A/HRC/4/78 page 5 10. Six countries became parties to ICCPR during 2006: Andorra and Kazakhstan ratified the Covenant on 22 September 2006 and 24 January 2006, respectively; Bahrain, Maldives and Indonesia acceded to the Covenant on 20 September 2006, 19 September 2006, and 23 February 2006, respectively; and Montenegro became a party as successor to Serbia and Montenegro on 23 October 2006. E. Countries observing a moratorium on executions 11. Pursuant to a Presidential Decree of August 2005, Uzbekistan will abolish the death penalty starting on 1 January 2008. By Presidential Order of 29 June 2006, a working group was established to review, advise on and elaborate legislation, including amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedures Code, with a view to preparing the legal and justice systems for the full implementation of abolition on the foreseen date. 12. In April 2006, President Arroyo of the Philippines commuted over 1,200 death sentences to life imprisonment ahead of the approval of legislation abolishing the death penalty in June. The move was reported as the largest mass commutation to date in the world. III. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 13. The Human Rights Committee continued the examination of cases involving the death penalty under ICCPR. In Views of 21 March 2006 on a communication submitted under the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant,2 the Committee recalled its jurisprudence that the automatic and mandatory imposition of the death penalty constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of article 6, paragraph 1, of the Covenant, in circumstances where the death penalty is imposed without regard being able to be paid to the defendant’s personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence (CCPR/C/86/D/812/1998, para. 7.2). The Committee came to a similar conclusion in Views adopted on 24 July 2006 (CCPR/C/87/D/1421/2005),3 although it noted at the same time that the State party had adopted Republic Act No. 9346 in June 2006 abolishing the death penalty in the Philippines. 14. In Views of 30 March 2006,4 the Human Rights Committee recalled that the imposition of a death sentence upon conclusion of a trial in which the provisions of the Covenant have not been respected constitutes a violation of article 6 if no further appeal against the death sentence is possible. In the particular case, the death sentence was pronounced without the requirements for a fair trial set out in article 14 having been met. The Committee therefore concluded that the right protected under article 6 had also been violated (CCPR/C/86/D/915/2000, para. 7.6). The Committee came to a similar conclusion in Views adopted on 14 July 2007 (CCPR/C/87/D/959/2000) and 17 March 2006 (CCPR/C/86/D/1044/2002).5 In Views 2 Communication No. 812/1998, Persaud v. Guyana. 3 Communication No. 1421/2005, Larrañaga v. The Philippines. 4 Communication No. 915/2000, Ruzmetov v. Uzbekistan. 5 Communication No. 959/2000, Bazarov v. Uzbekistan and communication No. 1044/2002, Shukurova v. Tajikistan.