Print UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2004/67
Question of the death penalty
The Commission on Human Rights,
Recalling article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right of everyone to life, article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and articles 6 and 37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Noting that the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that no one within the jurisdiction of a State party shall be executed and that each State party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction,
Welcoming the entry into force, on 1 July 2003, of Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances,
Recalling its previous resolutions in which it expressed its conviction that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights,
Welcoming the exclusion of capital punishment from the penalties that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court are authorized to impose,
Welcoming the abolition or restriction of the death penalty that has taken place in some States since the last session of the Commission, and commending States that have recently acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
Welcoming also the fact that many countries that still retain the death penalty in their penal legislation are applying a moratorium on executions, and further welcoming the regional initiatives aimed at the establishment of a moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty,
Referring to 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,
Noting that, in some countries, the death penalty is often imposed after trials which do not conform to international standards of fairness and that persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities appear to be disproportionately subject to the death penalty, and condemning cases in which women are subjected to capital punishment on the basis of gender-discriminatory legislation,
Deeply concerned that several countries impose the death penalty in disregard of the limitations set out in the Covenant and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Concerned that several countries, in imposing the death penalty, do not take into account the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty,
Concerned about the recent lifting of existing moratoria on executions in several countries,
Noting the consideration of issues relating to the question of the death penalty by the Human Rights Committee,
Recalling the sixth quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, submitted in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/57 of 28 July 1995 (E/2000/3),
1. Welcomes the yearly supplement of the Secretary-General on changes in law and practice concerning the death penalty worldwide contained in his report (E/CN.4/2004/86), which concludes that the trend towards abolition of the death penalty continues and reports progress on the increase in the number of countries who have ratified or acceded to international instruments aiming at the abolition of the death penalty;
2. Reaffirms resolution 2000/17 of 17 August 2000 of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on international law and the imposition of the death penalty on those aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence;
3. Calls upon all States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that have not yet done so to consider acceding to or ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty;
4. Urges all States that still maintain the death penalty:
(a) Not to impose it for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age;
(b) To exclude pregnant women and mothers with dependent infants from capital punishment;
(c) Not to impose the death penalty on a person suffering from any form of mental disorder or to execute any such person;
(d) Not to impose the death penalty for any but the most serious crimes and only pursuant to a final judgement rendered by an independent and impartial competent court, and to ensure the right to a fair trial and the right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence;
(e) To ensure that all legal proceedings, including those before special tribunals or jurisdictions, and particularly those related to capital offences, conform to the minimum procedural guarantees contained in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
(f) To ensure that the notion of "most serious crimes" does not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal or extremely grave consequences and that the death penalty is not imposed for non-violent acts such as financial crimes, religious practice or expression of conscience and sexual relations between consenting adults;
(g) Not to enter any new reservations under article 6 of the Covenant which may be contrary to the object and the purpose of the Covenant and to withdraw any such existing reservations, given that article 6 enshrines the minimum rules for the protection of the right to life and the generally accepted standards in this area;
(h) To observe the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty and to comply fully with their international obligations, in particular with those under article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, particularly the right to receive information on consular assistance within the context of a legal procedure, as affirmed by the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice and confirmed in recent relevant judgments;
(i) To ensure that, where capital punishment occurs, it shall be carried out so as to inflict the minimum possible suffering and shall not be carried out in public or in any other degrading manner, and to ensure that any application of particularly cruel or inhuman means of execution, such as stoning, is stopped immediately;
(j) Not to execute any person as long as any related legal procedure, at the international or at the national level, is pending;
5. Calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty:
(a) To abolish the death penalty completely and, in the meantime, to establish a moratorium on executions;
(b) Progressively to restrict the number of offences for which the death penalty may be imposed and, at the least, not to extend its application to crimes to which it does not at present apply;
(c) To make available to the public information with regard to the imposition of the death penalty and to any scheduled execution;
(d) To provide to the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations bodies information relating to the use of capital punishment and the observance of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty as contained in Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50;
6. Calls upon States that no longer apply the death penalty but maintain it in their legislation to abolish it;
7. Requests States that have received a request for extradition on a capital charge to reserve explicitly the right to refuse extradition in the absence of effective assurances from relevant authorities of the requesting State that capital punishment will not be carried out, and calls upon States to provide such effective assurances if requested to do so;
8. Requests the Secretary-General to submit his quinquennial report on capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, paying special attention to the imposition of the death penalty against persons younger than eighteen years of age at the time of the offence;
9. Decides to continue consideration of the matter at its sixty-first session under the same agenda item.