Office of the Political Counselor
2375 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037
21 June 2002
On behalf of the European Union, Spain
as its current president, together with Denmark,
its subsequent president and the European Commission, welcome the decision of
the United States Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia, in which the Court
has held that the execution of the mentally retarded criminal is "cruel and
unusual punishment" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.
The European Union opposes capital punishment under all circumstances
and has consistently espoused its universal abolition. This view has been expressed
in a number of demarches in specific cases including those involving the pending
execution of persons with mental retardation. In the case of Daryl Atkins, the
European Union expressed its opposition to such executions in an
amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States.
