Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia of the city centre traditionally starts at the monument of Kārlis Ulmanis, the first prime minister of Latvia, and ends at the Freedom Monument. Another tradition with a long history is the Latvian National Armed Forces parade, which nowadays is held at 11 November Embankment in Riga. A popular modern tradition established in 2009, is for people all over the world to sing the Latvian national anthem "Dievs, svētī Latviju!" at the same time (21:00 EET). Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia is celebrated annually on 18 November. It marks the anniversary
Capital punishment in Latvia death sentence to a term of imprisonment. Latvia continued to hand down death sentences until 1998. On April 15, 1999 the death penalty in peacetime was abolished by ratifying Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2002, Latvia signed Protocol No. 13 to ECHR, concerning the abolition of the death penalty under all circumstances. The law on the ratification of Protocol 13 was adopted on 13 October 2011 and the protocol was ratified on 26 January 2012. Protocol 13 was entered into force on 1 May 2012. Latvia was the last European Union country to retain