20 Human Rights,60 the universal system of human rights,61 and several domestic courts62 have noted that the so-called “death row” violates the right to personal integrity owing to the anguish endured by those who have been condemned to death, a situation that gives rise to psychological traumas owing to the ever present and mounting anguish of awaiting execution of the death penalty;63 consequently, it is considered cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Therefore, in order to determine the existence of a violation of personal integrity derived from imprisonment on death row, it is necessary to examine the personal circumstances of the individuals convicted and the particularities of the case in order to assess whether their stay on death row reaches the minimum level of severity to be categorized as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.64 80. Furthermore, regarding the method used for the execution of the death penalty, the Court notes that diverse specialized bodies,65 as well as opinions of the universal system66 and other regional systems67 for the protection of human rights expressly prohibit the methods of executing capital punishment that cause the greatest pain and suffering. In this regard, it is important to note that all methods of execution can inflict “inordinate pain and suffering”68 and, therefore, if a State executes the death penalty, “it shall be carried out so as to inflict the minimum possible suffering,”69 because “whatever the method of execution, the extinction of life involves some physical pain.”70 Cf. ECHR. Öcalan v. Turkey [GS], no. 46221/99, Judgment of May 12, 2005, paras. 166 to 169, and Bader and Kanbor v. Sweden, no. 13284/04, Judgment of November 8, 2005, paras. 42 to 48. 61 Cf. United Nations. Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/67/279 (2012), para. 42. The death row phenomenon is defined as follows: “It consists of a combination of circumstances that produce severe mental trauma and physical deterioration in prisoners under sentence of death. Those circumstances include the lengthy and anxiety-ridden wait for uncertain outcomes, isolation, drastically reduced human contact and even the physical conditions in which some inmates are held. Death row conditions are often worse than those for the rest of the prison population, and prisoners on death row are denied many basic human necessities.” See also, Human Rights Committee, Larrañaga v. Philippines, CCPR/C/87/D/1421/2005 (2006), para. 7.11, and Mwamba v. Zambia, CCPR/C/98/D/1520/2006 (2010), para. 6.8. 62 Cf. Judgment of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe of June 24, 1993, in Catholic Commissioner for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe v. Attorney General (4) SA 239 (ZS); Supreme Court of Uganda in Attorney General v. Susan Kigula and 417 others (Constitutional Appeal No. 3 of 2006), 2009, and Court of Appeal of Kenya, Godfrey Mutiso v. Republic (2010). See also, Supreme Court of Canada, United States v. Burns, 2001 SCC 7, paras. 118 to 123. 63 Cf. ECHR. Soering v. The United Kingdom, no. 14038/88, Judgment of July 7, 1989, paras. 56, 81 and 111. 64 Cf. ECHR, Case of Ireland v. the United Kingdom, no. 5310/71, Judgment of January 18, 1978, para. 162; Case of Jalloh v. Germany [GS], no. 54810/00, Judgment of July 11, 2006, para. 67 and Case of Bouyid v. Belgium [GS], no. 23380/09/03, Judgment of September 28, 2015, para. 86. 65 Cf. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 36 on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life, para. 44; Economic and Social Council, Safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, Resolution 1984/50 of May 25, 1984, and EU Guidelines on Death Penalty, No. 8372/13 of April 12, 2013. 66 Cf. Human Rights Committee, Ng vs. Canada, Views. Communication no. 469/1991 of November 5, 1993, paras. 16.2 and 16.4; Commission on Human Rights, The question of the death penalty, Human Rights Resolution 2005/59 (2005); Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 20: Prohibition of torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 7) (1992), para. 6; Human Rights Council, Question of the death penalty, A/HRC/24/18 (2013), paras. 59 to 61; Human Rights Council, Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, A/HRC/30/18 (2015), paras. 30 to 32; Human Rights Council, Question of the death penalty, A/HRC/39/19 (2018), para. 38. 67 Cf. ECHR. Al-Saadon and Mufdhi v. The United Kingdom no. 61498/08, Judgment of March 2, 2010, para. 115; Bader and Knabor v. Sweden, no. 13284/04, Judgment of November 8, 2005, para. 42. 68 Human Rights Council, A/HRC/30/18 (2015), supra, para. 32. 69 Cf. Economic and Social Council, Safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, Resolution 1984/50 (1984), para. 9. 70 Cf. ECHR. Al-Saadon and Mufdhi v. The United Kingdom, no. 61498/08, supra, para. 115. 60