The Respondent State also disputes the Applicant’s allegation that she is a person of good character. *** 63. The Court observes that Article 4 of the Charter provides that “[h]uman beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for [their] life and the integrity of [their] person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.” 64. At the outset, the Court acknowledges global trends towards the abolition of the death penalty, represented, in part, by the adoption of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).20 At the same time, however, it notes that the death penalty remains on the statute books of some states and that no treaty, on the abolition of the death penalty has gained universal ratification.21 Presently, the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, the Court notes, has ninety (90) State Parties out of the one hundred-seventy three (173) State Parties to the ICCPR. 65. Specifically in relation to Africa, the Court takes cognisance of the continentwide developments in relation to the death penalty. By way of illustration, in 1990, only one country, Cape Verde, had abolished the death penalty. Today, out of the fifty-five (55) African Union member States, twenty-five (25) have abolished the death penalty in law, fifteen (15) have placed a long-term moratorium on executions while fifteen (15) retain capital punishment. Most recently in 2020, Chad abolished the death penalty, followed by Sierra Leone in 2021 and the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea in 2022. 20 Amini Juma v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No.024/2016, Judgment of 30 September 2021 (merits and reparations), § 122 and Ally Rajabu and Others v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 007/2015, Judgment of 28 November 2019 (merits and reparations), § 96. Notably, the Respondent State is not a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 21 For a comprehensive statement on developments in relation to the death penalty, see, United Nations General Assembly Moratorium on the use of the death penalty – Report of the Secretary General 8 August 2022. 19