A majority of the world’s nations voted in a U.N. committee Thursday to signal support for abolishing executions, reported the Associated Press.
The 105-48 vote in the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee was the second year in a row nations have urged a global moratorium on the death penalty.
Thursday’s vote marked slightly more support from the final 104-54 vote in the plenary of the General Assembly last December, with one more vote in support and fewer opposed.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been encouraged by the trend in many areas of the world toward ultimately abolishing the death penalty, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said.
According to the Associated Press Iran is among the states which opposed the UN resolution of death penalty ban.