EU Policy On The Death Penalty
INTERPARLIAMENTARY DELEGATIONS
DIVISION FOR NON-EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
June 25, 1998
Governor George Bush
State Capitol
AUSTIN, Texas 78711
Dear Governor Bush,
As chairman of the European Parliament's delegation for
relations with the United States, I wrote to you sonic weeks ago in the
hope that we might have had the opportunity to meet with you during our
visit this week to Texas. While the primary purpose of our visit to Houston
is to take part in the 49th EP-US Congress interparliamentary
exchange, we are also using the occasion to hold discussions on a variety
of issues with prominent Texans. Among other things, we shall be discussing
the question of the death penalty in Texas, and it was this matter in
particular that we would have liked to talk about directly with you. We
are sorry that this will not be possible.
As you know, the European Parliament has been vociferous
in its opposition to the death penalty wherever it is applied. Over the
years, we have adopted numerous resolutions condemning the practice, which
we consider to be both morally wrong and also liable to lead to irreversible
miscarriages of justice. At our plenary session last week, Parliament
unanimously carried a new resolution calling for a universal moratorium
on the death penalty.
The death penalty is either constitutionally outlawed,
or its application banned, in all fifteen member states of the European
Union, The Council of the European Union, like the Parliament, has frequently
expressed its concern at the continued widespread use of the death penalty
in the world, particularly by totalitarian states and communist countries
such as China and North Korea. At the same time, we have been heartened
by the decisions in most of the new democracies in central and Eastern
Europe and elsewhere, to abolish the practice.
We are especially saddened to note that in the United
States - the world's greatest democracy and proponent of human rights
- the number of executions is increasing year by year. Nowhere is this
more apparent than in your own State of Texas.
We understand that this is it complex and emotive issue, and I do not
propose to rehearse here the arguments that, for us, make legal execution
unacceptable under any circumstances. Suffice it to say that we believe the death
penalty amounts to retribution rather than deterrence, and that its use
always carries with it the risk that an innocent person may die. We understand
also that it takes courage to stand above murderers and terrorists and
to say: we reject your methods, and we refuse to embrace them as our own.
That said, we are concerned that the almost universal
repugnance felt in Europe and elsewhere for the continued application
of the death penalty in certain American states may also have economic
consequences. Europe is the foremost foreign investor in Texas. Many companies,
under pressure from shareholders and public opinion to apply ethical business
practices, are beginning to consider the possibility of restricting investment
in the U.S. to states that do not apply the death penalty.
I therefore take this opportunity to appeal to you to consider whether
the death penalty can honestly constitute a relevant instrument in a modern
and compassionate justice system. As Governor, you have the power to commute
existing death sentences and to launch a fresh debate in your state about
the continued wisdom of applying this extreme form of sanction. I and
my colleagues in the European Parliament earnestly hope that you will
pause to reflect on the options you have to bring new international respect
to your great State and to set an example to the rest of America.
Yours sincerely,
Alan J. Donnelly, MEP
Chairman, Delegation for Relations with the United States
