[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Monday expressed deep regret [press release] at the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty in Pakistan and Jordan [JURIST report] in recent days, stressing that no judiciary can be infallible. Pakistan and Jordan put in place the moratoria on the death penalty in 2008 and 2006, respectively. Zeid noted that, “this is particularly disappointing given that just last week, a record 117 States voted in the UN General Assembly in favour of an international moratorium on the use of the death penalty.” The number of states which have abolished the death penalty has been growing in recent years, and is currently around 160. In reference to this positive trend, Zeid noted that “no justice system, no matter how robust, can guarantee against wrongful convictions.”

The death penalty [JURIST news archive] has been a controversial issue worldwide. In October UN officials called on the government of Iraq [JURIST report] to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in response to a significant increase in executions since restoration of capital punishment in 2005. Earlier in October the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCHR) urged the international abolition of the death penalty [JURIST report]. In September two experts from the OHCHR encouraged [JURIST report] Saudi Arabia to implement an immediate moratorium on the death penalty following an increase in executions, with a significant number of the executions completed by beheading. In July Italian advocacy group Hands off Cain [advocacy website] released a report [JURIST report] claiming the number of deaths by capital punishment increased despite a global trend away from the practice. The organization reports that there are currently 161 countries and territories that, to different extents, have renounced the death penalty, and 37 countries continue to use capital punishment.