A/HRC/45/20 execution not unconstitutional unless it “intensified the sentence of death with a (cruel) ‘superadd[ition]’ of ‘terror, pain, or disgrace.’”174 The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions expressed utmost concern as to the likelihood that lethal injection in that case might inflict severe pain and suffering that might amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or even torture.175 The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that hanging – the method of execution in the United Republic of Tanzania – amounted to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment given the suffering inherent thereto, and that due to the arbitrary nature of the mandatory imposition of the death penalty, its execution was consequently and inevitably in violation of the right to dignity in respect of the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. 176 46. Initiatives with regard to methods of execution in the United States were undertaken during the reporting period. The Governor of the State of Ohio announced there would be no more executions until a new protocol was adopted and upheld by the courts, in light of a court finding that the current drug protocol “will almost certainly subject [prisoners] to severe pain and needless suffering”.177 V. Use of the death penalty against children and persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities A. Children 47. Pursuant to article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the death penalty cannot be imposed for offences committed by persons under 18. The Commission on Human Rights reaffirmed that international law affirmed that the execution of child offenders was in contravention of customary international law. 178 The Human Rights Committee stated that that necessarily implied that such persons could never face the death penalty for that offence, regardless of their age at the time of sentencing or at the time foreseen for carrying out the sentence179 and the Committee on the Rights of the Child reiterated that the explicit and decisive criterion was the age at the time of the commission of the offence.180 If there is no reliable and conclusive proof that the person was not a juvenile, he or she will have the right to the benefit of the doubt and the death penalty cannot be imposed. 181 48. Nevertheless, sentences of death for offences committed by persons under 18 reportedly remains lawful in some countries, 182 and during the reporting period juvenile offenders were believed to be on death row in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 183 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 14 Bucklew v. Precythe (2019), p. 12, available at www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/178151_new_0pm1.pdf. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights considered the rare medical condition and the significant risk that the execution would cause excessive suffering incompatible with the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (see www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/2018/USPU12958EN.pdf). See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24889. See www.african-court.org/en/images/Cases/Judgment/Judgment_Summary_Application_007-2015Ally_Rajabu_and_Others_v_Tanzania_Final.pdf. See https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/ohio-governor-halts-cruel-and-unusual-lethal-injectionexecutions; www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/criminaljustice/2019/ capital_punishment_2019.pdf. Resolution 2003/67. General comment No. 36, para. 48. General comment No. 24 (2019) on children’s rights in the child justice system, para. 79. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36, para. 48; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 24, para. 79. Bahrain indicated that the death penalty was prohibited for persons under the age of 15 at the time of the offence. In Sri Lanka, persons under 18 should not be sentenced to death where they are under 18 at the time of pronouncement of the sentence, as opposed to the time of alleged commission of the offence (Freedoms Collective/Reprieve submission). CAT/C/COD/CO/2, para. 36.