UN votes once again to end executions

136 out of the 192 UN member states have abolished the death penalty

Human Rights Watch:

The UN General Assembly’s human rights committee today adopted a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, the third since 2007.

The resolution was adopted by 107 votes in favour, 38 against with 36 abstentions at the UN General Assembly's Third Committee in New York.

The resolution garnered more support from UN Member States than the previous resolution in 2008, confirming the worldwide trend towards ending the use of capital punishment.

“This third resolution by the UN General Assembly in favour of a moratorium on executions is yet another milestone in the campaign to end premeditated killing by the state,” said José Luis Díaz, Amnesty International’s representative at the UN in New York.

“Once again, a clear majority of countries have committed to the goal of abolishing the death penalty, the ultimate denial of human rights”.

When the UN was founded in 1945 only eight states had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Today, 136 out of the 192 UN member states have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Bhutan, Kiribati, Maldives, Mongolia and Togo changed their vote to back the moratorium. In a further sign of support, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Solomon Islands and Thailand moved from opposition to abstention.

“These positive changes are an encouraging development that we hope will be followed by concrete steps by these states to remove capital punishment from national legislation as soon as possible”, added José Luis Díaz.

The General Assembly is expected to endorse the resolution in its plenary session in December. Amnesty International urges all UN Member States to support the plenary resolution and, if still retaining the death penalty, to immediately establish a moratorium on executions while considering abolition.