Voorzitter Van der Linden (parlement Raad van Europa) roept VS en Japan op doodstraf af te schaffen (en)

Press release - 900(2007)

The President of the PACE calls on Japan and the United States to abolish the death penalty

Strasbourg, 10.12.2007 - René van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), today welcomed the unanimous decision by the Ministers of Justice of the European Union (EU) to establish a "European Day against the Death Penalty" on the 10th October each year.

"This unanimous vote, made possible by the change of government in Poland, sends out a very clear message beyond our borders to other parts of the world, which should follow the European example", said René van der Linden, pointing out that the 47Council of Europe member states formed a death-penalty-free area.

The President of PACE also called on Japan and the United States, which have held observer status with the Council of Europe since 1996, to abolish the death penalty. By maintaining the Death Penalty, these observer states failed to honour their commitment to share the Council of Europe's fundamental values, he recalled. "The death penalty has no legitimate place in the legal system of a civilised modern society," he said.

Finally, Mr van der Linden welcomed the increased co-operation between the EU and the Council of Europe, which enabled the EU to join the European Day against the Death Penalty declared by the Council of Europe in October this year. This was a tangible illustration of the benefits of the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions, he said.

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