EU reaffirms call to abolish death penalty
11:18 AM Oct 10, 2011
SINGAPORE - The European Union's Delegation to Singapore sent out a press release today - the World Day Against the Death Penalty - calling for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.
The press release, in full, reads as follows:
"On the occasion of the 2011 European and World Day Against The Death Penalty, Catherine Ashton, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy reaffirmed the European Union's opposition to the death penalty and Europe's commitment to its worldwide abolition.
"The EU urges all countries whose legislation includes the death penalty as a form of punishment to immediately introduce a moratorium with a view of a complete abolition.
"A joint declaration released today in Brussels by the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (the Council of Europe is an international organisation that counts 47 member countries, including all 27 member countries of the EU) states that:
"The European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their united opposition to the death penalty, and their commitment to its worldwide abolition. We consider capital punishment to be inhumane, and a violation of human dignity. Any capital punishment resulting from a miscarriage of justice, from which no legal system can be immune, represents an irreversible loss of human life.
"We welcome the United Nations' recent resolutions on the global moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to its complete abolition, supported by a wide coalition of States from all regions of the world. The growing support granted to UN resolutions on this matter in 2007, 2008 and 2010 confirms an increasing international trend against the death penalty."
The EU Delegation to Singapore futher noted that "a growing number of countries have done away with the death penalty (between 1993 and 2009, from 55 countries to 97)". As of today, 58 countries in the world still retain the death penalty, including Singapore.
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