449. With reference to article 6 of the Covenant, the Committee is concerned that under Sri Lankan law, the death penalty may be imposed for crimes such as abetting suicide, drug-related offences, and certain offences against property. Some of these offences do not appear to be the most serious offences under article 6 of the Covenant.
The Human Rights Committee oversees implementation of the ICCPR.
It has consistently found that drug offences do not meet the test of ‘most serious crimes’ for the purposes of article 6.2 of the Covenant. This is shown by Concluding Observations spanning 20 years.
Those included in the e-Book of Authorities are not exhaustive.