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Report

Call for inputs – Secretary-General’s report on the question of the death penalty (51st session of the HRC)

Issued by

United Nations Secretary General

Published

25 July 2022

presented to

To the Human Rights Council at its 51st session

Report

Issued by United Nations Secretary General

Subject

Death penalty

Symbol Number

A/HRC/51/7

Summary

Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submitted to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty. In the report, the Secretary-General reaffirms the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty and highlights initiatives limiting its use and implementing the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing this severe penalty.

Background

In its decision 18/117 adopted on 28 September 2011, the Human Rights Council requested “the Secretary-General to continue to submit to the Human Rights Council, in consultation with Governments, specialized agencies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, a yearly supplement to his quinquennial report on capital punishment and the 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 on persons younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offence, on pregnant women and on persons with mental or intellectual disabilities.” Furthermore, in its resolution 22/11, adopted on 21 March 2013, the Human Rights Council decided that “the yearly supplement to the quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on the question of the death penalty will continue to inform” on the matter of “the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed.”

The Secretary-General’s report on the question of the death penalty will be presented to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-first session in September 2022.

Objectives

The report aims to provide an update on developments since 1 July 2020 regarding the question of the death penalty and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, in particular persons under 18 years of age at the time of the offence, pregnant women and persons with mental or intellectual disabilities, and the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed.

Treatment of inputs received

Unless requested otherwise, all contributions are made available in full and as received on this webpage.