The European Union expresses its deepest concern following the promulgation in Liberia of a law reintroducing the death penalty for certain crimes.
It notes that Liberia abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2005. In signing the second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in September 2005, Liberia committed itself to taking all the necessary measures with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
Such a decision to reintroduce the death penalty is an extremely disturbing signal which runs counter to the trend observed for many years in Africa and in the world as a whole.
The European Union reaffirms its opposition to the use of the death penalty under all circumstances. It considers that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the development of human rights. It regards the death penalty as a cruel and inhuman punishment and a violation of the right to life. It notes that there is no evidence that such a punishment is dissuasive, and that its use renders any miscarriages of justice irreversible.
The European Union urges Liberia to abide by its commitments and international human rights standards.
Attaching great importance to the fact that no executions have been carried out in that country since 2000, the European Union urges the Liberian Government and Parliament to abolish the use of the death penalty both in law and in practice.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
Source: French Presidency of the EU 2008
Published Wednesday, 6 August, 2008 - 16:10
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