The State’s Obligation to Educate its Population in Core Human Rights Standards .......... 307

States sometimes act in the name of respecting public opinion, but in fact delay the progress of human rights. A good example is death penalty, where a number of states in-voke public opinion as a justification or excuse to maintain such a measure. However, un-der international law, states have an obligation to educate their population when it comes to core human rights, such as racial and gender equality. The obligation is stated in a num-ber of international instruments. In the Universal Periodic Review process, states accepted suggestion on the education of public opinion and have taken actions. With regard to death penalty, international law suggests that the abolition of capital punishment is the direc-tion. To embrace the direction and move public opinion towards it, states can, according to a number of provisions, actively engage with public discussion and exerting an impact. From this perspective, an expression of public opinion may not be a legitimate reason to hold back the legal reform, and states may not have an excuse to act like there is nothing they can do about it, other than bowing down in obedience to public opinion.