The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2018 and the number of instances in which clemency has been granted, and to include information on the extent to which the safeguards referred to above are incorporated in national law. Economic and Social Council Resolution 1996/15: Implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty (1996) […] 7. … to keep to a minimum the suffering of prisoners under sentence of death and to avoid an exacerbation of such suffering; Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 6: The right to life (Article 6) (1982) 1. The right to life enunciated in article 6 of the Covenant has been dealt with in all State reports. It is the supreme right from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation (art. 4). However, the Committee has noted that quite often the information given concerning article 6 was limited to only one or other aspect of this right. It is a right which should not be interpreted narrowly […] 6. While it follows from article 6 (2) to (6) that States parties are not obliged to abolish the death penalty totally they are obliged to limit its use and, in particular, to abolish it for other than the “most serious crimes”. Accordingly, they ought to consider reviewing their criminal laws in this light and, in any event, are obliged to restrict the application of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes”. The article also refers generally to abolition in terms which strongly suggest (paras. 2 (2) and (6)) that abolition is desirable. The Committee concludes that all measures of abolition should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life within the meaning of article 40, and should as such be reported to the Committee. The Committee notes that a number of States have already abolished the death penalty or suspended its application. Nevertheless, States’ reports show that progress made towards abolishing or limiting the application of the death penalty is quite inadequate. 47