A/HRC/36/27 prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (see A/HRC/30/18, para. 55). He highlighted that many national courts had reached the same conclusion and noted that a number of states in the United States of America had abolished the death penalty because it constituted an extreme form of physical and psychological suffering that violated the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 19. The Special Rapporteur emphasized that the issue of capital punishment was not simply a technical legal question. It was a retributive system and a deliberately dehumanizing punishment that intentionally inflicted pain and anguish on convicts and their families and that could be used to kill innocent people and irreparably harm their loved ones. The inherent human dignity of convicts, victims and families, and the dignity and moral authority of human society, needed to be reflected upon. IV. Summary of the discussion 20. During the interactive phase of the panel discussion, representatives of the following States spoke: Botswana, Chile, Mexico,6 Brazil,7 Croatia,8 Finland,9 Singapore,10 Portugal,11 Paraguay, Montenegro, Australia, Greece, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, Albania, Liechtenstein, Colombia, Algeria, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, India, Holy See, Kenya and Italy. Representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations also took the floor: the European Union and the Council of Europe. Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations contributed to the discussion: Amnesty International, American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Global Nonkilling, International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, Friends World Committee for Consultation, Ensemble contre la peine de mort and International Bar Association.12 A. General remarks on the use of the death penalty 21. A large number of representatives of a range of legal systems, traditions, cultures and religious backgrounds expressed their total opposition, in all circumstances and at all times, to the death penalty and firmly supported its universal abolition. In that regard, they 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 On behalf of Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mongolia, the Republic of Moldova and Switzerland. On behalf of Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine and Uruguay. On behalf of Austria and Slovenia. On behalf of Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. On behalf of the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jamaica, Kuwait, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Sudan, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. On behalf of Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste. Statements by the representatives of the following States were not delivered owing to lack of time: Mongolia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Russian Federation and the Sudan. Statements by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations were not delivered owing to lack of time: the Alsalam Foundation, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Human Rights Advocates, the Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund, Plataforma Internacional contra la Impunidad and the Conseil international de soutien à des procès equitables et aux droits de l’homme. All statements are on file with the secretariat of the Human Rights Council and are available for consultation. 7