THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2004/67. Question of the death penalty The Commission on Human Rights, Recalling article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right of everyone to life, article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and articles 6 and 37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Noting that the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that no one within the jurisdiction of a State party shall be executed and that each State party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction, Welcoming the entry into force, on 1 July 2003, of Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, Recalling its previous resolutions in which it expressed its conviction that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights, Welcoming the exclusion of capital punishment from the penalties that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court are authorized to impose, Welcoming the abolition or restriction of the death penalty that has taken place in some States since the last session of the Commission, and commending States that have recently acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Welcoming also the fact that many countries that still retain the death penalty in their penal legislation are applying a moratorium on executions, and further welcoming the regional initiatives aimed at the establishment of a moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty, Referring to the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50, Noting that, in some countries, the death penalty is often imposed after trials which do not conform to international standards of fairness and that persons belonging to 56