Statement of the Slovenian Chairmanship on the occasion of the European Day against the Death Penalty

Slovenia, which has not carried an execution on its territory for more than 50 years, and which has abolished the death penalty in law by its first constitution as an independent State in 1991, is fully committed to the effort of the Council of Europe to abolish the death penalty throughout Europe, and beyond.

Encouraged by positive developments in the past year, the Slovenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers firmly believes that action must be pursued in order to achieve further progress towards the abolition of the death penalty in Europe and in other parts of the world, including:

- with regard to Council of Europe member states, efforts to encourage the ratification of Protocols No. 6 and 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights by all member states of the Council of Europe which have not yet done so;

- with regard to Belarus, action to reinforce the prospects for a moratorium and the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus, through dialogue and co-operation with the authorities and civil society, and with the full use of opportunities provided by the Council of Europe Infopoint;

- with regard to Council of Europe observer states which retain the death penalty, to pursue a dialogue on this important issue;

- with regard to the prospects for a worldwide moratorium and abolition of the death penalty, increased contacts and coordination with abolitionist countries in other parts of the world, especially in the context of the preparation for the next UN General Assembly debate on this issue in the second half of 2010,

- with regard to the public opinion in Europe, the use of every opportunity to explain that decisions where fundamental values such as human dignity and the right to life are at stake should not, and need not, be guided by opinion polls, that what is needed to protect people from serious crime is not the death penalty but an effective criminal justice system and that the best way to deter crime is to ensure that people committing crime will not escape justice. In this respect, the Council of Europe should continue to give priority to effective criminal justice. This includes measures to better fight crimes such as sexual abuse, exploitation of children and trafficking in human beings, to protect the rights of victims and to improve international co-operation between criminal justice systems. The Council of Europe should spare no efforts to promote effective, just and humane criminal justice systems in Europe.