Short Note – Death Penalty

In a United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) resolution aimed at examining options to end the trade in goods used for capital punishment and torture, India abstained from voting on it. India s position is that it is unacceptable to place the death penalty and torture on the same bar. The resolution was however passed by 81-20 in its favor with 44 abstentions.

Death Penalty

• The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is a legally sanctioned punishment of taking away a convict’s life practiced by a few countries.
• The majority (by numbers) of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty and there are growing movements in the remaining countries to abolish it as well.
• Majority of the global population lives in countries which still practice the death penalty.
• Famously, the death penalty is practiced in the United States, China, India, and Saudi Arabia.
• The method of execution is hanging till death, electrocution, lethal injection or beheading.

United States General Assembly

The UNGA is one of the 6 principal organs of the United Nations whose powers are to oversee the budget of the UN, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council by election, appoint the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receive reports from other parts of the UN and make recommendations (like this in news) in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. All countries can be members of the United Nations.