A/HRC/27/23 application of the death penalty remains a serious concern, in particular where such acts do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes”, and may amount to violations of article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 38. Executions relating to acts of terrorism or crimes of a political nature were carried out in Bangladesh, Belarus, China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, India, Somalia and the Sudan, and possibly in other countries. Furthermore, hundreds of death sentences were handed down, albeit not carried out, in terrorism-related cases in Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon and Libya. 39. Concerns have been raised over the adoption of new counter-terrorism legislation or the amendment of existing laws in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Nigeria and the Syrian Arab Republic which prescribe the death penalty for overly broad or vaguely defined “terrorist” activities. 5. Mandatory use of the death penalty 40. According to the jurisprudence of human rights mechanisms, the mandatory use of the death penalty is not compatible with the limitation of capital punishment to the “most serious crimes”.30 Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Singapore continue to impose mandatory death sentences.31 41. The Human Rights Committee continues to address the issue in its individual communications. In one case involving the imposition of a mandatory death sentence for acts of murder in Ghana, the Committee referred to its jurisprudence that the automatic and mandatory imposition of the death penalty constituted arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of article 6, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Laws that impose the death penalty without any possibility of the defendant’s personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence being taken into account32 constitute violations of the right to life under the Covenant.33 42. During its universal periodic review, Barbados accepted the recommendation that it eliminate the mandatory death penalty (A/HRC/23/11/Add.1, para. 18). Uganda proposed the Law Revision (Penalties in Criminal Matters) Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2013 to repeal mandatory death penalty provisions. B. Fair trial guarantees 43. The imposition of a death sentence upon the conclusion of a trial in which the provisions of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have not been respected constitutes a violation of the right to life.34 Furthermore, forcing an 30 31 32 33 34 10 See E/2010/10 for a detailed discussion on the relevant human rights jurisprudence. Amnesty International, op. cit., p. 11. See, inter alia, communications No. 1520/2006, Mwamba v. Zambia, Views adopted on 10 March 2010, para. 6.3; No. 1132/2002, Chisanga v. Zambia, Views adopted on 18 October 2005, para. 7.4; No. 845/1998, Kennedy v. Trinidad and Tobago, Views adopted on 26 March 2002, para. 7.3; and No. 806/1998, Thompson v. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Views adopted on 18 October 2000, para. 8.2. See communication No. 2177/2012, Johnson v. Ghana, Views adopted on 27 March 2014. Human Rights Committee, communications No. 1044/2002, Shakurova v. Tajikistan, Views adopted on 17 March 2006; No. 915/200, Ruzmetov v. Uzbekistan, Views adopted on 30 March 2006; No. 913/2000, Chan v. Guyana, Views adopted on 31 October 2005; No. 1167/2003, Rayos v. Philippines, Views adopted on 27 July 2004. See also its general comment No. 32 (2007) on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial.