A/HRC/15/19 I. Introduction 1. Prior to 2006, the Secretary-General would submit an annual report on the question of the death penalty to the Commission on Human Rights. Those reports were interim supplements to the quinquennial reports of the Secretary-General submitted to the Economic and Social Council on capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. In accordance with Commission resolution 2005/59, a report was submitted to the Commission at its sixtysecond session (E/CN.4/2006/83). The Human Rights Council, in its decision 2/102, requested the Secretary-General to continue with the fulfilment of his activities, in accordance with all previous decisions adopted by the Commission, and to update relevant reports and studies. The present report is submitted in this context, to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty, including the most recent quinquennial report of the Secretary-General (E/2010/10) and previous reports submitted to the Commission and the Council (A/HRC/4/78, A/HRC/8/11 and A/HRC/12/45). The present report covers developments with regard to the question of the death penalty from 30 June 2009 to 1 July 2010. Attention is also drawn to the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the General Assembly (A/63/293 and Corr.1) and the forthcoming report of the SecretaryGeneral to the Assembly on moratoriums on the use of the death penalty. II. Changes and practices 2. Changes in law may include new legislation abolishing or reinstating the death penalty, or restricting or expanding its scope, as well as ratifications of international instruments that provide for the abolition of the death penalty. Changes in practice may comprise non-legislative measures with a significant new approach regarding the use of the death penalty; for example, countries may, while retaining the death penalty, announce a moratorium on its application. A. Countries that have abolished the death penalty for all crimes 3. In January 2010, the Parliament of Angola approved a new Constitution, including a provision that explicitly prohibits the death penalty. The Constitution, promulgated on 5 February 2010, also prohibits the extradition of foreign citizens for charges punishable by the death penalty under the laws of the applicant country. B. Countries that have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes 4. No countries abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes during the reporting period. C. Countries that have restricted the scope of the death penalty or are limiting its use 5. No countries restricted the scope of the death penalty or limited its use during the reporting period. GE.10-15029 3