Death_Penalty_2005_nowy.qxd 2005-09-08 17:00 Page 32 THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS Pregnant women and children Women and individuals who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime cannot be sentenced to death.100 Fair-trial guarantees By the end of the current reporting period, the UN Human Rights Committee had adopted decisions on four communications from individuals in Tajikistan on issues relating to the death penalty. The Committee found a number of violations of the ICCPR, including Article 9 (prohibition against arbitrary detention), Article 7 (prohibition against torture or other ill-treatment), Article 10(1) (right of persons in detention to be treated with humanity), and Article 14 (right to a fair trial).101 In all of these cases, the Committee recalled that the imposition of a sentence of death upon conclusion of a trial in which the provisions of the Covenant have not been respected constitutes a violation of Article 6 of the ICCPR (right to life) and held that the sentences of death were passed in violation of the right to a fair trial as set out in Article 14 of the Covenant, and therefore also in violation of Article 6 of the ICCPR.102 Individual complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee Tajikistan has ratified the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and thereby recognizes the competence of the UN Human Rights Committee to consider complaints from individuals claiming that their rights under the ICCPR have been violated.103 In cases concerning the death penalty, the UN Human Rights Committee can issue urgent requests to suspend the execution of a death sentence while the case is pending before the Committee. By the end of the current reporting period, the UN Human Rights Committee had received 25 communications from Tajikistan concerning violations of the right to life, the prohibition against arbitrary detention, the right to a fair trial, the prohibi- 100 101 102 103 Article 59(2), Criminal Code, and Law No. 45 “On amendments to the Criminal Code”, 1 August 2003. CCPR/C/79/D/1096/2002, 6 November 2003, Paragraph 7; CCPR/C/81/D/964/2001, 20 August 2004, Paragraph 7; CCPR/C/81/D/1117/2002, 25 August 2004, Paragraph 7; CCPR/C/83/D/973/2001, 13 April 2005, Paragraph 8. CCPR/C/79/D/1096/2002, 6 November 2003, Paragraph 7; CCPR/C/81/D/964/2001, 20 August 2004, Paragraph 6.9; CCPR/C/81/D/1117/2002, 25 August 2004, Paragraph 6.6; CCPR/C/83/D/973/2001, 13 April 2005, Paragraph 7.6. Tajikistan acceded to the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR on 4 January 1999. 32