A/HRC/27/23 preventing their discrimination and stigma, and providing them with the services and the recovery and reintegration measures they require.62 VIII. Conclusions 72. The trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty is continuing. However, numerous concerns remain with regard to the lack of respect for relevant international human rights norms and standards in States where the death penalty is still imposed. Until the death penalty is fully abolished, retentionist States must ensure that the death penalty is imposed only for those crimes that involve intentional killing. The death penalty should not be imposed for “drug offences”, “consensual adult sex”, “blasphemy” or any other acts that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes”. States should abolish the mandatory death penalty, where it still exists. States must also ensure that the highest level of compliance with fair trial and other international human rights norms and standards are met in all death penalty cases. 73. The lack of data on the number of executions or individuals on death row is a serious impediment to debate on the abolition of capital punishment. It will also be important, for the effectiveness and transparency of such a debate, to ensure that the public has access to balanced information, including accurate information and statistics on criminality and the various effective ways to combat it, without resorting to capital punishment. 74. States that still use the death penalty on persons who committed crimes before the age of 18 must stop that practice. When the death penalty is abolished, they must avoid sentencing children to life imprisonment as an alternative punishment. States must take account of article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which explicitly requires that deprivation of liberty be used only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. 75. The effects of the death penalty system in its entirety, including the social, economic and psychological impact on the children and family members of those executed or under a death sentence, must be further examined. States that still use the death penalty should recognize the urgency of ensuring a protective environment for the children of parents sentenced to death or executed, preventing discrimination and stigma, and providing them with assistance for their recovery and reintegration. 62 18 Statement delivered at a side event on “Children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed: developments, good practices and next steps” organized by Belgium, Mexico, Montenegro and Norway, in collaboration with the Quaker United Nations Office during the twenty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council, in March 2014.