A/HRC/RES/54/35
articles 6 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, focusing on the
right to seek pardon or commutation of sentences and the right to have one’s conviction and
sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law, in accordance with the safeguards
guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty set out in the annex to
Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50, and in which he analysed the applicable
legal framework and shared available data and examples of national practices,1
Acknowledging the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on the high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty,
according to which the panel stated that the death penalty continues to be provided and
applied for crimes that do not meet the threshold of “the most serious crimes”, including
drug-related offences,2
Stressing that the term “the most serious crimes” has consistently been read
restrictively and interpreted as pertaining only to crimes of extreme gravity involving
intentional killing, and stressing also that under no circumstances can the death penalty ever
be applied as a sanction against specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy,
adultery, consensual same-sex conduct or relations, establishing political opposition groups
or offending a head of State, and that States parties that retain the death penalty for such
offences commit a violation of their international obligations,
Mindful of the work of the special procedure mandate holders who have addressed
human rights issues relating to the death penalty, including the Special Rapporteur on torture
and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the independence
of judges and lawyers and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human
rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism,
Mindful also of the work undertaken by the treaty bodies to address human rights
issues relating to the death penalty,
Recognizing the role of regional and subregional instruments and initiatives towards
the abolition of the death penalty, which in some cases have led to the prohibition of the use
of the death penalty,
Welcoming the fact that the international trend towards the abolition of the death
penalty is continuing, that many States are applying a moratorium on the use of the death
penalty, and all measures taken by States towards limiting the application of the death
penalty,
Noting that States with different legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious
backgrounds have abolished the death penalty or are applying a moratorium on its use,
Recalling article 6 (6) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which states that nothing in that article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition
of capital punishment by any State party to the Covenant, and bearing in mind that, according
to the Human Rights Committee, States parties that are not yet totally abolitionist should be
on an irrevocable path towards complete eradication of the death penalty, de facto and de
jure, in the foreseeable future,
Noting that, also according to the Human Rights Committee, States parties to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that have abolished the death penalty are
barred from reintroducing it, and noting also that the reinstatement of the death penalty by a
State party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights is a violation of international law,
Recalling that derogation from the right to life is never permitted, even during a state
of emergency,
Acknowledging the interest in studying the question of the death penalty, as well as in
holding local, national, regional and international debates related thereto,
1
2
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A/HRC/54/33.
A/HRC/54/46.