A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 Government fails to fully and expeditiously cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. 623. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). 624. The Special Rapporteur further recalls that the execution of persons who are mentally disabled is per se a violation of an existing norm of customary international law (para. 64). The Special Rapporteur also calls upon all States to reconsider whether the use of the death penalty per se respects the inherent dignity of the human person, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering, and constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (para. 79). 625. As further observed in the Special Rapporteur’s interim report to the General Assembly of 5 August 2011 (A/66/268), conditions on death row are often worse than those of the rest of the prison population and often include lengthy and anxiety-ridden wait for uncertain outcomes, isolation, drastically reduced human contact and even sometimes worse physical detention conditions which can produce several mental trauma and physical deterioration in prisoners (“death row phenomenon”) (para. 42). 626. The Special Rapporteur recalls that when used for juveniles, pregnant women, or people with mental disabilities, persons serving life sentences and persons awaiting execution on “death row” (A/66/268 and A/68/295), solitary confinement amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or even torture, even if not used indefinitely or for a prolonged period of time. 627. The Rapporteur is therefore of the view that the Government of the United States of America, by sentencing to death a person with mental disabilities and by continuing to hold Mr. Panetti on “death row” has violated his right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 1 and 16 of the Convention against Torture, article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and customary international law. (c) JUA 09/12/2014 Case No. USA 20/2014 State Reply: 30/04/2015 Allegation concerning the case of Mr. Paul Goodwin, sentenced to death for murder and executed on 10 December 2014 despite mental health experts attesting that he was a person with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities. 628. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of United States of America for its reply, dated 30 April 2015, to the present communication, wherein he was informed that the death penalty imposed on Mr. Paul Goodwin had been executed on 10 December 2014. 629. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to reconsider whether the use of the death penalty per se respects the inherent dignity of the human person, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering and constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or 104