A/HRC/30/18 make the death penalty mandatory for apostates.39 In accordance with international human rights jurisprudence, apostasy, blasphemy and specific religious practices do not meet the most serious crimes threshold.40 It appears that the racial or ethnic origin of the victim and of the defendant in capital cases is also a major factor in determining who is sentenced to death in some States. Recent studies document racial discrimination in the death penalty system in the United States of America, and show that this problem, which persists unabatedly, is not restricted to a single region of a country.41 3. Foreign nationals 37. According to estimates, nationals of at least 50 States are currently on death row or have recently been executed abroad, and reports suggest that foreign nationals may be disproportionately affected by the death penalty in several States (see A/HRC/27/23, para. 55 and A/HRC/24/18, para. 74). International standards and safeguards relating to death penalty cases should apply equally to persons facing the death penalty abroad. However, such persons often face discrimination; they can be arbitrarily and disproportionately affected by the death penalty because they are not familiar with the laws and procedures in the prosecuting State. They may have limited access to legal aid and inadequate and low quality legal representation. They may not understand and speak the language in which proceedings are conducted, in particular when denied the free assistance of an interpreter, which is required under article 14 (3) (f) the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They are also less likely to have a support network of family and friends.42 38. Access to consular assistance for foreign nationals is an important aspect of the protection of those facing the death penalty abroad. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that the denial of the right to consular notification constitutes a violation of due process, and that the execution of a foreign national deprived of his or her right to consular services constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life, in contravention of article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights and articles 6 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.43 The requirement that foreign nationals must be informed of their rights without delay after their arrest has been confirmed by the International Court of Justice.44 4. Poor or economically less privileged individuals 39. Poor or less privileged individuals who do not have access to effective legal representation are frequently disproportionately subjected to the death penalty. In many States, the most important factor in determining whether a defendant will be sentenced to death is the quality of the legal representation of an accused person. Around the world, a large number of defendants in capital cases cannot afford to pay their own lawyers. In many cases, Government-appointed defence lawyers are overworked, underpaid and lack the experience required for death penalty cases. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions pointed out that failure to provide adequately funded statewide public defenders had the predictable result of inadequate legal representation for 39 40 41 42 43 44 12 See, for example, CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3, para. 23, E/CN.4/1994/7, para. 475, and E/CN.4/1998/6, para. 62. See, for example, CCPR/C/79/Add.85, para. 8. See www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-black-and-white-who-lives-who-dies-whodecides#Executive Summary. Penal Reform International, Strengthening death penalty standards (London, 2015), p. 17. See www1.umn.edu/humanrts/iachr/b_11_4p.html. See www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/128/8188.pdf.