The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area Statistics Death sentences Official statistics were not provided. Executions Official statistics were not provided. International Safeguards Fair-trial guarantees In its concluding observations on the third periodic report submitted by Uzbekistan, the UN Committee against Torture expressed its concern about “numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations concerning routine use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment committed by law enforcement and investigative officials or with their instigation or consent, often to extract confessions or information to be used in criminal proceedings”.80 Uzbekistan has ratified the 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.81 In the reporting period, the UN Human Rights Committee examined several communications concerning the death penalty in 2002 and 2003,82 where it found a number of violations of the ICCPR, including of Article 6 (right to life), Article 7 (prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment), and Article 14 (right to a fair trial). The Committee found that the death sentence had been pronounced without meeting the requirements of a fair trial and recalled that the initial imposition of the death penalty at the conclusion of a trial in which the provisions of the ICCPR have not been respected constitutes a violation of the right to life in Article 6 of the ICCPR. 80  Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: Uzbekistan, UN Doc. CAT/C/UZB/CO/3, 26 February 2008, para. 6. 81  Uzbekistan acceded to the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR on 28 September 1995. 82  UN Doc. CCPR/C/90/D/1140/2002, 7 August 2007, Communication No. 1140/2002; UN Doc. CCPR/C/91/D/1150/2003, 13 November 2007, Communication No. 1150/2003. 15