Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary
or Arbitrary Executions
The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary
or Arbitrary Executions is an independent expert
appointed by the United Nations Human Rights
Council to examine questions relevant to
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and
to monitor the implementation of existing
international standards on safeguards and
restrictions relating to the imposition of capital
punishment. The mandate of the Special
Rapporteur covers all countries, irrespective of
whether a State has ratified relevant international
Conventions.
In a report to the Human Rights Council on
Transparency and the Imposition of the Death
Penalty, the Special Rapporteur stated that the
practice of informing death row prisoners of their
impending executions only moments before the
executions actually take place, and their respective
family members only after the executions, is
“inhuman and degrading
In a follow-up report on the recommendations to
States, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment stated that certain forms of treatment
reserved to relatives in capital cases, such as
refusing them the opportunity to bid farewell to the
condemned, failing to notify them of the date of the
execution and not disclosing the place of burial
afterwards, are cruel and inhuman.