of countries support the establishment of a general moratorium on death penalty. Another positive indicator is the abolition of the death penalty and establishment of a moratorium on its execution in a number of American, African and Asian countries," the ministry wrote.

In Slovenia, the death penalty was last executed in 1957, while it was officially abolished in 1989. A lifetime sentence has been possible since 2008, while before that the highest possible sentence was 30 years in prison.