A/HRC/27/23 Commissioner stated that the crimes committed during the mutiny were utterly reprehensible and heinous, but that conducting mass trials of hundreds of individuals, torturing suspects in custody and sentencing them to death after trials that failed to meet the most fundamental standards of due process did not achieve justice.44 53. With regard to the mass sentencing in Egypt in March 2013, the High Commissioner and special procedure mandate holders expressed deep concern about numerous procedural irregularities reported during the proceedings.45 The Secretary-General stated that the verdicts clearly did not meet basic standards of fair trial, particularly those that imposed the death penalty, and could undermine the prospects for long-term stability in Egypt.46 Furthermore, in a joint statement, a group of human rights experts from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations also expressed concerns about the mass trial in Egypt, and stated that such a “mockery of justice” would undermine the justice and reconciliation process in the country.47 C. Access to consular services for non-citizens 54. Access to consular services is an important aspect of the protection of non-citizens facing the death penalty abroad. Under international law, the denial of the right to consular notification leads to the violation of due process and the execution of a foreign national deprived of his or her right to consular services constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life, in contravention of articles 6 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 55. Reportedly, non-citizens, including migrant workers, remained disproportionately affected by the death penalty in the Asian and Middle Eastern regions. For instance, at least 149 people, including many non-citizens, convicted of drug-related offences are reportedly on death row in Indonesia; 247 Indonesians are on death row in other countries. In Malaysia, death sentences have been issued against at least 37 foreign nationals, mostly for drug offences. Saudi Arabia executed at least 37 non-citizens. The death penalty was disproportionately used against migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Some 125 Filipino migrant workers are on death row abroad. In the United Arab Emirates, about half of the death sentences pronounced during the reporting period were imposed on non-citizens, who make up over 80 per cent of the population. Sixty Mexicans are on death row in the United States.48 56. Several States have established specific programmes to support their nationals who are sentenced to the death penalty while abroad. For instance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia established the Legal Aid and Protection of Indonesians Overseas Unit, 44 45 46 47 48 “Pillay alarmed at sentencing of 152 paramilitary personnel to death in Bangladesh”, press release, 6 November 2013. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13953&LangID=E. “Egypt: Mass death sentences”. Statement by the Secretary-General, “Secretary-General, alarmed by mass death sentence, youth movement ban in Egypt, stresses security implications for entire region”, 28 April 2014 (SG/SM/15803-AFR/2873). Available from www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2014/sgsm15803.doc.htm. “Egypt: justice and reconciliation increasingly failing after second wave of mass death sentences”, press release, 15 May 2014. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14596&LangID=E. Amnesty International, op. cit., pp. 18, 23, 24, 32, 39. See also statement of Mexico delivered at a side event of the Human Rights Council on 11 March 2014. 13