SG Ashton Day against death penalty
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. Experience in Europe has taught us that the death penalty does not prevent an increase in violent crime, and nor does it bring justice to the victims of such crimes. Any capital punishment resulting from a miscarriage of justice, from which no legal system can be immune, represents irreversible loss of human life.
Since 1997 no execution has taken place on the territory of our Member States (*).
We continue to condemn the use of the death penalty in Belarus, the only country in Europe still applying capital punishment. We urge Belarus to introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to its complete abolition.