EU Policy On The Death Penalty
Washington, DC, June 5, 2001
The Members of the Oklahoma
Pardon and Parole Board
4040 North Lincoln Street, Suite 219
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5221
Dear Members of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board:
The European Union has learnt that Mr. Gerardo Valdez
Maltos, a Mexican national, is scheduled to be executed on June 19, 2001.
Representing the European Union, Sweden, as the current President,
together with Belgium, the subsequent President, and the European
Commission, would like to make an urgent appeal on behalf of Mr. Valdez.
As stated in the EU Memorandum on the Death Penalty (which
can be found on the web page http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/DeathPenalty/deathpenhome.htm#EUPolicyDocuments),
the European Union is opposed to the death penalty in all cases and
accordingly aims at its universal abolition. In countries applying the
death penalty, the EU seeks to ensure that the executions are carried out
in accordance with the minimum standards set forth in several
international human rights and consular instruments.
It has come to the attention of the EU that the Oklahoma
authorities failed to notify Mr. Valdez about his right to contact a
Mexican consulate for assistance at the time of his detention, as required
by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Like the United States,
all EU Member States are parties to this international treaty.
The right to consular notification according to Article 36
of the Convention is intended to redress the inherent disadvantages facing
detained foreign nationals in any country. The same treaty provision gives
US citizens traveling abroad the right to contact their consulates, in the
event they would be arrested. We are convinced that observance of the
safeguards provided by this Convention is essential and may be decisive,
not the least in capital cases.
Furthermore, the European Union has taken note that prison
records reveal that Mr. Valdez has an IQ score of 76, thus making him a
borderline mentally retarded person. In addition, Mexico's legal counsel
has discovered evidence that Mr. Valdez may have organic brain damage.
Further evidence may establish that is indeed the case.
As concerns the execution of a person suffering from a
mental disorder, there are certain minimum standards set forth in several
international human rights instruments. Among them are the United Nations
ECOSOC Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of those Facing
the Death Penalty, as well as resolution 2001/68 adopted at this year's
session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. This resolution
specifically urges all states still maintaining 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."
Taking these factors and considerations into account, the
European Union respectfully appeals to you, Members of the Oklahoma Pardon
and Parole Board, to exercise all powers invested in your office to
commute the sentence of Mr. Valdez to life imprisonment or such other
penalty as is compatible with international law.
Letter to Oklahoma Governor
Keating
| Jan Eliasson |
Alex Reyn |
Günter Burghardt |
| Ambasador of Sweden |
Ambassador of Belgium |
Head of the Delegation
of the European Commission |
Embassy of Sweden,
1501 M Street, N.W.,
Washington DC 20005
tel: (202) 467-2600, fax: (202) 467-2699
Homepage: www.swedenemb.org
