A/HRC/45/20 was particularly acute in cases involving the imposition of the death penalty. 100 He was also concerned at the harsh punishment, including the death penalty, provided in the new antiterrorism legislation in Ethiopia.101 The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights urged Cameroon to amend antiterrorism legislation under which the death penalty was imposed for acts likely to disrupt the normal operation of public services or the provision of essential services to the population or to create a crisis situation among the population. 102 In communications to Armenia, Belgium, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States, mandate holders raised information received concerning the risks to foreign nationals facing prosecution and trials for capital offences under the antiterrorism law of Iraq.103 29. Consensual same-sex conduct remained punishable by death in some States. 104 The Human Rights Committee has reaffirmed that under no circumstances can the death penalty ever be applied as a sanction against conduct the very criminalization of which violates the Covenant, including homosexuality. States that retain the death penalty for such offences commit a violation of article 6, read alone and in conjunction with article 2 (2) of the Covenant.105 The Committee stated that Mauritania should decriminalize sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex and release anyone currently thus detained. 106 Mandate holders urged Brunei Darussalam to revoke the death penalty by stoning for consensual same-sex conduct and adultery.107 The State subsequently indicated that “a de facto moratorium on the execution of the death penalty for cases under the common law” had been extended to these cases.108 B. Prohibition of the mandatory use of the death penalty 30. According to the Human Rights Committee, the mandatory use of the death penalty constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, where it is imposed without any possibility of taking into account the defendant’s personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence. Mandatory death sentences are arbitrary in nature 109 and not compatible with the limitation of capital punishment to the “most serious crimes”.110 31. During the reporting period, mandatory death sentences reportedly continued to be imposed or provided for in law, including in Ghana, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Malaysia, 100 101 102 103 . 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 A/HRC/40/52/Add.2, para. 48. A/HRC/44/49/Add.1, para. 27. E/C.12/CMR/CO/4, paras. 38–39. See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24248; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24851; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24154; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24211; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23990; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23988; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23985; https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24858 See also A/HRC/40/52/Add.5, para. 79. See https://cdn.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Global-Prison-Trends-2020-PenalReform-International-Second-Edition.pdf, p. 28. General comment No. 36, para. 36. CCPR/C/MRT/CO/2, para. 13. See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24522. A/HRC/42/11/Add.1, p. 4. General comment No. 36, para. 37; A/HRC/39/19, para. 24. E/2015/49 and Corr.1, para. 63. 9