A/HRC/21/29 I. Introduction 1. In its decision 18/117 adopted on 28 September 2011, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to continue to submit to the Human Rights Council, in consultation with Governments, specialized agencies and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, a yearly supplement to his quinquennial report on capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, paying special attention to the imposition of the death penalty on persons younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offence, on pregnant women and on persons with mental or intellectual disabilities. 2. The present report is submitted to update previous reports on the question of the death penalty, including the most recent quinquennial report of the Secretary-General (E/2010/10 and Corr.1 and 2) and previous reports submitted to the Council (A/HRC/4/78, A/HRC/8/11, A/HRC/12/45, A/HRC/15/19 and A/HRC/18/20). Attention is also drawn to the forthcoming report of the Secretary-General to the Assembly on moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which will outline national and international efforts made towards the universal abolition of the death penalty. The present report has been prepared on the basis of information received from States and other available sources, including United Nations agencies, international and regional bodies and non-governmental organizations. II. Changes in law and practice 3. Changes in law include new legislation abolishing or reinstating the death penalty, or restricting or expanding its scope, as well as ratifications of international and regional human rights treaties that provide for the abolition of the death penalty. Changes in practice cover mainly non-legislative measures reflecting a new approach regarding the use of the death penalty. A. Countries that have abolished the death penalty for all crimes 4. Approximately 150 of the 193 Member States of the United Nations have abolished the death penalty or introduced a moratorium, either in law or in practice. Reportedly, 175 of the 193 Member States of the United Nations were execution-free in 2011.1 5. In December 2011, the Parliament of Latvia adopted amendments to several laws in order to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances. In the United States of America, in March 2012, the State of Connecticut adopted a law abolishing the death penalty, becoming the seventeenth state in the country to do so. On 6 November 2012, California will hold a referendum on whether to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment. B. Countries that have restricted the scope of the death penalty or are limiting its use 6. Even in countries where the application of the death penalty remains, some noticeable steps towards restricting its use were recorded during the reporting period. In particular, there were judicial, legislative and administrative developments in several 1 Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions in 2011 (London, 2012), p. 5. 3