EU Policy On The Death Penalty

Embassy of Austria
Washington, D. C.

The Ambassador

8 December 1998

The Honorable
George W. Bush
Governor of Texas
State Capitol
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711
fax: (512) 463-1849

Dear Governor Bush,

As Austria currently holds the Presidency of the European Union, I have been instructed to urgently write to you regarding the case of Stan Faulder, a Canadian citizen who is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, 10 December 1998. It seems that Stan Faulder was not informed upon his arrest that he had a right to contact his consular representation. The State of Texas seems not to have identified him as a prisoner in response to regular requests for information by the Canadian Consulate in Dallas regarding Canadian citizens imprisoned in Dallas.

In this connection the European Union would like you to consider the following:

(a) Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations - to which the United States is a Party - expressly requires the "competent authorities" of State parties to give prompt notice to detained foreign nationals of their right to see a consular officer of their own government. The purpose of this guarantee of consular notification and access are the protection of the rights of foreigners who are arrested or otherwise detained abroad, and ensuring that States Parties can provide that protection to their citizens.

(b) The EU is seriously concerned that this disregard of Texan Authorities in a case where someone is under prosecution for a capital crime may lead to erosion of international consular protection. It is internationally accepted that criminal proceedings which entail the possibility of capital punishment must meet all international minimal standards. Had Mr. Faulder been afforded assistance by his government, better legal representation could have been provided, either establishing his innocence or counseling him to plead guilty and forward mitigating evidence, thus possibly avoiding capital punishment.

(c) The EU is of the firm conviction that, given this violation of Mr. Faulder's consular rights, his execution would be a violation of his human rights. The EU calls upon the State of Texas not to execute Mr. Faulder and to make use of the conspicuous date of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by fully reinstating Mr. Faulder into his rights as if he had been afforded the protection of his Government as provided by international law at the time when he was first arrested.

(d) The EU also calls upon the State of Texas to refrain from execution for humanitarian reasons in view of the period of time between his sentence to death and the scheduled execution of the sentence, namely 21 years.

 

Sincerely yours,

Helmut Tuerk