EU Policy On The Death Penalty

EXCERPTS FROM THE MEMORANDUM BY THE EUROPEAN UNION AT THE 54TH UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The EU continues to implement its policy towards the abolition of the death penalty under its guidelines agreed in June 1998. In recent months, the EU intervened in a series of specific cases and explained its policy in relation to the death penalty in contacts with several Governments, including those of China, the US, Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the Palestinian Authority, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sierra Leone, Benin and Uganda. With the objective of the abolition of the death penalty, the EU asks that where the death penalty still exists, its application is progressively limited and that it must be applied according to minimum standards. Where applicable, the EU calls on States to establish moratoria. The Union is encouraged by the fact that the number of abolitionist countries is steadily growing. It welcomes the abolition of the death penalty in Bulgaria, in Lithuania, in Estonia, in Latvia, in Azerbaijan and in Nepal. It also welcomes the moratoria declared by Kirgysztan and Turkmenistan, as well as the de facto moratorium established in Russia and calls upon these countries to take the necessary steps towards definitive abolition. As a reflection of this trend, the resolution presented by the EU at the 55th session of the Commission on Human Rights received strong support. The EU has decided to present a resolution on the question of the death penalty also at this 54th Session of the General Assembly as one of its key objectives for this session.