limited mental competence, whether at the stage of sentence or execution are exempted from facing the death penalty.106 * 211. The Respondent State did not address this allegation. *** 212. This Court notes that the issue for determination is whether the mandatory imposition of the death penalty on persons suffering from mental illness or disorder is in violation of the right to life under Article 4 of the Charter. 213. The Court recalls that in the judicial system of the Respondent State, the mandatory imposition of the death sentence violates Article 4 of the Charter as the judicial officer is not allowed to take into account circumstances that are peculiar to the accused or the commission of the offence.107 It is therefore immaterial whether the accused person raised the issue of their mental illness during the sentencing process as the decision on conviction irretrievably binds the judicial officer in terms of sentencing. It follows that in the present Application, even if the Applicants had raised the issue of their mental illness at the stage of sentencing, doing so would not have changed their fate. The third of the UN Safeguards; William A Schabs, “International Norms on Execution of the Insane and the Mentally Retired”, 4 CRIM. L. FORUM 95, 113 (1993); UN Economic and Social Counsel Res. 1989/64, § 1(d), implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of rights of those facing the death penalty (24 may 1989); Francis v. Jamaica (Communication no. 606/1994, UN Doc. CCPR/C/54/D/606/1994, § 9.2 (H.R.C. 3 Aug., 1995)); Sahadath v. Trinidad and Tobago (Communication No. 684/1996, UN Doc. CCPR/C/74/D/684/1996, § 7.2 (H.R.C 15 April, 2002)); UN Commission On Human Rights Res. 1999/61, questions of the death penalty (28 Arp. 1999) (available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f3e40.html); UN commission on human rights res. 2005/65, question of the death penalty (27 apr. 2000) (emphasis added) available at https://www.refoworld.org/publisher,UNCHR,RESOLUTION,3b00f29a13,0.html); See Asma Jahangir (Special Rapporteur On Extrajudicial, Summary Or Arbitrary Executions), Report On Extrajudicial, Summary Or Arbitrary Executions, § 97, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2000/3, (2000); BACRE Waly Ndiaye; Gen. Comment No. 3 on the African Charter on Human Peoples Rights: The right to life (Art. 4); Afr. Comm’n H.P.R, § 25 (NOV. 2015), etc. 107 Rajabu and Others v. Tanzania, supra, §§ 99-111; Bonge and Others v. Tanzania, supra, § 80; Zabron v. Tanzania, supra, § 140; Damian v. Tanzania, supra, §§ 128-132. 106 60