Brussels, 10/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - To mark the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, the Council of Europe and the European Union, through Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, restated on 10 October “their strong opposition to the use of the death penalty”. In a joint statement, they underline the death penalty's “inhumane and cruel nature and its failure to prevent crime”. “Voices in favour of the death penalty within some parts of society, including in our continent, show that there is a continuous need to spell out why the death penalty runs contrary to the right to life and to human dignity”, they go on to say.
Deploring that Belarus continues to apply the death penalty, Ashton and Jagland urge “the authorities of Belarus to examine and explore all possibilities available in order to introduce a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition”.
“The Council of Europe and the European Union will continue to work closely with all interlocutors, governmental and civil society, with a view to developing synergies towards universal abolition”, they further say.
According to the European External Action Service, over the course of 2012 and the first half of 2013, the EU has published 54 declarations and “carried out 30 démarches, thus mapping the capital punishment situation worldwide”. (CG/transl.fl)