Brussels, 21/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided on Tuesday 20 December to extend the list of goods subject to export controls “to prevent their use for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
Thus, trade of certain anaesthetics, such as sodium thiopental, which can be used in lethal injections, to countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty, will be tightly controlled and made subject to prior authorisation by the member states. The scope of the EU regulation has been enlarged to include other products, such as spike batons and of electric shock sleeves and cuffs, which previously were not prohibited.
Repeating the EU's opposition to the death penalty, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said that this decision was “a first step in response to the calls of civil society organisations and the European Parliament to strengthen the EU legislation. It will be followed by a full review of the relevant regulation next year”.
The decision was published in the Official Journal of 21 December. (CG/transl.rt)