A/HRC/27/23 49. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and other Human Rights Council special procedure mandate holders also urged several States, including Belarus,39 Egypt,40 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,41 the Islamic Republic of Iran42 and Papua New Guinea43 to maintain stringent respect for due process and fair trial guarantees in death penalty cases. Arbitrary use of the death penalty in mass trials 50. During the reporting period, a new phenomenon of sentencing large groups of individuals in mass trials emerged and led to major concerns that such mass trials violate the international human rights standards of fair trial guarantees and other safeguards. In Viet Nam, 33 people were sentenced to death for drug trafficking in a mass trial, reportedly without any adequate legal representation. In Bangladesh, a special court set up to prosecute crimes committed during a mutiny in Dhaka in 2009 sentenced 152 paramilitary personnel to death in November 2013. A trial court in Egypt imposed death sentences on more than 1,000 people in two mass trials for the alleged killing of a police officer and other violent activities committed during the country’s 2013 political crisis. 51. Those trials were marred by procedural irregularities, including lack of adequate and timely access to lawyers, and instances of trials in absentia. In many cases, reports indicated that a number of suspects who were detained in custody died after they were tortured. The courts that conducted the mass trials also admitted evidence obtained under torture. Furthermore, the exact charges against each defendant were not clear, given that, in many cases, they were not individually read out in court. The courts also did not adhere to the presumption of innocence. Pursuant to general comment No. 32 (2007) on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial of the Human Rights Committee, the presumption of innocence, which is fundamental to the protection of human rights, imposes on the prosecution the burden of proving the charge, guarantees that no guilt can be presumed until the charge has been proved beyond reasonable doubt, ensures that the accused has the benefit of doubt and requires that persons accused of a criminal act must be treated in accordance with that principle. 52. The Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Council special procedure mandate holders expressed serious alarm concerning the imposition of the death penalty during those mass trials. In her statement regarding the mass trial in Bangladesh for the alleged perpetrators of a mutiny in 2009, the High 39 40 41 42 43 12 “Belarus / Death penalty: UN expert calls to stop executions after recent court rulings”, press release, 9 October 2013. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13840&LangID=E. “Egypt: Mass death sentences – a mockery of justice”, press release, 31 March 2014. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14457&LangID=E. “‘High-profile execution in North Korea is just one among many other cases,’ UN experts warn”, press release, 18 December 2013. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14117&LangID=E. “‘Stop the executions’ – UN rights experts alarmed at the sharp increase in hangings in Iran”, press release, 22 January 2014. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14190&LangID=E. “UN Expert calls on Iran to halt execution of Iranian woman expected to take place tomorrow”, press release, 14 April 2014. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14509 &LangID=E. Press statement, “Preliminary observations on the official visit to Papua New Guinea by Christof Heyns, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, 3–14 March 2014”, 14 March 2014, Port Moresby.