Today, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Tenth Resolution for a Universal Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty. “The resolution’s adoption is a great success. This important achievement is the result of the negotiation promoted by our country along with Argentina, in the name of an interregional task force to which more than 40 countries belong,” said Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani.
Support for the Resolution has grown considerably since 2022. The 130 votes in favour, including Italy’s, set a record, sending a clear signal to the international community towards moving gradually away from this unfair and inhumane practice.
In thanking the ministerial departments and the Italian diplomatic network starting with the Permanent Representation to the United Nations in New York, Minister Tajani emphasised that this success was made possible thanks to close collaboration with the leading organisations in civil society, including Amnesty International Italia, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and Nessuno Tocchi Caino.
Moreover, the resolution adopted this year introduced important new elements. These include reference to the “Bangkok rules” for the protection of women prisoners and more incisive language on the need for transparency in the publication of data by countries that apply the death penalty.
In light of the worrisome increase in death sentences and executions in countries that still apply the death penalty, Italy forcefully restates its firm and unconditional opposition to so cruel and inhumane a practice that not only has proved ineffective as a deterrent to crime, but also makes judicial error uncorrectable, with tragic and irreversible consequences.