THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS Pregnant women and children Women and persons who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime cannot be sentenced to death.106 In July 2003, a prohibition on sentencing women to death was introduced.107 Previously, the prohibition had been limited to pregnant women. Fair-trial guarantees The UN Human Rights Committee recently considered the case of an applicant who had been sentenced to death for murder with aggravating circumstances.108 The Committee found a number of violations of the ICCPR, including violations of 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). The Committee further 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, “In the current case, the sentence of death was passed in violation of the right to a fair trial as set out in Article 14 of the Covenant, and thus also in breach of Article 6.” 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.109 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. Since January 2001, the UN Human Rights Committee has received 18 communications on the death penalty from Tajikistan. The communications concern violations of the prohibition against arbitrary detention, the right to a fair trial, the prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment, and the right of persons in detention to be treated with humanity and dignity. 106 107 108 109 Article 59(2), Criminal Code. Law No. 45 “On amendments to the Criminal Code”, 1 August 2003. CCPR/C/79/D/1096/2002, 6 November 2003, Paragraph 7. Tajikistan acceded to the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR on 4 January 1999. 34