On the World and European Day Against the Death Penalty, the European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their opposition to the use of capital punishment in all circumstances and call for the universal abolition of the death penalty. We welcome the continued decline in the use of the death penalty, confirming the overall trend towards universal abolition. In 2019, for a second consecutive year, executions were carried out in only 20 countries around the world. This is a historic low, but it is nonetheless 20 countries too many. We, therefore, use this occasion to call on all Members of the United Nations to support the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly in December 2020. 

 Joint Declaration by the Council of Europe Secretary General and EU High Representative

Council of Europe Campaign "Death is not Justice" 2020

David Zalkaliani, Minster of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

“The capital punishment dehumanises the world and contributes to the development of a cycle of violence in society. I believe that the abolition process is irreversible. Georgia gladly joins other States to demonstrate our strong commitment to the universal abolition of the death penalty.”

Friedrich Wilhelm Wagner, former Vice President of the German Constitutional Court and politician

“It doesn‘t get any better when the state takes a person‘s life than when the owner takes it. It is,  what it was, a barbarism.”

Itsuko Ajima, stepmother of Yukio Ajima, executed in Japan in 1994

“Death row prisoners are only allowed visits that secure their “emotional stability”. This actually means a state of mind in which he/ she would accept his/her death. With prisoners going out of this world quietly, the authorities avoid facing the absurdity of the death penalty. People on death row should not be denied opportunities to pursue their full personal potential through communication with other people.”

Lisa Brown, mother of Christopher Vialva, executed in the United States of America in 2020

“How can you say that my son received effective counsel during his trial when the very person appointed to represent him was pursuing employment with the opposing side while representing my son at trial? We should all be very troubled by that when the effectiveness of counsel in these death penalty cases plays a major role in determining whether a person lives or dies.”

Christos Giakoumoupoulos, Directeur général des Droits de l'Homme et Etat de Droit du Conseil de l'Europe

« Imposer la peine capitale, décider qu’une personne n’est plus digne de vivre, c’est accepter qu’un être humain soit traité comme un objet. Aucune justice digne de ce nom ne peut accepter une telle approche. »

Tatiana Termacic, Head of the Coordination and international cooperation division

“Any discussion on reintroducing the death penalty is aimless. It would be contrary to international obligations and to constitutional guarantees protecting the right to life. The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment, which does not contribute to a safer society. There is no place for it in Europe!”

Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

"To help keep our societies safe, justice should focus on rehabilitation – not revenge. The death penalty makes that impossible."

Joint Declaration by the Council of Europe and European Union  / Déclaration commune Conseil de l'Europe et l'Union européenne 

Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, Président de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme

"Par sa jurisprudence, la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme a contribué à l’éradication de ce châtiment dans tous les États membres du Conseil de l’Europe. La Cour a été la première juridiction internationale à refuser qu’une personne ne soit renvoyée vers un pays où elle risque de subir la peine capitale."

Dunja Mijatovic, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

"Each time a human being is executed, it's a defeat for humanity. The Council of Europe is rightly proud of being a death-penalty free-zone. State killing is the ultimate denial of human rights and is never the right choice."

Arman Tatoyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia

"Death penalty embodies weakness and retaliation. Strong societies never murder but rather help. Governments are never entitled to destroy hope for remedy by taking lives away; justice needs to be served throughly!"

Tatiana Termacic, Cheffe de la Division du Conseil de l'Europe, responsable du dossier de l’abolition

"Croyez-vous vraiment que disposer de la vie des criminels rende justice à leurs victimes et à la société dans son ensemble?"

Parvais Jabbar, Executive director of The Death Penalty Project 

"Over 75% of the world’s nations now recognise the death penalty to be an inhuman and degrading punishment incompatible with evolving standards of decency."

Catherine Lalumière, Secrétaire générale du Conseil de l'Europe (1989-1994) et  Vice-présidente du Parlement européen (2001-2004)

"Le respect des droits de l'homme est un devoir de tout État, non seulement envers son peuple mais aussi envers la communauté internationale."

João Goulão, President of the Pompidou Group  

"It is our great responsibility to encourage countries, where there is still a capital punishment for crimes related to drugs, to abolish this inhuman practice and adopt policies that are more respectful of Human Rights."

Michelle Bachelet, Haut-commissaire des Nations unies aux droits de l'homme

"Continuer à condamner à mort alors qu’il existe toujours un risque d’erreur, même infime, est inacceptable."

Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, United States of America

"We’re all more than the worst thing we’ve ever done, because all human beings are capable of change. If our criminal justice system is to change, it should be designed not just to punish, but to also rehabilitate those who’ve committed crimes."

Andrei Paluda, Co-ordinator of the Campaign against the death penalty in Belarus

"From time to time, we are perceived as the devil’s advocates, but, in fact, we are working to make this world a better place. We do not aim at protecting the killer. We protect the human being."

Tatiana Moskalkova, High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation

"The death penalty deprives a person of the right to challenge the sentence and to seek truth and justice. Depriving a person of life by the death penalty deprives the authorities of the opportunity to correct a possible miscarriage of justice."

Titus Corlăţean, General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

"The death penalty is always a cruel and inhuman punishment, whatever the crime, and it should no longer be applied in democratic states that respect human rights."

Peter Schieder, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2002-2005)

"A growing sense of insecurity risks making us forget about human rights or at least making large concessions for what we think is in our own interest. Torturing or executing human beings can never be in our interest."

Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008-2014), ICDP

"We often hear from Government leaders and politicians that abolishing the death penalty in their countries would go against the sentiments of the public. Human progress does not stand still. […] Leaders must show the way how deeply incompatible the death penalty is with human dignity."