At Italy's instigation, a resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty was presented by the European Union in partnership with eight co-author member States to the General Assembly of the United Nations, calling for general suspension (not abolition) of capital punishment throughout the world. It was twice affirmed: first, on 15 November 2007 by the Third Committee, and then subsequently reaffirmed on 18 December by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 62/149. New Zealand played a central role facilitating agreement between the co-author group and other supporters.
It calls on States that maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to abolition, and in the meantime, to restrict the number of offences which it punishes and to respect the rights of those on death row. It also calls on States that have abolished the death penalty not to reintroduce it. Like all General Assembly resolutions, it is not binding on any state.
On 18 December 2007, the United Nations General Assembly voted 104 to 54 in favour of resolution A/RES/62/149, which proclaims a global moratorium on the death penalty, with 29 abstentions (as well as 5 absent at the time of the vote).[1] Italy had proposed and sponsored this resolution. After the resolution's approval, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema declared: "Now we must start working on the abolition of the death penalty".[2]
On 18 December 2008, the General Assembly adopted another resolution (A/RES/63/168) reaffirming its previous call for a global moratorium on capital punishment 106 to 46 (with 34 abstentions and another 6 were absent at the time of the vote). Working in partnership with the EU, New Zealand and Mexico were co-facilitators of the draft text which was developed over a period of six months, which Chile then presented to the UN General Assembly on behalf of cosponsors.
On 21 December 2010, the 65th General Assembly adopted a third resolution (A/RES/65/206) with 109 countries voting in favour, 41 against and 35 abstentions (another seven countries were absent at the time of the vote).[3]
On 20 December 2012, the 67th General Assembly adopted a fourth resolution (A/RES/67/176) with 111 countries voting in favour, 41 against and 34 abstentions (another seven countries were absent).[4]
On 18 December 2014, the 69th General Assembly adopted a fifth resolution (A/RES/69/186) with 117 countries voting in favour, 38 against and 34 abstentions (another four countries were absent).[5]
On 19 December 2016, the 71st General Assembly adopted a sixth resolution (A/RES/71/187) with 117 countries voting in favour, 40 against and 31 abstentions (another five countries were absent).[6]
On 16 December 2018, 121 voted in favour of the 7th resolution, 35 against, and 32 abstained.[7]
On 16 December 2020, 123 voted in favour of the 8th resolution, 38 against, and 24 abstained.[8]
On 15 December 2022, 125 voted in favour of the 9th resolution, 37 against, 22 abstained, and 9 absent.[9]
In 1994, a resolution for a moratorium was presented for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by the Italian government. It lost by eight votes. Since 1997, through Italy's initiative, and since 1999 through the EU's endeavour, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) has been approving a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty, every year. The 2007 vote at the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly saw intense diplomatic activity in favour of the moratorium by EU countries, and by the Nonviolent Radical Party itself; the CatholicCommunity of Sant'Egidio joined forces by submitting to the U.N. an appeal and 5,000,000 signatures asking for the moratorium to be passed.[citation needed].
Recalling also the resolutions on the question of the death penalty adopted over the past decade by the Commission on Human Rights in all consecutive sessions, the last being its resolution 2005/59 of 20 April 2005,[lower-alpha 4] in which the Commission called upon states that still maintain the death penalty to abolish it completely and, in the meantime, to establish a moratorium on executions,
Recalling further the important results accomplished by the former Commission of Human Rights on the question of the death penalty, and envisaging that the Human Rights Council could continue to work on this issue,
Considering that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity, and convinced that a moratorium on the use of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement and progressive development of Human Rights, that there is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty's deterrent value and that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the death penalty's implementation is irreversible and irreparable,
Welcoming the decisions taken by an increasing number of States to apply a moratorium on executions, followed in many cases by the abolition of the death penalty,
Expresses its deep concern about the continued application of the death penalty;
Calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to:
Respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, in particular the minimum standards, as set out in the annexe to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984;
Provide the Secretary-General with information relating to the use of Capital Punishment and the observance of the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty;
Progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and reduce the number of offences for which it may be imposed;
Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
Calls upon States which have abolished the death penalty not to reintroduce it;
Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session on the implementation of the present resolution;
Decides to continue consideration of the matter at its sixty-third session under the same agenda item.
↑ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
↑ Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2005, Supplement No. 3 and corrigenda (E/2005/23 and Corr.1 and 2), chap. II, sect. A.
Full text of resolution 63/168
The General Assembly,
Reaffirming its resolution 62/149 of 18 December 2007 on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,
Welcoming the decisions taken by an increasing number of States to apply a moratorium on executions and the global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty,
Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 62/149,[lower-alpha 1] and the conclusions and recommendations contained therein;
Requests the Secretary-General to provide a report on progress made in the implementation of resolution 62/149 and the present resolution, for consideration during its sixty-fifth session, and calls upon Member States to provide the Secretary-General with information in this regard;
Decides to continue consideration of the matter at its sixty-fifth session under the item entitled "Promotion and protection of human rights".
