EU Policy On The Death Penalty
EMBASSY OF GREECE
Washington, DC
EU Presidency
26 February, 2003
The Honorable
Brad Henry
Governor of Oklahoma
State Capitol Building
2300 North Lincoln Boulevard, Room 212
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Dear Governor Henry,
The European Union has learnt that Mr. Scott Allen Hain is to be executed in
the State of Oklahoma on April 3, 2003. On behalf of the European Union, Greece,
as its current president, together
with Italy, its subsequent president, and the European Commission, would like
to make an urgent humanitarian appeal to spare the life of Mr. Hain.
Mr. Hain was 17 years old at the time of the crime, for which he has been sentenced
to death. The European Union considers that in those countries, which have not
yet abolished the death penalty, this penalty should not be imposed on persons
under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
The European Union opposes 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 explained at the EU Memorandum on the Death Penalty (it can be
found on the web page: http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/DeathPenalty/eumemorandum.htm).
In countries that maintain the death penalty, the EU aims at the progressive restriction
of its scope and respect for the strict conditions set forth in several international
human rights instruments, under which the capital punishment may be used.
The EU strongly believes that the execution of juvenile offenders is contrary
to widely accepted human rights norms and the minimum standards of human rights
set forth by the United Nations. A significant number of treaties, including treaties
signed and ratified by the United States, prohibit such executions, 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 — explicitly forbids the execution of juvenile offenders.
We have requested Mr. Terry Jenks, Director of the Pardon and Parole Board,
to submit to you a favorable recommendation regarding the commutation of Mr. Hain’s
sentence.
We therefore, respectfully urge you, Governor, to take all the aforementioned
factors into account and to grant clemency in favor of Mr. Hain.
Letter to Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Embassy of Greece
2221 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 939-5800 Fax (202) 939-5824
E-mail: greece@greekembassy.org
Website: http://www.greekembassy.org/Embassy/content/en/Root.aspx
