NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya has backed a United Nations call for countries to suspend executions, joining 132 other nations that supported a draft resolution seeking a global moratorium on the death penalty.
The proposal received 133 votes in favour, 33 against and 16 abstentions during a November 13, 2026, session of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, which handles social, humanitarian and human rights matters.
The resolution calls on countries that still impose capital punishment to establish a moratorium on executions as a step towards possible abolition.
The vote marked a show of support for the proposal despite opposition from several countries, including the United States, China, India, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The draft was sponsored by Switzerland and Mexico, with its supporters arguing that suspending executions would help protect the right to life and prevent irreversible miscarriages of justice.
However, the committee vote does not itself establish a legally binding global ban on executions. The draft will proceed through the General Assembly’s process for further consideration.
US, China and other countries oppose proposal
Among the 33 countries that voted against the resolution were the United States, China, India, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Singapore, Kuwait, Yemen and Bahrain.
Other countries opposing the proposal included Barbados, Botswana, Burkina Faso, South Korea, Jamaica, Libya, the Maldives, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar and Sudan.
A further 16 countries abstained.
The proposal comes amid renewed international concern over the number of executions recorded worldwide, with human rights organisations warning that the death penalty carries the risk of irreversible injustice, particularly where wrongful convictions occur.
Amnesty records 2,707 executions in 2025
Amnesty International reported that at least 2,707 people were executed in 17 countries in 2025, representing a 78 per cent increase from the 1,518 executions recorded in 2024.
The figure excludes thousands of executions believed to have taken place in China, where official data remains classified, as well as executions in Vietnam and North Korea for which the organisation could not establish reliable totals.
Iran recorded at least 2,159 executions, followed by Saudi Arabia with at least 356 and Yemen with at least 51. The United States recorded 47 executions.
Amnesty said the increase was largely driven by Iran, where the number of executions more than doubled compared with the previous year.
The organisation has repeatedly called on governments to halt executions and work towards abolishing capital punishment.
Death penalty remains legal in Kenya
Despite backing the UN moratorium proposal, Kenya has not abolished the death penalty.
Article 26(3) of the Constitution allows the deprivation of life where authorised by written law, meaning capital punishment remains part of the country’s legal framework.
Under the Penal Code, the death penalty is prescribed for offences including murder, treason, robbery with violence and attempted robbery with violence.
However, Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987, maintaining a de facto moratorium despite retaining the punishment in law.
The Supreme Court’s landmark 2017 decision in the case of Francis Karioko Muruatetu and Another v Republic also declared the mandatory death sentence for murder unconstitutional, allowing courts to consider mitigating circumstances when sentencing offenders.
The decision did not abolish the death penalty itself.
In November 2026, Kenya’s National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee also backed efforts to scrap the mandatory death sentence, following discussions with the International Commission Against the Death Penalty.
The latest UN vote adds to the international debate over whether countries that retain capital punishment should suspend executions as they consider eventual abolition.
