In a few days, the UN General Assembly will be adopting yet another resolution for a moratorium of executions pending abolition. This resolution will receive even better support compared to the previous 3.
In 2007 - 104 votes in favour, 54 against and 29 abstentions.
In 2008 - 106 in favour, 46 against and 34 abstained.
In 2010 - 108 in favour, 41 against and 36 abstentions.
In 2012 - 110 in favour, 39 against and 36 abstentions (the results at the Third Committee session)
And, according to the UN, there are now 150 nation states that have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice
New York, 21 November 2012 - Statement by the Secretary-General on the adoption by the General Assembly’s Third Committee of the resolution “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”
The Secretary-General welcomes Monday’s record vote in favour of
the call for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty by the Third
Committee of the General Assembly, which adopted the resolution by 110
votes in favour (with 39 against and 36 abstentions). The new
resolution, inter alia, calls on all States to establish a moratorium on
executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. It reflects a
trend against capital punishment which has grown stronger across
regions, legal traditions and customs since the landmark resolution of
the General Assembly in 2007. The Secretary-General saluted this
development at a high-level event on the death penalty in New York this
July. He said then that the taking of life is too absolute, too
irreversible, for one human being to inflict on another, even when
backed by legal process.
Some 150 States have either
abolished or do not practice the death penalty. Monday’s vote offers the
opportunity to again encourage Member States who still practice the
death penalty or retain it in law to follow suit. The Secretary-General
therefore calls on Member States to join the worldwide trend and support
next month’s General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the use of
the death penalty.
Ban welcomes General Assembly committee’s record vote on death penalty moratorium
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
21 November 2012 – United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon welcomes a record vote by a General Assembly committee in
favour of the call for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,
according to his spokesperson.
“Monday’s vote offers the opportunity to again encourage Member States
who still practice the death penalty or retain it in law to follow
suit,” the spokesperson added in a news statement, noting that 150 States have either abolished or do not practice the death penalty.
He continued, “The Secretary-General therefore calls on Member States to
join the worldwide trend and support next month’s General Assembly
resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.”
The new resolution, inter alia, calls on all States to establish a
moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
The vote took place on Monday in the Assembly’s Third Committee, which
adopted the resolution by 110 votes in favour, with 39 against and 36
abstentions.
The Third Committee deals with social and humanitarian issues, as well
as human rights. It is one of six such bodies, which each deal with a
block of issues and themes under discussion by the wider General
Assembly, but which lend themselves to more effective discussion in
smaller settings before then being forwarded to all UN Member States –
in the so-called General Assembly Plenary – for a final decision.
Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said the Committee’s resolution reflects a trend
against capital punishment which has grown stronger across regions,
legal traditions and customs since a landmark General Assembly
resolution on the topic in 2007.
“The Secretary-General saluted this development at a high-level event on
the death penalty in New York this July,” the spokesperson added. “He
said then that the taking of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for
one human being to inflict on another, even when backed by legal
process.”
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