EU Policy On The Death Penalty
March 4, 2002
Hon. Walter S. Ray
Chairman of the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles
Floyd Veterans Memorial Building
Balcony level, East Tower
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909
Dear Mr. Chairman:
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 and all the members of
the Board of Pardons and Paroles of Georgia, an urgent humanitarian appeal
to spare the life of Tracy Housel who has been sentenced to death and is
scheduled to be executed in March, 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.
We
understand that Mr. Housel is reported to be suffering from a mental
disorder. The European Union considers that the execution of people with
mental disorders is contrary to human dignity and to international human
rights instruments such as the United Nations Economic and Social Council
1984/50 resolution on the safeguards for the protection of persons facing
the death penalty and resolution 2001/68 adopted at the last session of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which specifically urges
all states that still maintain the death penalty "not to impose the
death penalty on a person suffering from any form of mental disorder or to
execute any such person." Furthermore, Mr. Housel has been diagnosed
with and is being treated for hypoglycaemia.
We therefore respectfully urge you, Mr. Chairman and
members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles of Georgia, to take all the
aforementioned factors into account and to exercise all powers vested in
your office to commute Mr. Housel's 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 |
Letter to Governor Barnes.
Embassy of Spain
2375 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Telephone: 202-452-0100
Website: http://www.spainemb.org/ingles/indexing.htm
