At least 87 countries, including EU member states as well as more than a dozen Latin American states and eight African countries, jointly introduced a draft resolution calling for a moratorium with a view to abolishing capital punishment.

"We are about to embark on a divisive, unpleasant and unnecessary fight," Singapore's representative Kevin Cheok told the General Assembly's human rights committee, warning that it would "poison the atmosphere between us."

Two similar moves in the 1990s failed in the 192-member assembly, whose resolutions are non-binding but carry moral authority. This time, the text of the resolution stops short of an outright demand for immediate abolition.

Instead, the draft calls on countries that put criminals to death to "establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty."

It says the punishment "undermines human dignity," that "there is no conclusive evidence of the death penalty's deterrent value" and "any miscarriage or failure of justice in implementation is irreversible and irreparable."

Opponents of the move, ranging from Botswana to Jamaica, Iran, China and Egypt, said more than 100 countries retain the death penalty and argued that it was a criminal justice issue falling clearly within the bounds of national jurisdiction.

They presented 14 amendments at the human rights committee, seeking to remove all reference to a moratorium and instead affirm the sovereign rights of states to decide their own punishments for the most serious crimes.

Singapore, which has been criticized by human rights groups for implementing a mandatory death penalty for most drug offenses, said the European Union was imposing its will.

"We have seen this trait before," Cheok added.

"There was a time when our views were dismissed. Most of us here struggled for years against this. So how ironic it is that we're now being told once again that only one view is right and that all other views are wrong."

"SENSE OF SUPERIORITY"

Botswana's representative, Rhee Hetanang, said the amendments were aimed at protecting "some small countries such as our own" against growing interference in internal affairs.

He expressed concern about "increasing trends in this committee which demonstrate the sense of superiority of some in this house who seem to believe their political, cultural and legal systems are better than those of others."

Several speakers from Caribbean states made similar arguments, adding that such interference could stir resentment and have the unintended effect of strengthening the hand of those in favor of the death penalty in national debates.

Italian ambassador Marcello Spatafora rejected charges that the EU wanted to impose its views on others, noting that General Assembly resolutions do not impose any action on states, and it was a cross-regional effort.

"We don't want to pick a fight," he said, during a testy exchange with the Singaporean representative.

The United States, where many states perform executions and which opposed previous resolutions, did not speak in the first committee session to examine the draft resolution but it has signaled it would vote against it.

If the resolution is passed by the committee, it could go to the full assembly later this year.

Six countries -- China, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Pakistan and Sudan -- account for about 90 percent of all executions worldwide, and China the bulk of those.

Among backers of the moratorium are the Philippines, Australia, Brazil, Gabon, Angola, Turkey and Venezuela

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