UN resolution on moratorium on the use of the death penalty December 2008

On 18 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a second resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

106 countries voted in favour of the draft resolution, 46 voted against and 34 abstained. This resolution was first discussed and voted upon in the Third Committee of the UNGA on 20 November 2008. A range of amendments proposed by a small minority of pro-death penalty countries were overwhelmingly defeated in the Third Committee of the UNGA, and the draft resolution was adopted by 105 votes in favour, 48 against and 31 abstentions.

The increased support for this resolution is yet further evidence of the worldwide trend towards the abolition of the death penalty.

The UNGA - the main UN deliberative body with universal membership - will continue to debate and make recommendations on the issue of the death penalty at the end of 2010.