A/HRC/38/44/Add.3 39. The Special Rapporteur re-iterates her concerns that again during this reporting period, several communications addressed the imposition of the death penalty for offences that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crime”, in particular for drug offenses. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate that under international law, the death penalty may only be imposed for the “most serious crimes”, which has been interpreted to mean “intentional killing”. Drug related offences do not involve killing, much less intentional killing, and as such may not constitute the basis of any sentence to death. She further recalls that “victimless offences […] including treason, espionage or other vaguely defined acts usually described as ‘crimes against the State’” do not meet the “most serious crimes” threshold (E/CN.4/2001/9 para. 83). 40. The Special Rapporteur has also sent a number of communications on individuals convicted for crimes committed when they were children (seven communications). The Special Rapporteur underlines that the death penalty cannot be imposed on individuals who were under 18 at the time of the commission of the alleged offence (regardless of their age at the time of sentencing or of execution). Furthermore, the burden of proof should be placed on the prosecution to demonstrate that a defendant was an adult at the time of the commission of the alleged crime. 41. Two communications sent during the reporting period concerned an alleged violation in the method of execution. She highlights that the longstanding position of the United Nations Human Rights Committee is that imposition of the death penalty in a manner that is contrary to another provision of the ICCPR also violates article 6. Thus, failure to respect article 7 by imposing the death penalty in a manner that constitutes torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment would inevitably render the execution arbitrary in nature and be in violation of article 6. 42. The Special Rapporteur would like to restate, as did her predecessors, that any death sentence implemented in contravention of any Government’s international obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution. 43. She also wishes to reiterate that there is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime more than other forms of punishment would and encourages retentionist States to consider an official moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its full abolition. 15