VOTE SHOWS SHIFT IN ATTITUDE TOWARD DEATH PENALTY

campaigners against the death penalty are celebrating a vote in the United Nations that indicates a shift in the position of Arab governments towards state executions. Activists describe the vote at the UN General Assembly as a “turning point” in Arab attitudes towards the death penalty after several of the region’s governments changed their stance. The draft resolution calling on countries to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty saw five Arab League members change their position from rejecting the document in 2007 to abstaining or not voting in last week’s poll. “These results are a good step forward, showing progress in the positions of some countries that voted against the resolution last year and abstained this year,” said Nizam Assaf, the Amman-based co-ordinator of the Arab Coalition Against the Death Penalty. In 2007, the UAE stood alone as the only Gulf country to abstain from the vote. Last week, it was joined by GCC members Bahrain and Oman as well as countries from across the Arab world.