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
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2003FranceDEATH PENALTY
Saw the commencement in Paris of the European tour...
Saw the commencement in Paris of the European tour conducted by former Governor of Illinois George Ryan and Leroy Orange, the ex death row inmate he pardoned
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
In his speech at the UN, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi,...
In his speech at the UN, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, speaking on behalf of the EU as current Presidency holder, asked for the universal abolition of the death penalty and for a general moratorium on executions
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
A Hands Off Cain delegation formed by Hon
A Hands Off Cain delegation formed by Hon
- AUGUST 21, 2003MaliDEATH PENALTY
During a live radio program conducted in Rome on Radio...
During a live radio program conducted in Rome on Radio Radicale, Demba Traore, vice President of the Mali Justice Commission, gave assurances that Mali would vote in favour of a resolution for a moratorium on capital executions at the UN General Assembly
- AUGUST 13, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, together with...
Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, together with Silvia Piccinini of the Italian Embassy in Lusaka, met with MP Doris Katai Mwinga, Clerk of the Zambian National Assembly
- AUGUST 10, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
In an interview with Sunday Vanguard Abdul Oroh, journalist,...
In an interview with Sunday Vanguard Abdul Oroh, journalist, Nigerian parliamentarian and Hands Off Cain board member, stated: "I want to see a bill that will introduce a moratorium on death penalty in Nigeria, I don't believe in capital punishment
- AUGUST 7, 2003KyrgyzstanDEATH PENALTY
The HOC delegation formed by Bruno Mellano, Antonio...
The HOC delegation formed by Bruno Mellano, Antonio Stango and Rosanna Degiovanni completed its official meetings in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan
- AUGUST 6, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
As part of a Hands Off Cain delegation Marco Cappato,...
As part of a Hands Off Cain delegation Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP, was in Senegal gathering consensus for a UN moratorium on capital executions
- AUGUST 6, 2003SenegalDEATH PENALTY
As part of a Hands Off Cain delegation Marco Cappato,...
As part of a Hands Off Cain delegation Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP, was in Senegal gathering consensus for a UN moratorium on capital executions
- AUGUST 5, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Hands Off Cain delegation completed its mission...
The Hands Off Cain delegation completed its mission to Uzbekistan, the second leg of the tour of Central Asian republics, in order to gain consensus for a UN moratorium resolution on capital executions
- AUGUST 5, 2003UzbekistanDEATH PENALTY
The Hands Off Cain delegation completed its mission...
The Hands Off Cain delegation completed its mission to Uzbekistan, the second leg of the tour of Central Asian republics, in order to gain consensus for a UN moratorium resolution on capital executions
- AUGUST 3, 2003MaliDEATH PENALTY
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP and HOC Board Member...
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP and HOC Board Member visited Mali on behalf of Hands Off Cain to discuss the death penalty and Mali's position on a possible resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions at the UN General Assembly
- AUGUST 3, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Hands Off Cain delegation comprised by MEP Benedetto...
The Hands Off Cain delegation comprised by MEP Benedetto Della Vedova, regional parliamentary Bruno Mellano, HOC board member Antonio Stango and Rosanna Degiovanni, finished the first part of their Central Asian mission, to gather support in favour of a U
- AUGUST 3, 2003KazakhstanDEATH PENALTY
The Hands Off Cain delegation comprised by MEP Benedetto...
The Hands Off Cain delegation comprised by MEP Benedetto Della Vedova, regional parliamentary Bruno Mellano, HOC board member Antonio Stango and Rosanna Degiovanni, finished the first part of their Central Asian mission, to gather support in favour of a U
- AUGUST 3, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP and HOC Board Member...
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP and HOC Board Member visited Mali on behalf of Hands Off Cain to discuss the death penalty and Mali's position on a possible resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions at the UN General Assembly
- AUGUST 2, 2003TogoDEATH PENALTY
Marco Cappato went to Togo together with First Counsellor...
Marco Cappato went to Togo together with First Counsellor Basilio Toth
- AUGUST 2, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Continuing his mission in Africa, Marco Cappato went...
Continuing his mission in Africa, Marco Cappato went to Togo together with First Counsellor Basilio Toth
- AUGUST 1, 2003GhanaDEATH PENALTY
MEP Marco Cappato went to Ghana to obtain political...
MEP Marco Cappato went to Ghana to obtain political backing for the moratorium proposal on capital executions at the forthcomming UN General Assembly
- AUGUST 1, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
MEP Marco Cappato went to Ghana to obtain political...
MEP Marco Cappato went to Ghana to obtain political backing for the moratorium proposal on capital executions at the forthcomming UN General Assembly
- AUGUST 1, 2003Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTY
August 4-11, 2003: a joint No Peace Without Justice...
August 4-11, 2003: a joint No Peace Without Justice and Hands Off Cain delegation, led by the President of the Transational Radical Party Sergio Stanzani, visited Sierra Leone to discuss the death penalty and the country's opinion with regard to a worldwi
- JULY 31, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC)...
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said that Church leaders in the Philippines should not interfere in the anticipated lifting of the moratorium on judicial executions
- JULY 29, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP, together with Italian...
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP, together with Italian Ambassador Marcello Ricoveri and vice President of the Commission of Human Rights of the Nigerian Chamber of Deputies Hon
- JULY 28, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP, and Nigerian parliamentary...
Marco Cappato, Lista Bonino MEP, and Nigerian parliamentary Abdul Oroh, both Hands Off Cain board members, together with Marcello Ricoveri, Italian ambassador to Nigeria, met with Nigerian Foreign Minister Saisu Balarabe Samaila, on the purpose to obtain
- JULY 21, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Italian Presidency's proposal regarding the presentation,...
The Italian Presidency's proposal regarding the presentation, at the forthcomming UN General Assembly in September, of a European resolution for a universal moratorium on executions, was rejected durino a summit of EU Foreign Ministers
- JULY 21, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
On the EU 'no' to the UN moratotium on capital executions,...
On the EU 'no' to the UN moratotium on capital executions, Hands Off Cain Secretary Segio D'Elia declared: "We thank (Italian Foreign) Minister Franco Frattini who, as promised, brough up the issue to his EU colleagues regarding the proposal for a univers
- JULY 17, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
ITALY: NATIONAL ALLIANCE MOTION FOR A UN MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS
July 17, 2003: a motion that “favourably receives and gives support to the government’s decision to present a resolution for a universal moratorium on executions at the next UN General Assembly” was on Wednesday presented in Parliament by the National All
- JULY 14, 2003FranceDEATH PENALTY
In a declaration announced by Ensemble Contre La Peine...
In a declaration announced by Ensemble Contre La Peine De Mort, the French organisation said amongst other things: "A moratorium means less executions and death sentences on the decrease
- JULY 14, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
In a declaration announced by Ensemble Contre La Peine...
In a declaration announced by Ensemble Contre La Peine De Mort, the French organisation said amongst other things: "A moratorium means less executions and death sentences on the decrease
- JULY 11, 2003TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
The president of the 55-nation Organisation for Security...
The president of the 55-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called on Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmonov to impose a moratorium on the death penalty
- JULY 10, 2003KazakhstanDEATH PENALTY
The introduction of life prison sentences in Kazakhstan...
The introduction of life prison sentences in Kazakhstan for those who commit grave crimes would facilitate the full abolition of the death penalty in the country, Kazakh Justice Minister Onalsyn Zhumabekov said