The resolution will not immediately result in an end to capital punishment. The UN resolution has strong moral force but does not constitute binding international law. The resolution will be cited by groups campaigning for an end to capital punishment as an indication that an international consensus is developing. In particular, it will be difficult for the United States which now finds itself allied with states widely perceived to be among the worst violators of human rights.

Despite recent indications that the Government of Canada might be relaxing its position on capital punishment, Canada's delegation voted in favour of the resolution.

The states that voted against the resolution are the following: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Grenada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mongolia, 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, Suriname, Syria, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United States, Yemen, Zimbabwe. [Source: United Nations]