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In a circular dated 17 March 2008, the Secretary-General of the United Nations drew the attention of Permanent Missions to General Assembly Resolution 62/149 of 8 December 2007, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty.” Paragraph 4 of the resolution requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly, at its sixty-third session, on the implementation of the present resolution.
As a co-author of Resolution 62/149, New Zealand is happy to take this opportunity to respond to the Secretary-General’s request.
New Zealand is a long-standing opponent of the death penalty and has expressed this position in many multilateral forums. The right of every person to life is affirmed in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, whose 60th anniversary occurs this year. Abolition of the death penalty contributes to the protection, promotion and enhancement of human rights. As an opponent of the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances, New Zealand takes the view that it is a cruel and inhuman punishment. In cases where a miscarriage of justice occurs, it is irreversible. Furthermore it provides no added value in terms of deterrence of crime.
New Zealand was the first country to become party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty.
Considerable progress has been made in global endeavours to abolish the death penalty over recent years, and this trend is continuing, as demonstrated in the success of Resolution 62/149. It is pleasing to note that 90 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. A total of 133 countries have abolished it either in law or in practice. Since 2002, countries which have abolished the death penalty include Cyprus, Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro), Armenia, Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal, Turkey, Liberia, Mexico, the Philippines, Albania and Rwanda.
Despite these encouraging developments, the campaign against the death penalty is far from being won. Death sentences and executions remain frequent in many countries, even where declining trends are evident. There are also particular concerns about the ongoing discussion in some abolitionist countries about the possibility of restoring the death penalty in domestic legislation. In a few countries - in clear violation of their international legal obligations - minors are still being sentenced to death and executed. In many cases, the standards of justice which are used in the application of capital punishment are also a concern.
New Zealand was pleased to work with a cross-regional group comprising Portugal, Angola, Gabon, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Albania, Croatia, Brazil and Mexico in promoting last year’s General Assembly resolution. It calls upon states “to work towards abolishing the death penalty and in the meantime immediately establish a moratorium on executions.” It was pleasing that the resolution received 87 co-sponsorships. In the General Assembly on 16 November, 99 countries voted in favour of it, 52 against, and there were 33 abstentions.
In responding to the vote, Prime Minister Helen Clark said that the adoption of the resolution was “a historic moment for opponents of the death penalty.” She pointed out that it represented a significant step towards worldwide abolition.
New Zealand will continue to seek opportunities to promote further work towards abolition of the death penalty. In this context, New Zealand aid funds were used to assist a group in the Philippines to document the successful campaign in that country to have the death penalty abolished. The Free Legal Assistance Group, a human rights advocate, published a history of the abolitionist campaign. The book was launched at a ceremony in June 2008, marking the second anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the Philippines.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Wellington
June 2008
