A/HRC/39/19 international human rights standards. Retentionist States should systematically and publicly provide full and accurate data on death sentences that are carried out. Those data should include information on charges and data disaggregated by gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin and other relevant demographics, on the persons affected. Such data are necessary to ensure compliance with international human rights standards. 53. The imposition of a death sentence at the conclusion of a trial in which due process and fair trial safeguards have not been respected constitutes a violation of the right to life. Pending abolition, the Secretary-General urges States to ensure that legal guarantees and safeguards are effectively put in place and implemented, in particular with regard to the right to seek pardon and commutation through procedures which offer certain essential guarantees. 54. Even for the “most serious crimes”, the death penalty should never be mandatory. The Secretary-General welcomes developments which have led to the removal of the mandatory death penalty in many countries and, in particular, the procedures undertaken to resentence those who were subject to a mandatory death penalty. Courts should be provided with the discretion to consider the circumstances of each individual case, including any mitigating factors. States that maintain the mandatory death penalty should abolish it immediately, and a process that takes into account the personal circumstances of the offender and the particular circumstances of the offence, including its specific aggravating or attenuating elements, should be put in place for all those who were mandatorily sentenced to death. 55. Countries continuing to implement the death penalty should take heed of the recommendations made by other States during the universal periodic review process and the concluding observations, general comments and jurisprudence of human rights treaty bodies, not only to ensure conformity with international standards but also to work towards universal abolition. 17