Myanmar

Literature on opposition to the death penalty typically characterizes abolition as inexorable and attributes its fulfillment to the age of human rights. Although most countries abolished capital punishment after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, this article uses three comparative case studies to demonstrate abolition’s entanglement with a broader range of political, legal, and cultural factors. Applying a historically grounded nonteleological approach, we offer three insights. First, civilizationist values drove abolitionism in countries in the “vanguard,” such as Canada and England/Wales, where human rights rationales were expressed well after abolition and as a mark of superiority. Second, death penalty abolition has often allied with decolonization and penal reform, but assertions of independence and sovereignty have periodically provoked reinstatement, as in Mexican and Philippine history, which underscores the fragility of abolition. Third, state-centric approaches to de jure and de facto abolition overlook the practice of extrajudicial and summary “rebel” executions in polities such as Myanmar and Mali, which lack a state monopoly on force. Further historical studies that do not presuppose a human rights explanation of abolition and that compare jurisdictions within as well as between the Global North and South will better grasp the death penalty’s complex history.

• Document type Academic Article
• Countries list Canada / Mali / Mexico / Myanmar / Philippines / United Kingdom
• Themes list Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment / Trend Towards Abolition

The permanent missions to the United Nations in New York listed below have the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 67/176, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Third Committee on 19 November 2012, and subsequently by the General Assembly on 20 December 2012 by a recorded vote. The permanent missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention of existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Afghanistan / Antigua and Barbuda / Bahrain / Bangladesh / Barbados / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Chad / China / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Egypt / Equatorial Guinea / Eritrea / Eswatini / Ethiopia / Grenada / Guyana / India / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Kuwait / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Libya / Malaysia / Mauritania / Myanmar / Nigeria / Oman / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Solomon Islands / Somalia / Sudan / Syrian Arab Republic / Tonga / Trinidad and Tobago / Uganda / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مذكرة شفوية مؤرخة 16 نيسان/أبريل 2013 موجهة إلى الأمين العام من البعثة الدائمة لمصر لدى الأمم المتحدةNota verbal de fecha 16 de abril de 2013 dirigida al Secretario General por la Misión Permanente de Egipto ante las Naciones UnidasNote verbale datée du 16 avril 2013, adressée au Secrétaire général par la Mission permanente de l’Égypte auprès de l’Organisation des Nations UniesВербальная нота Постоянного представительства Египта при Организации Объединенных Наций от 16 апреля 2013 года на имя Генерального секретаря2013年4月16日埃及常驻联合国代表团给秘书长的普通照会

The permanent missions to the United Nations in New York listed below have the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 65/206, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Third Committee on 11 November 2010, and subsequently by the General Assembly on 21 December 2010 by a recorded vote. The permanent missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention of existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Afghanistan / Antigua and Barbuda / Bahamas / Bahrain / Bangladesh / Barbados / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Central African Republic / Chad / China / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Democratic Republic of the Congo / Dominica / Egypt / Equatorial Guinea / Eritrea / Eswatini / Ethiopia / Grenada / Guinea / Guyana / Indonesia / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Kuwait / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Libya / Malaysia / Myanmar / Niger / Nigeria / Oman / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Sierra Leone / Singapore / Solomon Islands / Somalia / Sudan / Syrian Arab Republic / Tonga / Trinidad and Tobago / Uganda / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مذكرة شفوية مؤرخة 11 آذار/مارس 2011 موجَّهة إلى الأمين العام من البعثة الدائمة لمصر لدى الأمم المتحدةNota verbal de fecha 11 de marzo de 2011 dirigida al Secretario General por la Misión Permanente de Egipto ante las Naciones UnidasNote verbale datée du 11 mars 2011, adressée au Secrétaire général par la Mission permanente de l’Égypte auprès de l’Organisation des Nations UniesВербальная нота Постоянного представительства Египта при Организации Объединенных Наций от 11 марта 2011 года на имя Генерального секретаря2011年3月11日埃及常驻联合国代表团给秘书长的普通照会

The Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York listed below present their compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and have the honour to refer to resolution 62/149, entitled “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, which was adopted by the Third Committee on 15 November 2007, and subsequently by the General Assembly on 18 December 2007 by a recorded vote. The Permanent Missions wish to place on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition in contravention to existing stipulations under international law, for the following reasons:

• Document type United Nations report
• Countries list Afghanistan / Bahamas / Bahrain / Bangladesh / Barbados / Botswana / Brunei Darussalam / Central African Republic / Chad / China / Comoros / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Dominica / Egypt / Equatorial Guinea / Eritrea / Eswatini / Ethiopia / Fiji / Gambia / Grenada / Guinea / Guyana / Indonesia / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Iraq / Jamaica / Japan / Jordan / Kuwait / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Libya / Malaysia / Maldives / Mauritania / Mongolia / Myanmar / Niger / Nigeria / Papua New Guinea / Qatar / Saint Kitts and Nevis / Saint Lucia / Saint Vincent and the Grenadines / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Solomon Islands / Somalia / Sudan / Suriname / Syrian Arab Republic / Thailand / Tonga / Trinidad and Tobago / Uganda / United Arab Emirates / Yemen / Zimbabwe
• Themes list Moratorium
• Available languages مذكرةشفويةمؤرخة١٠شـباط/فبرايـر٢٠٠٩Nota verbal de fecha 10 de febrero de 2009 dirigida al Secretario General por las misiones permanentes ante las Naciones Unidas del Afganistán, la Arabia Saudita, [...] y ZimbabweNote verbale datée du 10 février 2009, adressée au Secrétaire général par les Missions permanentes auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies de l’Afghanistan, de l’Arabie saoudite, [...] et du ZimbabweВербальная нота постоянных представительств Афганистана, БагамскихОстровов, […] и Чада при Организации Объединенных Наций от 10 февраля 2009 года на имя Генерального секретаря9年2月10日阿富汗、巴哈马、巴林、[...] 也门和津巴布韦常驻联合国代表团给秘书长的普通照会