Article 6(5) of the ICCPR explicitly prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age. The United States ratified the ICCPR in 1992, but entered a reservation on this clause. The UN Human Rights Committee has condemned the practice of imposing the death penalty on persons who were younger than 18 years when committing the crime. It called upon the USA to withdraw its reservation to Article 6(5), and to take appropriate steps to ensure that persons are not sentenced to death for crimes committed before they were 1886. This view was shared by the UN Special Rapporteur on extra judicial and summary or arbitrary executions in a 1998 report on the use of the death penalty in the USA, which stated that the US practice of imposing the death penalty on those under 18 at the time of the crime was a “very serious and disturbing practice that inherently conflicts with the prevailing international consensus”87. Twenty five states permit capital punishment for offenders with mental retardation. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that executions of persons with mental retardation is not cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since 1976, the year in which the death penalty was reintroduced, at least 35 people with mental retardation have been executed. Although there is no provision in the ICCPR explicitly prohibiting the execution of the mentally retarded, the UN Commission on Human Rights has requested the elimination of such practices88. There are at least 16 persons with mental retardation on death row89, whilst at least one person with serious psychological problems was executed during the year 200090. Among those executed during the period under review were eight foreign nationals who, in violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, had not been notified by the authorities after arrest of their right to communicate with their consular representatives91. In one case, the execution was carried out despite an order by the International Court of Justice that the execution be suspended92. On 27 June 2001, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), delivered its judgment in the LaGrand Case (Germany v. United States of America), and found a violation of Article 36, paragraph 1 (b) and 2, of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. California was the first state to pass legislation requiring full compliance with the notification provisions of the Vienna Convention93. 4.18 Uzbekistan The death penalty remains in active use in Uzbekistan. Following a decision by the Uzbek parliament in August 1998 to reduce the scope of the death penalty and remove it as a punishment for five offences, the Criminal Code now contains eight crimes that are subject to capital punishment: aggravated murder, rape of a female aged under 14 years, waging aggressive war, genocide, terrorism involving death or serious injury, treason, organizing a criminal conspiracy and illegal sale of large quantities of narcotics. The death penalty may not be applied to women or to persons under 18 years of age at the time of committing the crime94. 19