World and Europe Day Against Death Penalty

The European Union is undeniably one of the international leading forces in the fight against the capital punishment and has put the abolitionist cause at the very centre of its human rights policy.

The European Union never ceases to underline that: there is no justification in death penalty; it is of a cruel and inhumane character; it is incompatible with human dignity and the right to life; it entails irreversible effects in case of erroneous conviction.

There is a marked trend towards abolition and restriction of the use of capital punishment in most countries; however, where capital punishment remains in force, there are serious problems with regard to the respect of international norms and standards, notably in the limitation of the death penalty to the most serious crimes, the exclusion of juvenile offenders from its scope, and guarantees of a fair trial. There is, at the same time, a worrying trend of breaches on moratoria of executions by important partners.

The Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, adopted in June 2012, places the fight against the death penalty as a prominent priority. Moreover, HRVP Ashton has on a number of occasions declared that the EU’s work on abolishing the death penalty worldwide is a personal priority. The EU policy against the death penalty is firmly consolidated in the relevant EU Guidelines , the first ever Human Rights text of its kind, recently revised and updated. These guidelines provide the necessary basis for everyday EU action be it of public or discreet nature.

In multilateral fora, the EU led an intensive lobbying campaign for the UN General Assembly resolution on a “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”. The UN General Assembly on 21 December 2012 adopted the resolution with an unprecedented number of 111 votes in favour whereas the number of co-sponsors rose to a record number of 91. The EU will join forces with partners in order to consolidate this success with this year's Resolution as well.

The EU also actively participated to the World Congress against the Death Penalty, held in Madrid on 12-15 June 2013, an event which marked the worldwide tendency towards abolition and mapped strategies for the future.

On the World/Europe Day against the Death Penalty, Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Catherine Ashton issued a Declaration on behalf of the EU and the CoE.

About the World Coalition against the Death Penalty

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) has planned a number of events for the 12th World Day against the Death Penalty, focusing this year on the death penalty and issues of mental health. On this day abolitionists will be drawing attention to people with mental health problems who are at risk of a death sentence or execution. While opposing the death penalty absolutely, abolitionists are committed to see existing international human rights standards implemented. Among these is the requirement that persons with mental illness or intellectual disabilities should not face the death penalty.

The WCADP comprises over 150 human rights organizations, professional associations and provides materials for the World Day in 7 languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Farsi, which can be used for possible activities by Delegations. These materials are available here