UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday offered his personal support for a moratorium on the death penalty after representatives of several human rights organizations presented him with more than 3 million signatures supporting the cause.

"Let the states that still use the death penalty stay their hand, lest in time to come they look back with remorse, knowing it is too late to redeem their grievous mistake," Annan said. "The forfeiture of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on another, even when backed by legal process."

Annan noted that UN members are "deeply divided" about the use of the death penalty and said that he respects their position. Yet he added, "It is tragic that while the nations debate this problem, people continue to be executed. ... When the change comes, it will be too late for them".

Annan's statements followed the presentation of a petition delivered by the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Moratorium 2000 Campaign and Amnesty International. The petition was signed by 3.2 million people worldwide who seek an end to the death penalty.

Supporters of the petition argue that the death penalty violates the universal right to life and dehumanizes the world by promoting vengeance. Execution is legal in some 90 countries.

Signatories of the petition include the Dalai Lama, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, author Umberto Eco and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The presentation of the petition yesterday was seen by some as a symbolic move to pressure the US delegation to the United Nations to relax its opposition to a death penalty moratorium. The death penalty is legal in the United States and supported by President-elect George W. Bush.