On 15 November, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly voted to back a draft resolution calling for a global moratorium on capital punishment. The vote, which followed an acrimonious debate, was 99 in favour, 52 against and 33 abstentions.
The resolution, spearheaded by Italy and tabled by the European Union, calls on states to progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and asks those countries that have abolished it in practice not to reintroduce it. It is envisioned as a step towards eventual abolition.
14 so-called ‘wrecking’ amendments had been put forward during the two-day debate. The term is used to describe amendments that run counter to the purpose of a resolution or treaty, and effectively seek to neutralise it. Objections to the resolution were three-pronged, combining the principle of sovereignty – namely that states are free to determine their domestic criminal justice systems, and the fact that no major instrument of international law expressly forbids the use of capital punishment, with accusations that the proposers were attempting to impose their values.
Although the US and China, two of the world’s most high-profile executioners, voted against the draft, vocal opposition came from smaller countries. Singapore, one of the states that drafted a 'wrecking' amendment, claimed that the EU “decided to table a resolution knowing full well that not only would it not enjoy consensus, but that it would polarise the Committee”.
The Committee's decision to endorse the resolution and reject the 'wrecking' amendments is, in the words of John Sawers (Britain’s ambassador to the UN), “further evidence that the centre ground on this debate has shifted towards the end of the use of the death penalty worldwide.”
The Third Committee examines human rights questions as well as issues related to crime prevention and criminal justice. Consisting of 192 states, decisions by the Committee have proved historically to be a marker for voting at the General Assembly proper. The General Assembly will vote on the draft resolution next month.
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