The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and articles 6 and 37 (a) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Taking note that the Second Optional Protocol to 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, Recalling the entry into force, on 1 July 2003, of Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights), concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, Recalling also its previous resolutions in which it expressed its conviction that the 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 Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court are authorized to impose, Welcoming also the abolition of the death penalty in some States since the last session of the Commission and decisions taken in other States that restrict the use of the death penalty, inter alia through excluding certain categories of persons or offences from its application, Commending States that have recently acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Welcoming the fact that many countries that still retain the death penalty in their penal legislation are applying a moratorium on executions, and also welcoming the regional initiatives aimed at the establishment of a moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty, Reaffirming 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 of 25 May 1984, and the provisions regarding the implementation of the guidelines contained in Council resolutions 1989/64 of 24 May 1989 and 1996/15 of 23 July 1996, Reaffirming also resolution 2000/17 of 17 August 2000 of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on international law and the imposition of the death penalty on those aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence, 56