New Delhi: A record number of UN member states on Monday supported a key General Assembly resolution which places a moratorium on state-sponsored executions as a step towards abolishing the death penalty, according to Amnesty International. According to the UN’s official tally, Pakistan, for the first time, voted in favour of the resolution. However, late on Tuesday evening, the Pakistani foreign ministry clarified that the UN had erroneously recorded the country’s vote and that Pakistan had actually voted against the resolution, i.e. in favour the death penalty.Pakistan, in accordance with its consistent policy, voted against the General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on execution, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.(1/2)— Dr Mohammad Faisal (@ForeignOfficePk) December 18, 2018The vote was inaccurately recorded due to technical issues. The Permanent Mission of Pakistan has taken up this matter with the UN Secretariat to put the record straight (2/2).— Dr Mohammad Faisal (@ForeignOfficePk) December 18, 2018Observers were surprised by Pakistan first appearing in the column of abolitionist states, since, despite having previously placed a moratorium on capital punishment in 2008, Pakistan resumed executions in 2014. The decision to resume executions followed the terrorist attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in which 149 people – mostly school children – perished. Pakistan marked the fourth anniversary of the attack on December 16.Also Read: With the Abolition of the Death Penalty Still Elusive, SC Aims at Procedural ReformFollowing its resumption of capital punishment, the country has carried out 496 executions – accounting for 13% of the global total, according to figures of the Pakistan Justice Project.Two days prior to its vote in favour of the resolution, the Washington Post reported that Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa sanctioned the death penalty for 15 people convicted by the country’s military courts for their involvement in attacks that killed 32 military personnel and two civilians.Military trials are not open to the public in Pakistan, but defendants can hire their own counsel.Qamar Javed Bajwa is seen during the handover ceremony in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, November 29, 2016. Credit: Handout via Reuters/Pakistan Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR)A positive trend towards abolitionAt the UNGA Plenary session held in New York, 121 of 193 UN member states voted in favour of a seventh resolution calling for a moratorium on capital punishment among signatory countries. Of the remainder, 35 countries voted against the resolution while 32 abstained. The voting outcome at this years session indicates a positive trend among countries in moving towards the abolition of the death penalty. During the December 2016 session, only 117 countries voted in favour of the resolution, marking an increase of four votes this year.According to Amnesty International, Dominica, Libya and Malaysia changed their votes in favour of the resolution for the first time, while Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and South Sudan shifted from opposition to abstention. After abstaining in 2016, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Mauritius, Niger and Rwanda voted in favour of the resolution.Amnesty International’s death penalty expert, Chiara Sangiorgio said that the fact that more countries than ever before have voted in favour of such a resolution demonstrates that the “global abolition of the death penalty is becoming an inevitable reality.” This vote, she added, “sends an important signal that more and more countries are willing to take steps to end this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment once and for all.”Despite the progress made, five member states reversed their 2016 votes, with Nauru moving from in favour to against and Bahrain and Zimbabwe changing from abstention to opposition. Congo and Guinea changed from voting in favour to abstention.“Increasing isolation”Speaking about this, Sangiogio added, “The result also shows the increasing isolation of the 35 countries that voted against the resolution. Those countries still retaining the death penalty should immediately establish a moratorium on executions as a first step towards full abolition.”The resolution was proposed by Brazil on behalf of an Inter-Regional Task Force of member states and co-sponsored by 83 states. The resolution (A/RES/62/149) was first introduced in 2007.Also Read: India Votes Against UNGA Draft Resolution on Use of Death PenaltyOn November 14, India voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution on the use of death penalty, saying it goes against the statutory law of the country where an execution is carried out in the “rarest of rare” cases.In 1945, after the UN’s inception, only eight of the then 51 UN member states had abolished the death penalty. Now, 103 of 193 member states have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and 139 have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. In 2017, executions were reported in 22 UN member states, 11% of the total.Note: This story has been updated to include Pakistan’s official clarification that its vote in the UN General Assembly was wrongly recorded by the UN Secretariat and that it remains in favour of retention of the death penalty.