The United Nations moratorium on the death penalty
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Since 2007 the General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted at regular intervals a resolution calling on states for a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty. The resolution is not binding, but every vote measures how many states are willing to support it, and the supporters have grown over time.
Hands Off Cain works on parliaments and governments so that this number grows and so that the vote is followed by decisions at home. This page collects the news on the votes, the co-sponsorships and the positions of individual countries.
Latest news
JULY 31, 2026Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: TWO EX OFFICIALS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2019 EASTER BOMBINGS
FEBRUARY 24, 2026AfghanistanDEATH PENALTYAFGHANISTAN: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS APPEASEMENT OF THE TALIBAN HAS FAILED
Annalena Baerbock, President of the United Nations General Assembly, described attempts to appease the Taliban as unsuccessful in the face of the most severe human rights violations
JANUARY 15, 2026CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. 20 years ago the last execution
On January 17, 2006, California executed Clarence Ray Allen
DECEMBER 19, 2025PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Gov. Shapiro issues 1st reprieve, continuing moratorium
DECEMBER 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - UN Adopts Resolution Condemning Human Rights Violations in Iran
Document A/C.3/80/L.30
- DECEMBER 4, 2025United NationsDEATH PENALTY
UN - Abolition of the death penalty at the United Nations Human Rights Council 60th session
- NOVEMBER 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 72nd UN Resolution Condemns Grave Human Rights Violations in Iran
NOVEMBER 18, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: GOVT FORMS SPECIAL TASK FORCE TO CONDUCT STUDY ON ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY
The government is setting up a special task force to study the status and direction of the death penalty in Malaysia
AUGUST 21, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: PRAWA BOSS CALLS FOR ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
Dr Uju Agomoh, Executive Director, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), has renewed her call for the abolition of the death penalty in Nigeria.
JULY 28, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Study: Do All Religions Support the Death Penalty?
JUNE 30, 2025DelawareDEATH PENALTYUSA - Delaware. General Assembly passes 1st leg of amendment to ban death penalty
It will have to be re-voted next year
- JUNE 26, 2025DelawareDEATH PENALTY
USA - Delaware. Death penalty ban in constitution passes Senate committee
- JUNE 10, 2025North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREAN ESCAPEES SPEAK AT UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, DRAWING ANGER FROM PYONGYANG
One North Korean woman described how her father died of starvation. Another said her friends were publicly executed for watching and sharing South Korean television dramas. North Korea’s ambassador appeared unmoved. When he got up to speak, he described i
- JUNE 3, 2025LesothoDEATH PENALTY
13 COUNTRIES URGE LESOTHO TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
Lesotho has been urged by 13 countries to formally abolish the death penalty, maintain its de facto moratorium on executions, and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR-OP2), which seeks to e
APRIL 17, 2025GambiaDEATH PENALTYGAMBIA COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OVER JAMMEH-ERA KILLING OF FINANCE MINISTER
Gambia's Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence of a government minister convicted of killing the finance minister to life in prison, one of few to be convicted of crimes committed during the 22-year rule of ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh, Reuters report
APRIL 11, 2025DEATH PENALTYAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: GLOBAL RECORDED EXECUTIONS HIT THEIR HIGHEST FIGURE SINCE 2015
Global executions hit their highest figure since 2015, as over 1,500 people were executed across 15 countries in 2024, said Amnesty International on April 8, 2025 as it released its annual report on the global use of the death penalty
- APRIL 6, 2025ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
ZAMBIA COMMITTED TO IRREVERSIBLE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY FOR ALL CRIMES
The Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR entered into force for Zambia on 19 March 2025, three months after date of deposition of the accession instruments.
APRIL 1, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione
In UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing
MARCH 4, 2025OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 601 for a Moratorium
JANUARY 20, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Agrees to Use of Disputed Confession for Life Sentence
Accused 9/11 Mastermind
- JANUARY 16, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Department of Justice Withdraws Federal Execution Protocol
And Keeps Moratorium on Executions in Place
JANUARY 7, 2025DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Volker Türk "deeply troubled by the marked increase in executions in Iran in 2024"
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- DECEMBER 17, 2024United NationsDEATH PENALTY
DEATH PENALTY. HANDS OFF CAIN, ANOTHER STEP TOWARD WORLDWIDE ABOLITION
The United Nations General Assembly has just passed its 10th Resolution for a universal moratorium on executions.
- DECEMBER 12, 2024MoroccoDEATH PENALTY
MOROCCO TO BACK UN RESOLUTION FOR A UNIVERSAL MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi on December 9, 2024 said Morocco will vote in favor of the tenth United Nations resolution on a moratorium on the application of the death penalty.
- NOVEMBER 19, 2024United NationsDEATH PENALTY
UNITED NATIONS - Moratorium on Death Penalty - Draft resolution
- NOVEMBER 18, 2024European UnionDEATH PENALTY
EUROPEAN UNION - Declaration after the draft resolution on the moratorium
- NOVEMBER 18, 2024United NationsDEATH PENALTY
UNITED NATIONS - Death Penalty Moratorium Draft Resolutions Approved by Third Committee
NOVEMBER 7, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Biden Urged To Prevent Death Row Execution Spree Under Trump
- NOVEMBER 4, 2024RussiaDEATH PENALTY
HEAD OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH SAYS JESUS CONDONED DEATH PENALTY
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, claimed on November 3, 2024 that though “Christ himself suffered an undeserved execution,” he had never condemned capital punishment.
- OCTOBER 10, 2024Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
CARIBBEAN CHURCH APPEALS FOR MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY
Leela Ramdeen, consultant with the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ) in Trinidad & Tobago writes: The World Day against the Death Penalty will be observed on Thursday October 10. The 2024 Theme is: The Death Penalty protects no one. Abolish it