In this context, the Council is also concerned about the effect that extra-judicial killings and disappearances have on the legal process and the subsequent loss of confidence in the rule of law and the judicial process. The Council considers that the rule of law requires not only that the content of the law be just but that it be administered by an independent and impartial judiciary and independent and accountable law enforcement agencies free from corruption. For justice to thrive, the Council considers that it must exist in an environment in which the right of access to justice, the right to competent and effective counsel, the right to be free from cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, and other rights of accused persons are protected. The Council urges Member states to concentrate on crime control strategies that promote these fundamental rights rather than focusing on retribution; to work toward the restriction, suspension and ultimate eradication of the death penalty; and to take measures toward the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Second Optional Protocol to that Covenant. 1. International human rights law and standards (i) the offences for which international human rights law permits the imposition of the death penalty The range of offences for which the death penalty could be imposed should be limited to the “most serious offences” as referred to in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)1. The Council considers that the “most serious offences” are those which involve the wanton destruction of human life. The Council acknowledges that it may take some time for those States which retain the death penalty to limit the range of offences punishable by death to the “most serious crimes” because of concerns about national security. The Council expects that States will aim towards the decrease in the number of offences punishable by death as a means of achieving de facto abolition of the death penalty and ultimately de jure abolition. 5