A/HRC/24/18 victim’s death.9 Papua New Guinea adopted a law which provides for the reimplementation of the death penalty and extends its application to crimes of killings for sorcery, aggravated rape and robbery. 14. Some States also introduced new legislation expanding the use of the death penalty for terrorism- related crimes. Nigeria adopted an amendment to its terrorism prevention law that prescribes the death penalty as punishment for a wide range of acts of terrorism.10 In the United States of America, the State of Mississippi adopted a new law which added acts of terrorism to the list of crimes that could lead to the application of death penalty.11 III. Data on the use of the death penalty 15. In its resolution 67/176 (2012) on moratorium on the use of the death penalty, the General Assembly calls upon all States “To make available relevant information with regard to their use of the death penalty, inter alia, the number of persons sentenced to death, the number of persons on death row and the number of executions carried out, which can contribute to possible informed and transparent national and international debates, including on the obligations of States pertaining to the use of the death penalty”. 16. As noted by the Secretary-General in previous reports,12 up-to-date and accurate global figures on the application of the death penalty are difficult to obtain. This difficulty arises from the continued lack of transparency on the part of some Governments concerning the number and characteristics of individuals executed. The lack of transparency in death penalty cases is compounded in countries that have been affected by conflicts, where it may not be possible to obtain sufficient information to confirm the number of executions that may have taken place. Furthermore, the data on the use of the death penalty continues to be classified as a State secret in some States and the disclosure of such information considered a criminal offence. 17. The Human Rights Committee continued to call upon States to take all necessary measures to guarantee accessibility of information on the death penalty.13 The Committee against Torture expressed deep concerns over the conditions of detention of prisoners on death row in Japan, with respect, inter alia, to the unnecessary secrecy and uncertainty surrounding the execution of prisoners sentenced to death. It noted that refusing to provide convicted persons and their family members advance notice of the date and time of execution is a clear human rights violation (CAT/C/JPN/CO/2, paragraph 15).14 18. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions called on several States, including the Gambia and Iraq, to refrain from executing in secrecy.15 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Act No. 13 of 2013, 2 April 2013, available at http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2013/E_17_2013_212.pdf . Terrorism (Prevention)(Amendment) Act 2013. Senate Bill 2223, It takes effect July 1 2013. A/HRC/4/78, A/HRC/8/11, A/HRC/12/45, A/HRC/15/19, A/HRC/18/20, A/HRC/21/29. E.g. Vladislav Kovalev et al. v. Belarus, Communication No. 2120/2011, views adopted on 29 October 2012, UN doc. CCPR/ C/106/D/2120/2011, 27 November 2012 (paras. 11.2-11.10); see also Toktakunov v. Kyrgyzstan, 1470/2006, A/67/40 (2012) (Vol.1) p. 115. See also E/CN.4/2006/53/Add.3, para.32. See “Death Row / Gambia: ‘Stop arbitrary stream of executions,’ says UN expert”. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12461&LangID=E; “UN expert calls for immediate halt to executions and surrounding secrecy in Iraq”. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12395&LangID=E. 5