1. The European Union welcomes US Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to impose a moratorium on all federal executions while the US Department of Justice reviews its policies and procedures on the death penalty, starting on 1 July.

2. This moratorium temporarily reverses the decision of the Department of Justice to resume federal executions in July 2020 after a 17-year hiatus, which regretfully led to an unprecedented rush to carry out 13 federal executions within a short period of time.

3. The European Union strongly hopes that this positive step, which is in line with President Biden’s intention to abolish capital punishment at the federal level, will encourage the US Federal Government and US States to join the growing national and global movement towards the full abolition of the death penalty. We also note the importance of this announcement in the context of the recent abolition bills and the decreasing number of executions at the State level over the past few years.

4. The European Union reaffirms its strong opposition to the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It makes any miscarriage of justice irreversible and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.

5. The European Union will continue its long-standing campaign for the universal abolition of the death penalty and its cooperation with the Council of Europe in this regard.