Success for Death Penalty Resolution in General Assembly

On 11 November, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a moratorium on capital punishment. This is the third such resolution since 2007. Each time it has been put to the General Assembly, the vote gets stronger.

2007    Yes 99 No 52  Abstain 33

2008    Yes 105 No 48  Abstain 31

2010    Yes 107 No 38  Abstain 37

Over the course of these three resolutions, four states have switched their votes from No to Yes (Congo, Maldives, Mongolia, Tajikistan) and five have switched from Abstain to Yes (Bhutan, Madagascar, Nauru, Palau, Togo). Two have switched from Abstain to No (Chad, Swaziland). No state has switched from Yes to No. Eleven states have switched their votes from No to Abstain (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Comoros, Jordan, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Thailand) while one has switched from Yes to Abstain (Namibia). The Solomon Islands abstained in 2007, voted No in 2008 and abstained this year.

There may be some slight changes when the final vote is taken in the Plenary General Assembly in late December.