A/HRC/27/23 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 18/117, the present report is submitted to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty, including the last quinquennial report of the Secretary-General (E/2010/10 and Corr.1 and 2) and reports submitted to the Council (A/HRC/4/78, A/HRC/8/11, A/HRC/12/45, A/HRC/15/19, A/HRC/18/20, A/HRC/21/29 and A/HRC/24/18). 2. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 22/11, the report also includes information on the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed. 3. The report covers the period from June 2013 to May 2014 and is based on information received from States and other relevant sources, including national human rights institutions, United Nations agencies, international and regional intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations. Attention is drawn to the forthcoming report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which will outline national and international efforts made towards the implementation of General Assembly resolution 67/176 on a moratorium. II. Changes in law and practice 4. Changes in law include new legislation abolishing or reinstating the death penalty, restricting it or expanding its scope, as well as ratification of international and regional human rights treaties that provide for the abolition of the death penalty. Changes in practice comprise mainly non-legislative measures, including executive and judicial measures, reflecting a new approach regarding the use of the death penalty. A. Member States that have abolished the death penalty for all crimes 5. Some 160 States have abolished or introduced a moratorium on the death penalty either in law or in practice, or have suspended executions. B. Member States that have restricted the scope of the death penalty or are limiting its use 6. In several de facto abolitionist States, as well as in States that continue to apply the death penalty, some noticeable initiatives restricting its use were recorded during the reporting period. 7. In Antigua and Barbuda, the Offences against the Person (Amendment) Act, 2013 was amended to remove the mandatory imposition of the death penalty.1 Bangladesh abolished the death penalty for children by enacting the Children Act 2013.2 1 2 The bill was adopted by the House of Representatives on 30 August 2013 and by the Senate on 12 September 2013. The final version of the Act is available from http://laws.gov.ag/acts/2013/a20134.pdf. Section 52 of Act No. 24 of 2013 states: “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, no child shall be sentenced to death, transportation or imprisonment”. 3