Implementation of the Council decision relating to a moratorium on the death penalty

Tabled by Hélène Flautre, Raül Romeva i Rueda, Milan Horá?ek, Monica Frassoni and Daniel Cohn-Bendit

on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its resolutions of 1 February 2007[1] and 26 April 2007[2] on the initiative for a universal moratorium on the death penalty,

– having regard to the Guidelines on EU policy towards third countries on the death penalty of 3 June 1998,

­– having regard to the statement on abolition of the death penalty delivered on 19 December 2006 in the UN General Assembly by the EU Presidency, which was initially signed by 85 countries in all geographical groups,

– having regard to the statement read by the EU Presidency on behalf of the European Union during the fourth session of the UN Human Rights Council on 29 March 2007,

– having regard to the support for a moratorium publicly expressed by the Secretary-General of the UN during his recent visit to Rome,

– having regard to the establishment of a European Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October each year, as supported also by its Conference of Presidents on 12 July 2007,

– having regard to Article 2 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,

– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the call for a universal moratorium on the death penalty is a clear political decision to seek the abolition of the death penalty in all countries,

B. whereas its resolutions of 1 February 2007 and 26 April 2007 called on the EU Presidency to urgently submit a resolution to the current UN General Assembly and to keep Parliament informed of the results achieved; whereas at this stage no resolution has been submitted to the current UN General Assembly,

C. whereas the statement on the death penalty presented by the European Union in the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2006 has now gathered 95 signatures from countries in all geographical groups,

1. Reminds the EU Presidency and Members States that the main political content of the resolution must be the adoption of a world-wide moratorium as a crucial step towards the abolition of death penalty;

2. Calls on the EU Presidency and Member States to ask for the resolution on the moratorium to be placed on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly under the heading of 'human rights', in order to adopt it during its 62nd session; reiterates its call on the EU Presidency to do its utmost to involve the largest number of countries as co-authors of the resolution;

3. Calls on the EU Presidency to encourage those remaining countries which have not signed and ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to do so, and those Member States that have not signed Protocol No 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights on the death penalty to do so;

4. Reiterates its full support for the EU institutions and Members States to declare, together with the Council of Europe, a European Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October each year; deplores, therefore, the veto exercised by Poland in the Council on this initiative as a contravention of the basic values of the European Union; regrets that this lack of unanimity is undermining the EU position at the UNGA; calls on all institutions and Member States of the EU, together with the Council of Europe, to continue supporting this action and mandates its President to take a political initiative so as to promote the European Day against the Death Penalty;

5. Calls on the Council and the Commission to take every possible opportunity to support the establishment of regional pro-moratorium and abolitionist coalitions;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the EU Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN General Assembly and the UN Member States.

[1] Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0018.

[1] Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0166.