European Union, European Day and the Death Penalty
Statement by the Swedish Presidency of the European Union with regard to the European Day against Death Penalty
Today the EU and the Council of Europe for the second time jointly honour the upcoming European Day on the death penalty. This year we are joining forces with the OSCE since attention will also be drawn to the European Day on the death penalty within the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting.
The EU recalls the fundamental principles of our mutual stand on the death penalty enshrined in last year’s joint EU/CoE-declaration.
The EU tirelessly reiterates its position that it is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances, and consistently calls for its universal abolition. We firmly believe that the abolition of the death penalty is essential to protect human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights.
The European Union considers the death penalty to be a cruel and inhuman punishment. It has not been found to act as a deterrent, and any miscarriage of justice – which is inevitable in any legal system – is irreversible.
Research demonstrates that the death penalty is often applied in a discriminatory manner, disproportionately being used against the poor or members of minorities. Crime figures argue in favour of abolition. With regard to the often claimed public support for the death penalty, an important aspect of dealing with this debate is to establish confidence in the justice system.
The state, with its particular responsibility as the ultimate guarantor of all persons’ human rights, should not deprive anyone of his or her life.
Consequently, the death penalty has been abolished throughout the 27 Member States of the European Union. Furthermore, the abolition of the death penalty is a condition which states are required to meet in order to become member of the EU.
When the Universal Declaration on Human rights was adopted in 1948, 8 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Today a majority of countries refrain from using the death penalty.
According to Amnesty International’s estimates last year 139 countries from all regions of the world or more than 2/3 of the world’s countries had abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, and only 25 countries carried out executions in 2008.
The efforts to abolish the death penalty gather support in all regions. In several countries which still have provisions for the death penalty in their laws, there are national level debates regarding the possibility of abolition. In the meantime, many have established a moratorium.
These ongoing debates, which involve both parliaments and the society as a whole, are of utmost importance to acknowledge. Only when we identify national challenges and share experiences and best practices are we able to move forward toward a worldwide elimination of the practice of condemning people to death.
The historic adoption of the resolutions in 2007 and 2008 calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty was a joint effort by a large coalition of countries from each regional group at the UN.
Europe and Central Asia is now virtually a death penalty free zone. There is just one country left that carries out executions, namely Belarus. In the Americas only the United States of America consistently executes.
The universal abolition of the death penalty is a priority of the EU. Through its present and incoming Presidencies the EU intends to continue its efforts to encourage those States who have not yet done so to abolish the death penalty.
The EU monitors individual cases and raises the issue of the death penalty, when appropriate, in its Dialogues and Consultations on Human Rights with third countries.
The EU will contribute to building further support for resumed work on the issue of the death penalty at the UN General Assembly in 2010.
As a representative of the European Union I would like to encourage the Governments in all countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty to show political courage to do so. A first step would be to immediately initiate a moratorium.
Topics: crimes, death penalty, deterrence, discrimination, European Day, human dignity, human rights, legal system, miscarriage of justice, OSCE, universal abolition
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