---
title: 'News Brief — United Nations Passes Resolution Calling for Global Death Penalty Moratorium'
description: 'For the eighth time since 2007, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions. The resolution…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news-brief-united-nations-passes-resolution-calling-for-global-death-penalty-moratorium'
section: news
date: '2020-11-30T12:31:00-05:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T15:09:39-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! **For the eighth time since 2007, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions.** The resolution passed on November 17, 2020 by a vote of 120-39 with 24 countries abstaining. The United States voted against the resolution. The 120 nations supporting the measure matched the [record](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/a-record-120-nations-adopt-un-death-penalty-moratorium-resolution) level of support set in 2018. For the first time, the resolution specifically identified women among the groups discriminated against in the application of the death penalty.

[Asian Nations Reject UN Vote Against Death Penalty](https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/25/asian-nations-reject-un-vote-against-death-penalty), Human Rights Watch, November 24, 2020; [Text of the resolution](https://undocs.org/A/C.3/75/L.41).