By a vote of 29-19, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution calling on all nations to declare a moratorium on executions. The resolution cited concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty. In order to address these problems, the resolution calls on nations that no longer use the death penalty to remove it from their laws, and for countries that continue to carry out executions to limit the number of crimes that may be punished by death. The resolution stated that justice officials should refuse to extradite individuals who may face execution in another country unless they receive assurances that the death penalty will not be carried out. Among the nations opposing the measure were the United States, Japan, China, India, and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia. Former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who halted executions in Illinois and commuted the sentences of all death row inmates due to concerns about innocence and fairness, was among those who addressed the commission during its deliberations. The Human Rights Commission is the U.N.’s top human rights body. (Associated Press, April 21, 2004) See International Death Penalty.