The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2017 panel discussion on the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty was held on 11 September 2013 in Geneva at the twenty-fourth session of the UN Human Rights Council. During the panel discussion several states highlighted the challenges faced by families, and especially children, with regard to access to and information on individuals sentenced to the death penalty. The Panel recommended that states that retain the death penalty have, “to ensure that the rights of the child to information and last visits or communications […] are effectively protected; to return the body of a person executed or any personal effects to the family for burial, or inform them where the body is buried and allow them reasonable access to that location; to immediately end any form of secrecy surrounding the use of the death penalty and to ensure domestic legislation complies with international standards on transparency.”21 In the same year, 2013, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 68/147 on the rights of the child, acknowledged, “that a parent’s […] sentencing to death […] has a serious impact on children’s development”.22 The General Assembly subsequently urged states, in the framework of their national child protection efforts, to provide the assistance and support these children may require. In 2015 the UN Human Rights Council, in its resolution 30/5, reiterated its call upon states to ensure that children, whose parents or parental caregivers are on death row, are provided, in advance, with adequate information about a pending execution, its date, time and location. The importance to allow a last visit or communication with the convicted person and the return of the body to the family for burial were likewise stressed.23 The Human Rights Council also decided to dedicate a high-level panel discussion to the human rights violations related to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. The high-level panel discussion was held on 1 March 2017, in Geneva at the thirty-fourth session of the UN Human Rights Council. The objective of the panel discussion was to continue the exchange of views among states on the question of the death penalty and to address violations related to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The impact of the death penalty on family members and other individuals around them was discussed, particularly trauma and long-term consequences that the children of parents sentenced to death suffer. It was stressed that the human rights of children of parents sentenced to death or 21  United Nations Human Rights Council, Summary of the Panel discussion on the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed, Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/ HRC/25/33 (2013), para. 31 (e). 22  United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Rights of the child A/RES/68/147 (2013), para. 57. 23  Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 1 October 2015, on the question of the death penalty, A/HRC/RES/30/5 (12 October 2015), para. 4, <http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx?doc_id=25720>.. 14