Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 11th Oct. UN independent human rights experts on Monday issued a statement recalled that under international law, capital punishment is permitted only “in very limited circumstances” as they marked the 20th World Day Against the Death Penalty.
Special Rapporteur and UN expert on torture Alice Edwards, and Morris Tidball-Binz investigating extrajudicial and arbitrary executions said that “The reality remains that in practice it is almost impossible for States to impose capital punishment while meeting their obligations to respect the human rights of those convicted”.
They reflected the relationship between the death penalty and the absolute prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment,
They said that abolishing the death penalty was “the only viable path” for all countries.
The experts reiterated that the “death row phenomenon” has long been characterized as a form of inhuman treatment, as has the near total isolation of those convicted of capital crimes who are then held in unlawful solitary confinement.
They stressed that many States continue to impose the death penalty for non-violent crimes such as blasphemy, adultery, and drug-related offences.
Under international law, those all fail the “most serious crime” standard for applying capital punishment.
They pointed out that as “deeply worrying,” a growing trend of imposing the death penalty on those exercising their right to peaceful political protest.
They added the methods of execution have been found to be incompatible with the obligation to refrain from torture and ill-treatment, or from inflicting severe pain and suffering.
Rights experts noted that despite the fact that over 170 States have repealed the death penalty or adopted moratoriums, last year witnessed a reported 20 per cent increase in the number of government-sanctioned executions.
The States that retain the death penalty are urged to “scrupulously apply exceptions” for persons with intellectual disabilities, pregnant women, and children, as required by various instruments including article six of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, they stated.
“All States are invited to consider ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR aimed at abolition of the death penalty”, they added.
They noted that the Protocol currently has 40 signatories and 90 States parties.
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