European and World Day against the death Penalty, 10 October 2020
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
ITA/ DEU/RUS
Campaign "Death is not justice"
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Council of Europe Campaign "Death is not Justice" 2020
Abolition of the death penalty in Europe
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.”
Lyubou Kavalyova, mother of Vladislav Kavalyov, executed in Belarus in 2012
“Society didn't agree with the sentence.”
"Post Execution", video by Amnesty International (2016)
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.”
Sister Helen Prejean, Anti-death penalty activist
“Giving governments authority to kill citizens inevitably involves their biased selection of the condemned: the poor, the marginated, and those who kill citizens with social status. Mistakes in such a flawed system are inevitable. Since 1976 in the US 172 wrongly condemned prisoners have been exonerated. Make no mistake: killing conscious, imaginative human beings on a predetermined date and time is the practice of TORTURE.”
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!”
Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
“The Council of Europe is today a death-penalty-free area and we are resolutely committed to achieving the universal abolition of capital punishment.”
