the police station.25 However, during the cross examination by the assessors, the Applicant reported that “There were many people at the scene of the incident. They were more than three hundred people. They were attacking us”.26 In view of all the above considerations, the Court finds that the Applicant’s claims have not met the threshold of satisfying the three criteria mentioned above. 73. The Court observes that although the Applicant did not allege the violation of the right to life, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging. The Court in its previous jurisprudence27 has acknowledged the 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).28 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.29 As regards the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, the Court notes that as at 28 June 2023, ninety (90) State Parties out of the one hundred-seventy-three (173) State Parties to the ICCPR have ratified it.30 74. Given the framing of Article 4 of the Charter, and the broader developments in international law in relation to the death penalty, the Court has held that this type of punishment should exceptionally be reserved only for the most heinous of offences committed in seriously aggravating circumstances. However, since the circumstances for which the death penalty may be 25 See page 24 of the Record of Proceedings at the High Court. See page 55 of the Record of Proceedings at the High Court. 27 Ghati Mwita v. United Republic of Tanzania, ACtHPR, Application No. 012/2017, Judgment of 1 December 2022 (merits and reparations), §§ 64-66. 28 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. 29 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. 30 https://indicators.ohchr.org/ 26 21