WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
Statements by the Spokesperson
The European Union deeply regrets the execution at a federal
level in the United States of the
first woman in almost seven decades. The EU had called for clemency
to be granted to Lisa Montgomery
taking into consideration international law and internationally
accepted minimum standards that should be respected regarding
people with mental disorders.
Since the resumption of the federal death penalty in
July 2020, after a 17-year hiatus, we
have witnessed a high number of executions. The EU stands firmly
and unequivocally by the victims of crime and their families and
effectively prosecutes criminals in its territory. But capital
punishment is incompatible with human dignity and the right to
life, constitutes an inhuman and degrading treatment, and does not
have any proven deterrent effect. Miscarriages of justice,
inevitable in any judicial system, are irreversible. The EU calls
on the US administration to reverse its decision to carry out the
remaining federal-level executions during the last days of the
current administration.
These executions contradict the growing momentum towards the
abolition of the death penalty worldwide, as reflected by the
recent adoption of the 8th Resolution calling for a "Moratorium on
the use of death penalty" at the UN General Assembly on 16
December. The high number of federal executions also contradict the
trend among individual States within the US, which performed the
fewest executions in 37 years in 2020.
The European Union is strongly and unequivocally opposed to the
death penalty in all circumstances and will spare no effort to work
towards its abolition worldwide in line with the new EU Action Plan
for Human Rights and Democracy for 2020-2024.
See the release online here.
Infographic: Why and How the EU Opposes the Death Penalty
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SOURCE Delegation of the European Union to the United States