The European Union regrets the execution of five individuals in Kuwait today, including one person on drug-related offences, and notes with concern the increasing use of capital punishment in the country, following the executions of last November.

As a matter of principle, the European Union strongly opposes the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is an inhumane punishment, which has been proven ineffective as a deterrent to crime and represents a denial of the fundamental right to life and human dignity.

The European Union will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few remaining countries that still apply it.