in considering an individual communication under the Optional Protocol...

in considering an individual communication under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Human Rights Committee said the automatic and mandatory imposition of the death penalty constituted an arbitrary deprivation of life.
The case Weerawansa v. Sri Lanka involved the mandatory imposition of the death sentence for the crimes of committing and of abetting murder. The State party did not contest that the death sentence was mandatory for the offence of which the individual concerned was convicted, but argued that there had been a moratorium on the death penalty for nearly 30 years.
The Committee recalled its jurisprudence that the automatic and mandatory imposition of the death penalty constituted an arbitrary deprivation of life, in violation of article 6, paragraph 1, of the Covenant, in circumstances where the death penalty is imposed without any possibility of taking into account the defendant’s personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence. Thus, while observing the fact that the State party had imposed a moratorium on executions, the Committee found that the imposition of the death penalty itself, in the circumstances, violated the author’s right to life under article 6, paragraph 1, of the Covenant.