UNITED NATIONS - US Vote on the Moratorium (Against)

November 13, 2026 - UNITED NATIONS. US Vote on the Moratorium

Explanation of Vote for UNGA 81/3C Resolution ” Moratorium on the use of the death penalty” By United States Mission to the United Nations

Yaryna Ferencevych, U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council
New York, New York

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Mr. Chair,

Last year, the United States made clear its intention to disengage from most Third Committee resolutions, and we have taken the same approach this year.

This resolution contains problematic language that does not advance the United Nations’ core mandate of maintaining international peace and security.

The United States stands for the sovereign rights of nations. It is for this reason that we supported Singapore’s amendment to this resolution on national sovereignty. U.S. leadership has pushed back – including at the UN – on threats to the United States and its people. These efforts not only support the sovereignty, rights, and liberties of U.S. citizens, but they bolster an international system that prioritizes the same for every nation.

We reemphasize that the ultimate decision regarding capital punishment must be addressed through the domestic democratic processes of individual, sovereign Member States and be consistent with their obligations under international law.

International human rights law establishes clearly that Member States may, within certain established parameters, use this form of punishment as confirmed by Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the United States is a party. Accordingly, the United States does not understand the lawful use of this form of punishment as contravening respect for human rights, both as it relates to the convicted and sentenced individual as well as the rights of others. Those states wishing to abolish the death penalty within their jurisdiction may choose to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to that Covenant.

Within the United States, judicial enforcement of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution ensures substantive due process that applies at both the federal and state levels and prohibits methods of execution that would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The United States strongly urges other countries that employ the death penalty to do the same.

While our system of government consists of an array of different sub-national entities, each responding to the needs of and beholden to its people, we are all subject to the U.S. Constitution and committed to administering justice equally and fairly.

The United States urges all Member States, and particularly the supporters of this resolution, to focus their attention on addressing and preventing human rights violations that may result from the improper imposition and application of capital punishment. We strongly urge Member States to ensure that they cannot apply capital punishment in an extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary manner. Capital defendants must receive a fair trial before a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law, with full fair trial guarantees. Methods of execution designed to inflict undue pain or suffering must be strictly prohibited.

As a result of these concerns, the U.S. must vote “no” on this resolution. Thank you.