The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on behalf of the EU, on Saturday 6 May, condemned in the strongest terms the execution in Iran of the Swedish-Iranian national Habib Chaab, expressing his full solidarity with Sweden.
Mr Chaab, aged about 50, was the head of the Arab Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, a separatist organisation considered terrorist by Iran.
“The European Union calls on Iran to refrain from any future executions and to pursue a consistent policy towards the abolition of capital punishment”, Borrell said in his statement.
He reiterated the EU’s strong opposition against the application of capital punishment in any circumstances, and that the death penalty violates the inalienable right to life enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is “the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment”.
The High Representative also explained that the increasing number of EU nationals and dual EU-Iranian nationals arbitrarily detained in Iran, the restrictions on consular access for EU nationals, the denial of consular protection and the right to a fair trial were direct violations of international law. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)