Brussels, 12/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - The 8th World Day against capital punishment, Sunday 10 October, provided an opportunity for the European Union to again call for abolition of the death penalty in countries still using capital punishment such as China, the United States and Iran. Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, said: “It is encouraging that the large majority of states have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. However, there is no room for complacency - every execution is one too many. This is why I have made our work on the abolition of the death penalty a personal priority”.
Today there are 139 countries or territories, i.e. two thirds of the world, that have decided to abolish capital punishment in law or in practice. Out of the 58 countries that continue to authorise the death penalty, 18 are known to have carried out executions in 2009, the first being China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States. A single country in Europe is on this list - Belarus.
There is today a trend to do away with capital punishment with 23 countries abolishing it over the past 10 years. This trend is also to be seen in the reduced number of executions. In 2009, 5,679 executions were carried out, whereas, in 2008, there were 5,735 and, in 2007, 5,851. These figures are, however, still too high and in countries where the death penalty is still authorised, the EU Council says, there are serious problems concerning respect of international standards. Such standards impose: - restricting the death penalty to the most serious crimes, exclusion of offences committed by children, and the guarantee of a fair trial.
The EU and the Council of Europe call on the countries of Europe and of the world as a whole to support the resolution on a global moratorium on application of the death penalty, to be discussed during the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly. (B.C./transl.jl)