EU Policy On The Death Penalty
May 7, 2002
Chairman Gerald Garret
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Attn: Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78757
Dear Chairman Garret:
On behalf of the European Union, Spain as its current president, together with Denmark, its subsequent president, and the European Commission, we would like to convey to you, as we did in letters of
August 10 and July
20, 2001, an urgent humanitarian appeal to spare the life of Napoleon Beazley who has been sentenced to death and is now scheduled to be executed
on May 28th,2002.
As stated in the EU Memorandum on the Death Penalty (http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/DeathPenalty/eumemorandum.htm) which has been shared with you, the European Union is opposed to the death penalty in all cases and accordingly aims at its universal abolition, seeking a global moratorium on the death penalty as a first step.
As we already mentioned to you in previous letters, we are especially worried by the fact that Mr. Beazley was 17 years old at the time the crime was committed. The European Union believes that in those countries which have not yet abolished the death penalty, it should not be imposed on persons who were less than 18 years of age at the time of the crime. This approach to juvenile justice is consistent with the spirit and letter of several international human rights instruments which expressly prohibit the execution of juveniles, specifically the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) and the American Convention on Human
Rights. Article 6 of the ICCPR-to which the United States is a party-expressly forbids the execution of people whose crime was committed when they were under 18 years of age. The EU considers that this would be contrary to generally accepted human rights norms.
We therefore respectfully urge you, Mr. Chairman and the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, to take all the aforementioned factors into account and to exercise all powers vested in your office to commute Mr. Beazley sentence to any penalty other than capital punishment, in accordance with international law.
Sincerely,
| Javier Rupérez |
Ulrik Federspiel |
Günter Burghardt |
| Ambassador of Spain |
Ambassador of Denmark |
Head of the Delegation of the European
Commission |
May 7, 2002 Letter to Governor.
Links to August 10, 2001 letter to Governor.
Links to July 20, 2001 letter to Governor.
Memo
to Director of Multilateral Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor,
US Department of State.
Embassy of Spain
2375 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Telephone: 202-452-0100
Website:http://www.spainemb.org/ingles/indexing.htm
