EU Statement on executions in the US State of Oklahoma and in Japan

1. The European Union expresses its deep regret about the recent developments regarding the death penalty in the United States and Japan, both observer States to the Council of Europe.

2. On 9 December 2021, Mr. Bigler Jobe Stouffer II, was executed in the US State of Oklahoma. This was the second execution carried out since the end of the six-year de facto moratorium last October in Oklahoma. Moreover, four other executions are scheduled for 2022 in this State.

3. This is in contradiction with the clear trend to dispense with the death penalty in the US, where a growing majority of States have either abolished or stopped using it.

4. On 21 December 2021, Yasutaka Fujishiro, Tomoaki Takanezawa and Mitsunori Onogawa were executed by hanging in Japan. These were the first executions in the country since 2019.

5. The EU reaffirms, once again, its strong opposition to the use of the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. Capital punishment violates the inalienable right to life and is incompatible with human dignity. In addition, the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to crime and makes miscarriages of justice, which are inevitable in any judicial system, irreversible.

6. The EU, in accordance with its long-standing global campaign against the death penalty, reiterates  its call on those States  of the USA that have not yet done so and on Japan to establish a moratorium on executions, as a first step towards complete abolition.

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