RESOLUTION ON A MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY

The General Assembly,
 
Guided by the purposes and principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations,
 
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
 
Recalling also the resolutions on the question of the death penalty adopted over the past decade by the Commission on Human Rights in all consecutive sessions, the last being its resolution 2005/59,4 in which the Commission called upon States that still maintain the death penalty to abolish it completely and, in the meantime, to establish a moratorium on executions,
 
Recalling further the important results accomplished by the former Commission on Human Rights on the question of the death penalty, and envisaging that the Human Rights Council could continue to work on this issue,
 
Considering that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity, and convinced that a moratorium on the use of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights, that there is no conclusive evidence of the death penalty’s deterrent value and that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the death penalty’s implementation is irreversible and irreparable,
 
Welcoming the decisions taken by an increasing number of States to apply a moratorium on executions, followed in Many cases by the abolition of the death penalty,
 
1. Expresses its deep concern about the continued application of the death penalty;
 
2. Calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to:
 
(a) Respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, in particular the minimum standards, as set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution
1984/50 of 25 May 1984;
(b) Provide the Secretary-General with information relating to the use of capital punishment and the observance of the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty;
(c) Progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and reduce the number of offences for which it may be imposed;
(d) Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
 
3. Calls upon States which have abolished the death penalty not to reintroduce it;
 
4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session on the implementation of the present resolution;
 
5. Decides to continue consideration of the matter at its sixty-third session
under the same agenda item.    


December 18, 2007