Death Penalty
October 10, 2007
The Council of Europe voted in September by 46 to one to make Oct. 10 a European day against the death penalty, bringing it in line with other international efforts calling for the end to capital punishment on the same day.
EU officials at a conference Tuesday in Lisbon said they also wanted European countries to abolish capital punishment in all circumstances.
"Crime cannot be prevented or stopped with death, or with state vengeance, but with justice," said Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency.
Poland wants broader definition
Predominantly Catholic Poland was the only country to oppose the decision, arguing any such event should also condemn abortion and euthanasia. Capital punishment during peacetime has been illegal in Poland since 2000.
The vice-president of the European Commission, Franco Frattini, said negotiations should continue with Poland, so that next year Oct. 10 will not be celebrated just by the Council of Europe, but also the European Union.
"I hope Poland will celebrate tomorrow, if not at government level, at least that the civil society will do it," he told reporters.
China, US among proponents
The European Union has urged the United States to follow its lead on the death penalty. It issued a plea in August to the US state of Texas to halt all executions before it carried out its 400th death sentence to no avail.
Human rights officials also called on China to suspend executions of criminals eligible for the death penalty as a goodwill gesture before the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.
"As the world focuses on China's poor human rights record in the run-up to the Olympics, the Chinese government could avoid further embarrassment by making a bold step to address its position as the world's leading executioner of its own citizens," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Wartime authorization
All European countries have banned the death penalty under the European Convention on Human Rights. But five -- France, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Spain -- have still not signed the convention's protocol on abolishing the death penalty during wartime.
"Our final priority is the death penalty elsewhere in the world," Terry Davis, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, said. "Some of our closest friends and observers at the Council of Europe continue to execute people."
According to Amnesty International's report for 2006, at least 1,591 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 3,861 people were sentenced to death in 55 countries. At least 1,010 people were executed in China during the year. Iran executed 177 people; Pakistan put 82 people to death and Iraq and Sudan each at least 65. There were 53 executions in 12 states in the USA.
Human rights groups estimate that between 19,185 and 24,646 people are currently condemned to death and awaiting execution. Estimates vary as some nations do not publish execution data or prisoner records.