mer distinguished panelists excellencies colleagues and friends the death penalty is a practice that has that should have no place in the 21st century while a number of countries argue that it lies within their National sovereignty from my perspective it is incompatible with human dignity and the right to life the United Nations as a matter of policy opposes it in all its forms I'm very sorry to report that there has been a substantial increase in global executions since we last met two years ago in 2023 1,153 executions took place in 16 countries a 31% increase from
20122 and the highest number in the past 8 years that followed a 53% increase in executions between 2021 and 2022 the top executing countries over recent years include the Islamic Republic of Iran Saudi Arabia Somalia and the United States of America the figures do not include the People's Republic of China where there is a lack of transparent information and statistics on the death penalty and I call on the Chinese authorities to change this policy and Jo join the trend towards abolition more than 40% of these killings the highest number since 2016 are for drug related
offenses this proportion has also risen sharply over the past two years drug related offenses do not meet the standard set by international human rights law which only refers to the most serious crimes involving intentional killing Criminal ologists and experts have shown Beyond doubt that use of the death penalty leads to the execution of innocent people I'm also concerned by the gender dimension of the death penalty there is ample evidence that states fail to take full account of gender-based mitigating factors in sentencing women to death including a history of gender based trauma and violence Mr President
set against the deeply worrying increase in executions there is a large and growing Global majority against the death penalty the number of countries that execute their citizens has decreased over the past two years 113 countries have abolished the death penalty completely the global South is now leading the abolition movement I commend the government of Zimbabwe for joining 26 other countries in Africa that have abolished the death penalty other countries including civo Ghana Malaysia Pakistan and Zambia have taken important steps towards abolition and the number of member states in the United Nations General Assembly voting in
favor of the annual resolution on a moratorium on the death penalty reached a record 129 in December 2024 but in the face of this clear progress towards more Humane forms of Criminal Justice the handful of countries that continue to impose and implement the death penalty are carrying out more executions this has an impact that goes far beyond those who are executed their families and loved ones the use of the death penalty is often discriminatory with a disproportionate imp impact on racial ethnic linguistic and religious minorities and the lgbtiq plus Community it underpins and reinforces the
broader social and economic discrimination faced by marginalized communities in some contexts the existence of the death penalty and the threat of its use may have a chilling effect on Civil Society on human rights activists and Defenders and on the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and Association Mr President I welcome the focus of today's event on the role of the Judiciary which can have an important impact on reducing the number of people executed in countries that have abolished mandatory death sentences the Judiciary has the discretion to sentence people to an appropriate term of imprisonment instead
of executing them in such countries courts can play an important role in resentencing reducing death sentences as much as possible and ensuring that they're imposed only for the most serious crimes in malavi for example the abolition of the mandatory death penalty led to the resentencing of 169 prisoners all had the death sentence removed in Malaysia the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in 2023 resulted in a significant decrease in the number of death sentences imposed and upheld by the courts most of the death sentences reviewed have been commuted in countries that have not yet abolished
the death penalty the Judiciary plays a fundamental role in ensuring that it is not applied in an arbitrary where arbitrary way and particularly not to people whose guilt has not been established Beyond Reasonable Doubt governments need to take all feasible measures to avoid wrongful convictions in death penalty cases review procedural barriers to the reconsideration of con convictions and reexamine cases based on new evidence under international law the death penalty can only be carried out after judgment by comp by a competent court that is impartial and independent of the executive and legislative branches of the of
the state Mr president my office is working around the world to reduce and end the use of the death penalty we have also supported draft legislation on abolition in Liberia and looking ahead I see three areas for Action first I urge states that have not signed on to a moror moratorium on the death penalty to move irrevocably towards its complete eradication de facto and deur in the foreseeable future second I urge those states that still implement the death penalty to introduce a moratorium on exercising it as a first step toward its abolition third states that
have not yet abolished the death penalty should ensure that it is only implemented for the most serious crimes that is crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing in addition I call on all members of the Judiciary to redouble their efforts towards abolition of the death death penalty in practice by using their discretion to impose alternative sentences Mr President I will end by quoting someone who demoted who devoted much of his life to abolishing the death penalty in France the French lawyer Rober bant Miss bant rejected what he called and I quote the justice of Anguish
and death decided with a margin of error and I quote again we refuse it because it is for us anti- Justice he said it is passion and fear prevailing over reason and Humanity the death penalty does little to serve victims or deter crime and even the best judicial processes carry the risk of a miscarriage of Justice where the death penalty is in use that miscarriage can lead to the murder of an innocent person that is an unfathomable price to pay for the reintroduction of an ineffective punishment that brutalizes its practitioners Judicial Systems and societies meru
