A/HRC/27/26 which resulted from spending long periods of time in restrictive conditions while awaiting death. Such problems remained when States had put in place a moratorium on the death penalty or had abolished the death penalty, unless the sentences of those convicted prior to abolition had been commuted. It was also emphasized that detention conditions should be based on individual risk assessments, sentences handed down before abolition should be commuted. C. Abolition processes: national experiences and lessons learned 34. Several delegations shared their national experiences and lessons learned regarding the abolition process. For instance, Namibia had abolished the death penalty in 1990. Article 6 of its Constitution provided: “The right to life shall be respected and protected. No executions shall take place in Namibia.” That provision was non-derogable. 35. In Ireland, a de facto moratorium had been in place from 1954 until 1990. The movement towards abolition had coincided in large part with the conflict in Northern Ireland. The death penalty had been abolished in 1990. In 2001, a proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland to prohibit the death penalty had been supported by 62 per cent of the votes cast. 36. Rwanda had abolished the death penalty in 2008, 14 years after the 1994 genocide that had claimed the lives of over one million people. It had by no means been an easy task: the pain and desire for justice felt by the families of genocide victims and survivors were understandable and could not be ignored. The Rwandan people had taken the view that the death penalty could never serve as an instrument of justice, even in the case of the most heinous crimes imaginable. It was emphasized that the abolition of the death penalty had proved to be a significant step forward in the process of reconciliation in Rwanda. 37. In France, after heated debates, abolition had been achieved in 1981 owing to the political courage of a few men. Three decades later, experience in France showed that the abolition of the death penalty had no bearing on crime rates and abolition had become part of the French heritage. The key lessons of the French experience were: the abolition process must be preceded by awareness-raising; key political figures must have the courage and determination to defend their ideas; and the focus should be on fundamental collective political gains. 38. In 1988, Kyrgyzstan had introduced a moratorium on executions. Since its independence, it had opted for the gradual elimination of the death penalty. The term of the moratorium was extended in 2005 until full abolition by legislation. Eventually, the death penalty was abolished under the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic in 2006. 39. Some delegations shared with the panel their ongoing efforts towards full abolition of the death penalty. For instance, in Mongolia, a moratorium on the death penalty had been declared by the President in 2010. That had been followed by accession to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mongolia was currently undertaking step-by-step measures to abolish the death penalty both in law and in practice by introducing amendments to existing legislation. The current draft law on crimes proposed life imprisonment as the harshest punishment, a penalty which was open for reconsideration after 20 years of imprisonment. Morocco had been a de facto abolitionist country and had engaged in a fruitful national dialogue on whether or not to maintain the death penalty in domestic legislation. Morocco had adopted a policy of transparency regarding the death penalty and was committed to continuing the debate on the issue. 40. Some retentionist countries discussed domestic processes for restricting the use of the death penalty. For instance, China had adopted a policy of gradual abolition of the death 11