EU Policy On The Death Penalty
The text of this letter was sent to all Governors of US states having the
death penalty. The text was also addressed to Governor Leavitt of Utah, in his
capacity as Chairman of the National Governors' Association, and released at the
NGA Annual Meeting in February 2000.
PORTUGUESE EMBASSY
WASHINGTON
February 24th, 2000
The Honorable Michael Leavitt
Governor of Utah
Chairman of the National Governors' Association
444 North Capitol Street, N.W. 4267
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Mr. Leavitt:
As representative of the Presidency
of the European Union, together with the Ambassador of France and the
Head of the Delegation of the European Commission, I would like to bring
to your attention a request to all US governors of states, to follow the
example of your fellow governor George Ryan, of Illinois, who has recently
imposed a moratorium on the use of capital punishment
The European Union has been for
some time now actively seeking a global moratorium around the world. In
our contacts with US Federal authorities, requesting them to look at the
death penalty system at federal level, they have made clear the competence
and the right of the states of the United States to impose the capital
punishment without Federal interference. We are therefore committed to
start a dialogue with all US governors on this subject.
The European Union is opposed
to the death penalty in all cases and accordingly aims at its universal
abolition. We reject the theory that the death penalty is a deterrent
to violent crime since in our countries, where the death penalty has been
abolished and/or not been used for many years, in same cases for nearly
a century, there has been no significant increases in violent criminality.
The European Union shares the
concerns and supports the conclusions of some of your fellow governors
that any system is fraught with the possibility of error which could lead
to the death of innocent citizens. We are very concerned that in the US,
while more than 600 people have been executed since the reinstatement
of the penalty since 1976, as many as 81 people in 21 states have been
found innocent and removed from death row. We believe that you, too, find
such situations abhorrent and the European Union encourages the governors
of all states in the US with capital punishment to reflect upon this risk
and to consider establishing a moratorium in the first possible instance.
The European Union has drafted a memorandum that outlines
in greater details the historic developments of the EU policy on the death
penalty, the international law and agreements upon which we draw the legal
basis of our position, and which addresses in more detail the specific
cases which are our first for consideration under a moratorium.
We have the honor to herewith enclose the text of the
Memorandum.
Joao da Rocha Paris
Ambassador of Portugal
Representative of the Presidency of the EU
Francois V. Bujon
Ambassador of France
Gunter Burghardt
Head of the Delegation of the European Commission