Guided by the purposes and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations,
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,[lower-alpha 1] the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[lower-alpha 2] and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,[lower-alpha 3]
Reaffirming its resolutions 62/149 of 18 December 2007 and 63/168 of 18 December 2008 on the question of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, in which the General Assembly called upon States that still maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing it,
Mindful that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the implementation of the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable,
Convinced that a moratorium on the use of the death penalty contributes to respect for human dignity and to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights, and considering that there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty,
Noting ongoing national debates and regional initiatives on the death penalty, as well as the readiness of an increasing number of Member States to make available information on the use of the death penalty,
Noting also the technical cooperation among Member States in relation to moratoriums on the death penalty,
Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 63/168[lower-alpha 4] and the recommendations contained therein;
Also welcomes the steps taken by some countries to reduce the number of offences for which the death penalty may be imposed and the decisions made by an increasing number of States to apply a moratorium on executions, followed in many cases by the abolition of the death penalty;
Calls upon all States:
To respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, in particular the minimum standards, as set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984, as well as to provide the Secretary-General with information in this regard;
To make available relevant information with regard to their use of the death penalty, which can contribute to possible informed and transparent national debates;
To progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and to reduce the number of offences for which it may be imposed;
To establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
Calls upon States which have abolished the death penalty not to reintroduce it, and encourages them to share their experience in this regard;
Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session on the implementation of the present resolution;
Decides to continue its consideration of the matter at its sixty-seventh session under the item entitled "Promotion and protection of human rights".
Moratoria: Death Penalty Worldwide Academic research database on the laws, practice, and statistics of capital punishment for every death penalty country in the world.
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.
Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as a punishment for a crime. It has historically been used in almost every part of the world. By the 2020s, many countries had abolished or discontinued the practice. In 2022, the 5 countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States.
Human rights are largely respected in Switzerland, one of Europe's oldest democracies. Switzerland is often at or near the top in international rankings of civil liberties and political rights observance. Switzerland places human rights at the core of the nation's value system, as represented in its Federal Constitution. As described in its FDFA's Foreign Policy Strategy 2016-2019, the promotion of peace, mutual respect, equality and non-discrimination are central to the country's foreign relations.
Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not conducted an execution since September 1996. The complete ban on capital punishment is enshrined in both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and is thus considered a central value. Of all modern European countries, San Marino, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the first to abolish capital punishment, whereas only Belarus still practises capital punishment in some form or another. In 2012, Latvia became the last EU member state to abolish capital punishment in wartime.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Pakistan. Although there have been numerous amendments to the Constitution, there is yet to be a provision prohibiting the death penalty as a punitive remedy.
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is an international alliance of NGOs, bar associations, local governments and trade unions that aims to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty.
Discussions of LGBT rights at the United Nations have included resolutions and joint statements in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), attention to the expert-led human rights mechanisms, as well as by the UN Agencies.
Capital punishment is legal in Tonga, but has not been imposed since 1982. The country's lack of executions puts it into the category of abolitionist in practice, where it retains the death penalty in law but has had a formal or informal moratorium for at least ten years. Tonga's low rate of murder convictions form part of the reason for the lack of executions, as well as its courts’ apparent unwillingness to impose the penalty unless it appears absolutely necessary to do so.
Defamation of religion is an issue that was repeatedly addressed by some member states of the United Nations (UN) from 1999 until 2010. Several non-binding resolutions were voted on and accepted by the UN condemning "defamation of religion". The motions, sponsored on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), now known as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, sought to prohibit expression that would "fuel discrimination, extremism and misperception leading to polarization and fragmentation with dangerous unintended and unforeseen consequences". Religious groups, human rights activists, free-speech activists, and several countries in the West condemned the resolutions arguing they amounted to an international blasphemy law. Critics of the resolutions, including human rights groups, argued that they were used to politically strengthen domestic anti-blasphemy and religious defamation laws, which are used to imprison journalists, students and other peaceful political dissidents.
Capital punishment is no longer applied in San Marino: the last execution was carried out in 1468 or in 1667, by hanging.
The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) was founded in Madrid in October 2010, as a result of a Spanish initiative. ICDP is an independent body composed of Commissioners of high standing who have experience in international law and human rights, and are committed to achieving the universal abolition of capital punishment. Their experience, background, geographical representation and personal involvement in abolishing the death penalty enables them to engage with senior officials from different countries.
Capital punishment in Nauru was used prior to its independence in 1968. Prior to the abolition of capital punishment on 12 May 2016, with the passage of the Crimes Act 2016, Amnesty International categorised Nauru as abolitionist in practice.
Capital punishment in Lesotho is legal. However, despite not having any official death penalty moratorium in place, the country has not carried out any executions since the 1990s and is therefore considered de facto abolitionist.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Grenada. Despite its legality, there have been no executions since 1978. Grenada is considered "abolitionist in practice", and is currently the only country in The Americas in this category. There is currently one person on death row in Grenada, as of August 30, 2021. During its United Nations Universal Periodic Review on January 27, 2020, Grenada told the UN that it is a de facto abolitionist state with a de facto moratorium with effect since 1978, and that it will not carry out any executions. Abolishing capital punishment in law was part of one of the amendments during the failed 2016 Grenadian constitutional referendum. Grenada voted against the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and most recently, in 2020. Grenada is not a member state of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Capital punishment in Gabon was officially abolished for all crimes in 2010. Gabon's last execution took place in 1985. Prior to abolition, Gabon was classified as de facto abolitionist, or "abolitionist in practice," due to the length of time since their last execution.
Capital punishment was abolished in Mauritius in 1995, following the adoption of the Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1995. The last execution was carried out in Mauritius in 1987.
Capital punishment was abolished in Mozambique in 1990. The last execution took place in the country in 1986.
Capital punishment was abolished in Namibia in 1990. The last execution was carried out in 1988, under the rule of South Africa.
Capital punishment was abolished in Senegal in 2004. The country carried out its last execution in 1967.
Capital punishment was abolished in Togo in 2009. The country carried out its last execution in 1978. Prior to the death penalty's de jure abolition, Togo was classified as "Abolitionist in Practice."
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