A/HRC/RES/36/17
nationals, individuals exercising the rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of
expression, and the discriminatory use of the death penalty against persons belonging to
racial and ethnic minorities, its discriminatory use based on gender or sexual orientation,
and its use against individuals with mental or intellectual disabilities, 1
Mindful of the work of special procedure mandate holders who have addressed
human rights issues related 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 Working Group on the issue of discrimination against
women in law and in practice,
Mindful also of the work undertaken by the treaty bodies to address human rights
issues related to the death penalty,
Recalling general recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women
recently adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in
which the Committee recommended that States parties to the Convention repeal all criminal
provisions that affect women disproportionally, including those resulting in the
discriminatory application of the death penalty to women,
Recalling also general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination on the prevention of racial discrimination in the administration
and functioning of the criminal justice system,
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 many States are applying a moratorium on the use 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,
Strongly deploring the fact that the use of the death penalty leads to violations of the
human rights of the persons facing the death penalty and of other affected persons,
Acknowledging the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights on the high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty, 2 during
which it was concluded that a significant number of States hold that the death penalty is a
form of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
Deploring the fact that, frequently, poor and economically vulnerable persons and
foreign nationals are disproportionately subjected to the death penalty, that laws carrying
the death penalty are used against persons exercising their rights to freedom of expression,
thought, conscience, religion or peaceful assembly and association, and that persons
belonging to religious or ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented among those
sentenced to the death penalty,
Condemning in particular the use of the death penalty against persons with mental
or intellectual disabilities, persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of
the crime, and pregnant women,
1
2
2
A/HRC/36/26.
A/HRC/36/27.