structure, competence, and procedure of the organs responsible for these matters,
Have agreed upon the following:
PART I - STATE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS PROTECTED
CHAPTER I - GENERAL OBLIGATIONS
Article 1. Obligation to Respect Rights
1. The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms recognized herein and to
ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those rights and freedoms,
without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other social condition.
2. For the purposes of this Convention, "person" means every human being.
Article 2. Domestic Legal Effects
Where the exercise of any of the rights or freedoms referred to in Article 1 is not already ensured by
legislative or other provisions, the States Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their constitutional
processes and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to
give effect to those rights or freedoms.
CHAPTER II - CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
Article 3. Right to Juridical Personality
Every person has the right to recognition as a person before the law.
Article 4. Right to Life
1. Every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general,
from the moment of conception. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.
2. In countries that have not abolished the death penalty, it may be imposed only for the most serious crimes
and pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court and in accordance with a law establishing
such punishment, enacted prior to the commission of the crime. The application of such punishment shall not
be extended to crimes to which it does not presently apply.
3. The death penalty shall not be reestablished in states that have abolished it.
4. In no case shall capital punishment be inflicted for political offenses or related common crimes.
5. Capital punishment shall not be imposed upon persons who, at the time the crime was committed, were
under 18 years of age or over 70 years of age; nor shall it be applied to pregnant women.
6. Every person condemned to death shall have the right to apply for amnesty, pardon, or commutation of