South Sudan voted yes on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the the UN General Assembly on Monday.
South Sudan was among the 110 countries that approved a draft resolution to stop executions of convicts on the death row.Thirty nine countries voted no to the moratorium, including the United States, Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Eritrea, Kenya and DR Congo were among the 36 countries that abstained.
The final resolution will be voted in December.
South Sudan has currently about 200 people waiting for execution in the death rows of Juba, Wau and Malakal prisons.