A/67/279
Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Summary
In the present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution
66/150, the Special Rapporteur addresses issues of special concern and recent
developments in the context of his mandate.
The Special Rapporteur draws the attention of the General Assembly to chapters III
to V of the present report, concerning the death penalty and the prohibition of torture
and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In chapter IV, the Special Rapporteur
recalls that actual practices of the death penalty must comply with the absolute
prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and explores
whether States can guarantee that the method of execution or the conditions of
persons sentenced to death do not inflict illegitimately severe pain and suffering. In
chapter V, the Special Rapporteur takes new developments and State practice into
account and explores if there is an evolving standard to consider the death penalty as
running afoul of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment. Conclusions and recommendations are provided in Chapter VI.
Contents
Page
I.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
II.
Activities related to the mandate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
A.
Country visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
B.
Highlights of presentations and consultations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
A.
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
B.
Legal framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
Actual practices of capital punishment that violate the prohibition of torture and cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
A.
Methods of execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
B.
Death row phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
Death penalty as a violation of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
A.
Evolving standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
B.
Possible emergence of a customary norm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
2
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