The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area produce severe mental trauma and physical suffering for prisoners sentenced to death are referred to as the “death row phenomenon” and may qualify as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or even torture.8 Some methods of execution have already been declared violations of the absolute prohibition of torture, such as death by stoning or gas asphyxiation.9 The cruelty of other methods is widely discussed, such as lethal injection or hanging.10 I reiterate my findings that it has become increasingly difficult for states to prove that the application of the death penalty does not violate the absolute prohibition of torture or other ill-treatment. Regarding lethal injection as a method of execution used in the United States of America, one of the two retentionist states in the OSCE region, I have repeatedly found that the United States Government violated the right to be free form torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by the administration of compound chemicals that cause pain and suffering.11 Reports show that executions by lethal injection can last over 20 minutes, or even more, and lead to severe suffering, burns and convulsions.12 According to new statistics, lethal injection has the highest rate of botched executions, prompting litigation at the domestic and regional levels, as well as the expression of concern by my Rapporteurship and other UN bodies.13 States have a reinforced special duty to ensure that the method of execution does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment. In this regard, the drugs and doses to be used in case of executions by lethal injection, as well as the composition of the execution team and the training of its members, should be subjected to the highest quality control standards. I strongly condemn the fact that some states in the United States are experimenting with drugs never tried before and with controversial lethal 8  See EU Guidelines on death penalty, 8416/13, 12 April 2013(xiii), <https://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/guidelines/death_penalty/docs/guidelines_death_penalty_st08416_en.pdf >; See also “Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Lessons in South-East Asia”, OHCHR, 2013, para. 2.4.3, <http://bangkok.ohchr.org/files/Moving%20 away%20from%20the%20Death%20Penalty-English%20for%20Website.pdf>. 9  Special Rapporteur 2012, Op. Cit., note 6, para. 31 and 32; see also European Parliament Resolution 2015/2879 (RSP), 8 October 2015, D, <http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+ B8-2015-1007+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN>. 10  See African Commission on Human and Peoples’s Rights, Interights & Ditshwanelo v. Republic of Botswana, communication 319/06 (2016): the Commission held that execution by hanging constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, <http://www.achpr.org/ communications/decision/319.06/>. 11  United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Report, A/HRC/28/68/Add.1, (6 March 2015), JAL 04/08/2014, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/ HRC/RegularSessions/Session28/Pages/ListReports.aspx>. 12  See, Ninth Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, United Nations Human Rights council, 22 November – 3 December 2010, United States of America (1st cycle), submission by The Advocates for Human Rights, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRUSStakeholdersInfoS9.aspx>; see also Amnesty International, “Execution by lethal injection: a quarter century of state poisoning” (2007), <http:// www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGACT500072007>. 13  See the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, case Ramiro Hernandez Llanas v. US (March 31, 2014), Resolution 7/2014 re precautionary measure, <https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/pdf/2014/MC11014-EN.pdf>; and Death Penalty Information Center, website, <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/some-examples-post-furman-botched-executions>. 8