The European Union welcomes today’s thematic discussion on the abolition of the death penalty and the presentations made by the external speakers, expressing its full support to the Council of Europe for promoting our common goal of a continent and world free of capital punishment.

In line with the Reykjavik Summit Declaration, there is a continuous need to fight against the reintroduction of the death penalty in Europe and beyond, and to raise awareness in favour of its universal abolition, in all places and in all circumstances, notably through education and culture, and especially among youth.

The European Union praises the different initiatives from the Council of Europe towards that aim, in particular the development of the training course on youth advocacy whose 2^nd edition will take place in June 2024, and similar initiatives for young people from Belarus and for young people from the partner countries of the North South Centre.

In this context, we also encourage the ongoing implementation of the multilateral co-operation programme “Death is not Justice: Abolition of the Death Penalty in Europe and Beyond”, with its emphasis on legal professionals, youth activists and the general public.

The European Union notes the announcement of the organization in France of the next World Congress against the death penalty in 2026, and the Council of Europe’s readiness to contribute to it. We also encourage the Council of Europe and its member States to keep raising, and advocating for, the abolition of the death penalty in other fora, in particular at the UN.

The European Union welcomes the recent deposit of the instrument of ratification of Protocol No. 13 by Armenia and encourages the remaining Council of Europe member State to ratify it.

We support the Council of Europe’s readiness to share its experience on abolition of the death penalty with its observer States that still implement capital punishment, in particular the United States and Japan, through initiatives in conjunction with them, and to continue exchanges on this theme with those States covered by its neighbourhood policy.

The European Union deeply regrets the execution of Willie James Pye in the State of Georgia in March 2024, thus resuming the use of capital punishment in that US State. The European Union also deeply regrets the execution of Michael Smith in the State of Oklahoma on 4 April and of Brian Dorsey in Missouri on 9 April. 

Finally, the European Union vigorously reiterates its unwavering opposition to the death penalty, with no exceptions, and calls for States that maintain it to implement a moratorium as a first step. Capital punishment is a violation of the right to life, and fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It represents the ultimate, cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment that makes miscarriages of justice irreversible.

The following countries align with this statement: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine.