EU Policy On The Death Penalty
EMBASSY OF SWEDEN
WASHINGTON
11 July, 2001
The Honorable
Janet Napolitano
Arizona Attorney General
1275 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Dear Attorney General,
It is with great interest that the European Union (EU) has learnt that
you have set up the Arizona Capital Case Commission to review Arizona's
death penalty processes. We understand that the Commission will have a
session soon to deliberate on the issue of the imposition of the death
penalty on persons who where juveniles at the time of the crime. Allow me,
as the Washington representative of the current Presidency of the European
Union, to offer some comments on this issue.
As you may be well aware, the EU is opposed to the death penalty in all
cases and has consistently worked towards its universal abolition,
promoting a global moratorium as a first step. In countries that maintain
the death penalty, the EU aims at a restriction of the scope of its
application and the respect for the conditions set forth in several
international human rights instruments regarding the use of the death
penalty.
The EU is especially concerned about the imposition of the death
penalty on juveniles, i.e. persons under the age of 18 years at the time
of the commission of the crime. All the EU Member States adhere to the
idea that young offenders should be treated differently from adults.
Juveniles who have committed a crime, however serious, should therefore be
given the benefit of a juvenile justice system. This also involves the
rejection of the death penalty for this category of offenders.
The view of juvenile justice espoused by EU Member States is consistent
with international standards in this field, as reflected in a number of
international human rights instruments: the UN International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the American Convention on Human
Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ECOSOC
Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of those Facing the Death Penalty.
The international norms, as you know, expressly prohibit sentencing to
death a person under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the
crime. A similar prohibition is set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention of
1949 relating to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and
Additional Protocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions.
Please find enclosed a memorandum concerning these international human
rights instruments. I hope that the information would be useful for you
and the other members of the Arizona Capital Case Commission.
Finally, let me extend to you and the Arizona Capital Case Commission
my best wishes in your comprehensive review of the complex and difficult
issue of the death penalty.
Yours sincerely,
Jan Eliasson
Ambassador of Sweden
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Embassy of Sweden
1501 M Street, N.W.,
Washington DC 20005
tel: (202) 467-2600, fax: (202) 467-2699
Homepage: www.swedenemb.org
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29 January, 2001
Memorandum on international human rights instruments related to the
death penalty and its imposition on persons under the age of 18.
Both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR)
and the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) prohibit the use
of the death penalty against those under 18 years of age at the time of
the commission of the crime (ICCPR, article 6 (5); ACHR, article 4.5).
All the EU Member States have ratified the ICCPR. All EU Member States
have in their national legislation abolished the death penalty for all
crimes. No reservations have been made by EU Member States to article 6.
In 1992 the United States ratified the ICCPR with a reservation
purporting to exempt it from then article 6 (5) prohibition on the use of
the death penalty against persons under 18 years of age. Article 4 of the
ICCPR states that there can be no derogation from article 6, even in times
of emergency. Eleven countries formally objected to the US reservation.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted by
the UN General Assembly in 1989. Article 37 reiterates the ban on the
execution of people who were under 18 years of age at the time of the
commission of the crime. The CHR has to date been ratified by 191
countries.
In 1984 the UN adopted by consensus the Safeguards Guaranteeing
Protection of the Rights of those Facing the Death Penalty. Safeguard
6 states that "persons below 18 at the time of the commission of the
crime shall not be sentenced to death". It was approved by the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, resolution 1984/50 of
May 1984, upon the recommendation of the Committee on Crime Prevention and
Control
In 1999, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights "condemns unequivocally the imposition and execution
of the death penalty on those under 18 at the time of the commission of
the offence". In 2000, the UN
Sub-Commission "confirms that international law concerning the
imposition of the death penalty in relation to juveniles clearly
establishes that the imposition of the death penalty on those aged under
18 years at the time of the commission of the offence is in contravention
of customary international law".
In the Fourth Geneva Convention from 1949, article 68.4 states
that "the death penalty may not be pronounced against a protected
person who was under eighteen of age at the time of the offence".
Both the United States and all EU Member States have ratified the Fourth
Geneva Convention without reservation to article 68.4, thereby agreeing
that in the event of war or other armed conflict in which the they may
become involved, they will protect all civilian children in occupied
countries from the death penalty.
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Embassy of Sweden
1501 M Street, N.W.,
Washington DC 20005
tel: (202) 467-2600, fax: (202) 467-2699
www.swedenemb.org
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