The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2017 76. The prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and the strict adherence to safeguards constitute absolute limits on the use and enforcement of the death penalty. It may still be theoretically possible to impose and execute the death penalty without running afoul of the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, but the rigorous conditions that States must apply for that purpose make the retention of capital punishment not worth the effort. Even with such conditions, States cannot guarantee that in all cases the prohibition of torture will be scrupulously adhered to. 77. Death by stoning or gas asphyxiation is already clearly prohibited under international law. Furthermore, there is no categorical evidence that any method in use today can be said to comply with the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 78. The death row phenomenon is a violation of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and of article 1 or article 16 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, depending on the length of isolation and severity of conditions. The anxiety created by the threat of death and the other circumstances surrounding an execution, inflicts great psychological pressure and trauma on persons sentenced to death. A prolonged stay on death row, along with the accompanying conditions, constitutes a violation of the prohibition of torture itself. 79. 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 or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. He recommends a more comprehensive legal study on the emergence of a customary norm prohibiting the use of the death penalty under all circumstances. 80. Whether or not a customary norm prohibiting the death penalty has crystallized, the Special Rapporteur calls upon all retentionist States to observe rigorously the restrictions and conditions imposed by article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 1 or article 16 of the Convention against Torture. The Special Rapporteur calls upon retentionist States: (a) To abolish the use of the death penalty for juveniles, persons with mental disabilities and pregnant women and give further consideration to abolishing the death penalty for persons over the age of 70 years and for recent mothers; (b) To ensure that the method of execution employed causes the least possible physical and mental suffering and that it does not violate the prohibition of 78