United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon recently called on all nations to take concrete steps toward ending the death penalty. In his opening remarks at an event co-sponsored by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Ban said, “Together, we can finally end this cruel and inhumane practice everywhere around the world.” He noted that “more than four out of five countries — an estimated 160 Member States — have either abolished the death penalty or do not practice it.” He encouraged support for the UN General Assembly’s resolution, first adopted in 2007, supporting a moratorium on the death penalty with a view toward abolishing it. Each time the resolution is renewed, its margin of support has grown. Ban also called on member states to ratify the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at ending capital punishment.

(UN News Service, “‘Death penalty has no place in 21st century,’ declares UN chief,” July 2, 2014). See International and New Voices.

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