25 There cannot be the slightest doubt that Article 4(2) contains an absolute prohibition that no State Party may apply the death penalty to crimes for which it was not provided previously under the domestic law of that State.41 58. The representatives and the Inter-American Commission argue that the modifications that were made to Article 201 of the Guatemalan Penal Code, which defined the crime of kidnapping or abduction, are contrary to Article 4 of the Convention because they apply the death penalty to conducts for which it was not provided when Guatemala ratified the American Convention. The State indicated, initially, that this violation of the Convention did not exist, because the death penalty was already established for the crime of kidnapping or abduction before the entry into force of the Convention. Nevertheless, in its final written arguments the State acknowledged that “the reform of Article 201 of the Penal Code entailed a clear violation of the provisions of Article 4(2) of the American Convention […] because it established the death penalty as the principal punishment and 25 to 50 years of imprisonment as the secondary punishment.” 59. In its concluding observations on the second periodic report42 submitted by Guatemala, the Human Rights Committee indicated that it was: Concerned about the application of the death penalty and, in particular, about the increase in the number of crimes carrying that penalty, its application having been extended to abduction not resulting in death, contrary to the provisions of the Covenant. The State party should limit the application of the death penalty to the most serious crimes and restrict the number of crimes carrying that penalty in accordance with Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Covenant. The State party is invited to move towards the full abolition of the death penalty.43 60. When Guatemala ratified the American Convention, Decree No. 17/73 (Penal Code) was in force (supra para. 43(1), and its Article 201 established the punishment of the death penalty for kidnapping followed by the death of the person kidnapped: The kidnapping or abduction of a person in order to obtain a ransom, an exchange for third parties or other illegal purpose of the same or similar nature, shall be punished by eight to fifteen years of imprisonment. The death penalty shall be imposed on the person responsible, when owing to the kidnapping or abduction or during it, the person kidnapped dies. 61. This norm was modified on several occasions (supra paras. 43(1) to 43(4)), and finally the provision established in Legislative Decree No. 81/96, of September 25, 1996, was applied to the alleged victim in the instant case. This establishes that: The death penalty shall be imposed on the perpetrators or masterminds of the crime of the kidnapping or abduction of one or more persons in order to obtain a ransom, an exchange of persons, or a decision contrary to the will of the person kidnapped, or with any similar or equal purpose and, when this cannot be imposed, the punishment shall be 41 Cf. Restrictions to the Death Penalty (Arts. 4(2) and 4(4) American Convention on Human Rights), supra note 40, para. 59. 42 Cf. Second periodic report submitted by Guatemala to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C7GTM/99/2 and HRI/CORE/1/Add. 47). 43 Cf. UN, Human Rights Committee. Concluding observations on Guatemala issued on August 27, 2001, CCPR/CO/72/GTM, paragraph 17.