On World Day against Death Penalty Brussels called upon Belarus to set a moratorium on death penalty

Joint declaration of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and CE Secretary General issued on October 10 yet again mentions Belarus as the only European country that applies capital punishment.

“On the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, the European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their strong and absolute opposition to capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and their commitment to its worldwide abolition,” is said in the Joint Declaration by the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the European and World Day against the Death Penalty. “We are deeply concerned about setbacks in some countries, such as recent mass trials leading to a vast number of death sentences, the extension in domestic legislation of the scope of the death penalty's use, or the resumption of executions after a period of several years”.

The statement emphasizes that no execution has taken place in EU Member States in the past 17 years, welcoming the fact that all Member States of the European Union have now ratified both Protocols 6 and 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights and urging all other European States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify these instruments which aim at the abolition of the death penalty.

The declaration issued by the European Union and the Council of Europe doesn’t leave out Belarus, saying that they “deeply regret the recent executions carried out by Belarus, the only European country that applies this form of punishment”, and “strongly urge Belarus to commute the sentences of the two remaining persons sentenced to death in 201”, as well as to “establish a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty”.

The European Union and Council of Europe also call on all Members of the United Nations to support the Resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty which will be put to vote at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in December 2014.