The United Nations Human Rights Commission voted 30-11 in favour of the resolution, intended as a prelude to abolishing the death penalty.

The motion urged countries:

• Not to carry out executions while any legal procedure is pending.
• Not to execute anyone who was under 18 when the crime was committed.
• Not to execute pregnant women.

The motion was put forward at the UN agency's meeting in Geneva by Germany, on behalf of the European Union.

But the American delegate said her country would continue to use the death penalty as long as public opinion supported it.

"We recognise that many Americans support abolishing it, but a noticeable majority of our citizens do support the death penalty," Nancy Rubin said.

The United States and China have been criticised by human rights groups for their excessive use of capital punishment.

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Other countries which opposed the resolution included Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Sudan.

Twelve countries abstained from voting.

India, one of the abstentions, predicted that countries which had abolished the death penalty would be seen as "safe havens" by criminals who knew they would not be extradited to their home countries.