#DeathPenalty: The EU and Council of Europe reaffirm strong opposition to capital punishment

On the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), the Council of Europe and the European Union reaffirm their strong and unequivocal opposition to capital punishment in all circumstances and for all cases. The death penalty is incompatible with human dignity. It is inhuman and degrading treatment and does not have any proven significant deterrent effect. The death penalty allows judicial errors to become irreversible and fatal.

The Council of Europe and the EU will support a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty which will be put to the vote at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in December 2016.

Abolition of the death penalty is a distinctive achievement in Europe. It is a prerequisite for membership in the Council of Europe, and the absolute ban of the death penalty under all circumstances is inscribed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Indeed, in discussions on the situation in Turkey, First Vice President Frans Timmermans made it clear that the reintroduction of the death penalty would be a ‘red line’ for the EU.

In his state of the EU address, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "We Europeans stand firmly against the death penalty. Because we believe in and respect the value of human life."

Belarus

The Council of Europe and the European Union were critical of Belarus’s continued use of the death penalty, the only country on the European continent that still applies the death penalty. They strongly urge the authorities of Belarus to commute the remaining death sentences and establish without delay a formal moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty.

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