BOUYID v. BELGIUM JUDGMENT 11 that “abolition of the death penalty contributes to enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights”; (i) the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure of 19 December 2011 (ratified by Belgium), the Preamble to which reaffirms “the status of the child as a subject of rights and as a human being with dignity and with evolving capacities”; (j) the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 10 December 2008 (ratified by Belgium) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 6 October 1999 (ratified by Belgium). 47. Several regional human rights texts and instruments also refer to the concept of dignity, including the following: (a) the American Convention on Human Rights of 22 November 1969 (Articles 5 § 2, 6 § 2 and 11 § 1); (b) the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe of 1 August 1975, which stipulates that the States “will promote and encourage the effective exercise of civil, political, economic, social, cultural and other rights and freedoms all of which derive from the inherent dignity of the human person and are essential for his free and full development” (Principle VII); (c) the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 27 June 1981, Article 5 of which lays down that “[e]very individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status”; (d) the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine of 4 April 1997 (which Belgium has not signed), the Preamble to which affirms, inter alia, “the need to respect the human being both as an individual and as a member of the human species and ... the importance of ensuring [his] dignity”; (e) the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7 December 2000, the Preamble to which affirms that being “[c]onscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity”, and Article 1 of which states that “[h]uman dignity is inviolable [and] must be respected and protected” (see also Article 31 on “Fair and just working conditions”); (f) Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances of 3 May 2002 (ratified by Belgium), the Preamble to which points out that the abolition of the death penalty is essential for the protection of everyone’s right to life and for the full recognition of the “inherent dignity of all human beings”;