A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 of India, Rajiv Gandhi. On 28 January 1998, all 26 individuals were found guilty and sentenced to death by a special court in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Allegedly the trial was held behind closed doors, in camera, and non-disclosure of the identity of witnesses was maintained throughout the proceedings. Reportedly, confessions by the defendants formed a major part of the evidence in the trial court judgment against them, which they later claimed were taken under duress. Currently, the three aforementioned individuals are being held in Vellore Prison, State of Tamil Nadu, India where they might be suffering from serious mental and psychological illness due to the prolonged stay on death row in solitary confinement since 1998. With regard to Saibanna Ningappa Natikar, it was reported that he was sentenced to death in 2005 for the 1994 murder of his second wife and daughter. Reportedly, fourteen former Indian judges petitioned the President of India asking that Mr. Natikar’s sentence be commuted because it was imposed in error. Allegedly Mr. Natikar has been suffering from serious mental and psychological illness due to the prolonged stay on death row in solitary confinement since 2005. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the reply of the Government of India, but regrets that the Government did not provide sufficient documentation of the investigation into the allegations of torture and illtreatment in connection with this case, including the alleged detention and death sentence of Mr. Devender Pal Sing Bhullar. The Government’s reply neither explains the Court’s finding nor the measures taken to impartially and independently investigate the allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The Government’s reply does not address the allegations and concerns raised regarding Meesekar Maidaiah, Gnanprakasham, Simon, Bilavendran, V. Sriharan alias Murugan, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan, A. G. Perarivalan alias Arivu and Saibanna Ningappa Natikar. The Special Rapporteur would like to stress that each Government has the obligation to protect the right to life and the physical and mental integrity of all persons. These rights are set forth inter alia in the UDHR, the United Nations Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of those Facing Execution of 1984 (ECOSOC Resolution 1984/50) and the ICCPR, acceded to the Government of India on 10 April 1979. As stated in his report to the General Assembly (A/67/279; 9 August 2012), the Special Rapporteur finds that even if the emergence of a customary norm that considers the death penalty as per se running afoul of the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is still under way, most conditions under which capital punishment is actually applied renders the punishment tantamount to torture. Under many other, less severe conditions, it still amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. He therefore recalls the absolute nature of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate paragraph 7c of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23, which urges States “To ensure that no statement established to have been made as a result of torture is invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made, and calls upon States to consider extending that prohibition to statements made as a result of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recognizing that adequate corroboration of statements, including confessions, used as evidence in any proceedings constitutes one safeguard for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”Due to the lack of information provided by the Government about the allegation that Messrs. Bhullar, Madaiah, Gnanprakasham, Simon, Bilavendran, Murugan, Santhan, Arivu and Natikar have spent many years on death row in solitary confinement, the Special Rapporteur considers such facts to have been proven. He concludes that the aforementioned individuals have been suffering from serious mental and psychological illness due to the prolonged stay on death row in solitary confinement and that the Government has not lived up to its obligation to investigate the allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The Special Rapporteur also reiterates that no exceptional circumstances can be invoked to justify torture by the Government and that therefore the rights of these individuals have been violated. 41