A/HRC/15/19 military offences stipulated in legislation applicable during a state of armed conflict. In relation to the Republic of Moldova (CAT/C/MDA/CO/2), it also expressed its satisfaction with regard to ratification by the State party of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in 2006. In relation to Colombia (CAT/C/COL/CO/4), the Committee expressed its satisfaction at the absence of the death penalty. 34. United Nations human rights special procedures also have addressed issues related to the death penalty in the context of their mandates. In a report submitted to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/10/44 and Corr.1), the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment analysed the question of the death penalty in the light of the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and called for a further study on the subject. In his study on the phenomena of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the world, which included an assessment of conditions of detention (A/HRC/13/39/Add.5) the Special Rapporteur noted the widespread use of evidence obtained under torture, including in cases for which suspects had been convicted to death; in Pasir Putih Maximum Security Prison in Indonesia, for example, the vast majority of detainees on death row had reported with compelling detail how they had been tortured, including by death threats, being hit with hammers, and severe beatings for prolonged periods of time, until they had signed a confession that was later presented in court. In Mongolia, the Special Rapporteur was consistently denied access to prisoners on death row, whose treatment (handcuffed and shackled in dark cells without adequate food and with the right to be visited only by one family member before execution), according to reliable sources, amounted to torture. The Special Rapporteur also noted the severe undermining of the effectiveness of complaints bodies by the de facto lack of access to and of prompt, independent and effective examinations of the allegations by detainees. Other issues relating to the death penalty are addressed in the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the follow-up to recommendations made in the context of his various country visits (A/HRC/13/39/Add.6) and on individual communications (A/HRC/13/39/Add.1). 35. In his latest report submitted to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/14/24), the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions referred to his previous reports on the issue of the death penalty, noting, in particular, that although international law does not prohibit the death penalty, given the fundamental nature of the right to life, the circumstances in which the death penalty may be lawfully applied are strictly circumscribed, and executions carried out in violation of those limits are unlawful killings. In relation to the legal limits on the application of the death penalty, the Special Rapporteur recalled that (a) the death penalty is only lawful if imposed after a trial conducted in accordance with fair trial guarantees; when a State’s judicial system cannot ensure respect for fair trials, the Government should impose a moratorium on executions; (b) States that impose the death penalty must provide transparency in relation to the specifics of the processes and procedures under which it is imposed; States retaining the death penalty should undertake periodic reviews to determine whether international standards have been complied with, and report to the Council on their findings; (c) international law prohibits the application of the death penalty to juveniles, as well as the mandatory imposition of the death penalty; (d) international law only permits the death penalty for “the most serious crimes”; and (e) a person sentenced to death has the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. The Special Rapporteur also referred to his previous reports in which he considered the relationship between international legal obligations and sharia law or Islamic criminal law as applied in some countries. He noted the use of the death penalty by non-State armed actors as an area for future research. 10 GE.10-15029