24 May 1990

13th Plenary Meeting

1990/29. Capital punishment

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1745 (LIV) of 16 May 1973, 1930 (LVIII) of 6 May 1975, 1984/50 of 25 May 1984 and 1985/33 of 29 May 1985,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 2857 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971, 32/61 of 8 December 1977 and 39/118 of 14 December 1984,

Having examined the fourth quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on capital punishment, and having found certain imprecisions and errors in it, as recognized by the representative of the Secretary-General,

Aware that only forty-three Governments responded to the questionnaire sent by the Secretary-General requesting information for the preparation of the fourth quinquennial report,

1. Invites Member States to provide the Secretary-General with the information required for the preparation of the fifth quinquennial report on capital punishment, in 1995;

2. Takes note of the fact that during the period under review in the report of the Secretary-General some countries have abolished capital punishment, others have adopted a policy of reducing the number of capital offences or have reported not imposing death sentences on offenders, while others have retained capital punishment;

3. Requests the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control to keep the question of capital punishment under review;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Council, at its second regular session of 1990, a revised version of the fourth quinquennial report for its consideration;

5. Requests the Secretary-General, in preparing the fifth quinquennial report, to draw on all available data, including current criminological research, and to invite the comments of specialized agencies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations on this question.