UN Commission approves anti death penalty resolution.

the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission has approved for the fifth consecutive time the resolution for a moratorium on capital executions with a view to the complete abolition of the death penalty. The vote was 27 in favour, 18 against and 7 abstentions. Sixty-five countries supported the resolution, however, another 59 countries, led by Saudi Arabia, disassociated themselves.
The news was welcomed by Sergio D’Elia, general secretary of Hands off Cain, which is currently promoting an online campaign in favour of a global resolution against the death penalty by the UN’s General Assembly.
“The Commission has again approved the resolution with a definite majority despite the changes in its composition, due to the rotation of members, which tipped the balance in favour of retentionist countries.
“The time is now ripe to bring up the resolution in the General Assembly. The chances that it will be approved are bolstered by the fact that the majority of the UN member countries are already abolitionist. According to our data, there are 122 abolitionist countries: of these 75 are completely abolitionist, 15 have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, 28 are de facto abolitionist, two are committed to abolishment as members of the Council of Europe and another three have imposed a moratorium. On the other hand the retentionist countries are 73.
“The success of such an initiative will depend on the European Union’s will to work for a positive result. And everyone can play a key role in this campaign by signing Hands off Cain’s and Nexta.com’s online appeal to the UN in favour of a moratorium.”