A/HRC/21/29 IV. Application of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty 23. The standards that seek to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty are set out in international human rights law, in particular in article 6 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, in an annex to its resolution 1984/50, the Economic and Social Council set out the minimum international standards that provide safeguards for guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. The Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1996/15, called upon Member States in which the death penalty had not been abolished to effectively apply these safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. The Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 2005/59, reaffirmed the importance of the safeguards, as did the General Assembly in its resolutions 62/149, 63/168 and 65/206. Restriction of use of the death penalty to “most serious crimes” A. 24. In accordance with article 6, paragraph 2, of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in States that have not abolished the death penalty, it may only be imposed for the “most serious crimes” (A/63/293, para. 32; and for discussion on “most serious crimes”), that is, intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences. The application of this safeguard in recent years has focused on the use of the death penalty for crimes that are not intentional and that do not have lethal or other extremely grave consequences. In particular, imposing the death penalty for drug-related offences is in violation of article 6, paragraph 2, and the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. 17 25. Harm Reduction International reported that there are currently 32 States or territories that prescribe the death penalty for drug-related offences.18 It further reported that hundreds of people are known to have been executed for drug-related offences in 2011 and early 2012. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a new anti-narcotics law came into force in 2011, which expands the application of the death penalty to new drug-related offences, including through increasing the range of prohibited substances. In a press statement on 22 September 2011, a number of special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council condemned the continuing execution of persons charged with drug-related offences, stressing that these do not amount to the most serious crimes for which the death penalty may be applied under international law.19 The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has reported that there were 670 executions in Iran in 2011, of which 81 per cent were of drug offenders, including people believed to be children under 18 at the time the offence was committed (A/HRC/19/66, paras. 20–21).20 A total of 51 alleged drug 17 18 19 20 See Human Rights Committee, concluding observations: Thailand, CCPR/CO/84/THA, para. 14; concluding observations: Sudan, CCPR/C/SDN/CO/3, para. 19. See also Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50; General Assembly (resolution 39/118. Harm Reduction International, supplementary submission on the question of the death penalty to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 28 March 2012. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Also written updated submission of Harm Reduction International, May 2012; see also Amnesty International, Addicted to death: Executions for drugs offences in Iran (London, 2011). 7