A/HRC/18/20 children, including in cases of retribution or hudud, and to replace any death sentences already passed on persons under 18 with an appropriate alternative sanction. 42. The Committee on the Rights of the Child also expressed concern that the death penalty is not explicitly prohibited for children in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (CRC/C/LAO/CO/2, para. 71). With respect to Nigeria, while noting with satisfaction that the death penalty is prohibited by law in the Child Rights Act, the Committee is seriously concerned at reports related to an estimated 40 prisoners reportedly on death row for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. It reiterated the strong concern expressed by the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child concerning the mandatory death penalty for offences in sharia penal codes (including Hadd punishments) which, given the absence of a definition of the child as a person under the age of 18 and that in certain states children are defined by puberty, could be imposed on children under sharia jurisdiction (CRC/C/NGA/CO/3-4, para. 32). The Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Nigeria take the opportunity of its ongoing constitutional review to expressly prohibit the application of the death penalty to persons under 18 years of age. It also urged Nigeria to review the files of all prisoners on death row for crimes committed before the age of 18, and to prohibit the death penalty for all persons under the age of 18 in domestic legislation (ibid., para. 33). 43. The Committee against Torture also continued to welcome the abolition of the death penalty and the moratorium on executions observed in some countries, as well as to recommend the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. In addition, considering that information on death sentences, including data, is not made public by some States parties, the Committee requested this information to be provided systematically. In its concluding observations on Ethiopia, the Committee recommended that the State party consider ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, extending its de facto moratorium on the execution of the death penalty and commuting sentences for prisoners on death row. The Committee also requested Ethiopia to indicate the current number of persons on death row, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity and offence (CAT/C/ETH/CO/1, para. 24). In the consideration of the initial report submitted by Mongolia, the Committee encouraged Mongolia to continue efforts towards abolition and called on the State to declassify information on the death penalty (CAT/C/MNG/CO/1, para. 19). E. United Nations offices, agencies, funds and programmes 44. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights continued to address the question of the death penalty under her mandate to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all human rights. The High Commissioner also sent official communications to the relevant authorities and issued public press releases addressing the question of the death penalty. In February 2011, she publicly expressed alarm at the dramatic increase in executions since the beginning of 2011 in the Islamic Republic of Iran and called upon the State to institute a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.42 In May 2011, the High Commissioner issued a press release expressing deep concern regarding the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain, including the sentencing to death of four pro-democracy protestors after a closed-door military trial.43 42 43 12 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “UN human rights chief concerned about recent spate of executions”, press release, February 2011. UN News Centre, “UN human rights chief voices deep concerns about Bahrain crackdown”, 5 May 2011. Available from www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38279&Cr=Bahrain&Cr1.