Declaration by High Representative Catherine Ashton on behalf of the European Union on Djibouti’s introduction of the abolition of the death penalty in its Constitution
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, April 30, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The European Union welcomes the adoption by the parliament of Djibouti of a law that
introduces the abolition of the death penalty in its Constitution.
The European Union congratulates Djibouti for further strengthening its commitment to
the abolition of the death penalty in line with the global trend towards abolition. Djibouti
abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 1995 and ratified the Second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition
of the death penalty in 2002.
The European Union strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. The EU
considers that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human
dignity and the progressive development of human rights. It considers capital punishment
to be cruel and inhuman, failing to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour, and
representing an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. Any miscarriage of
justice – which is inevitable in any legal system – is irreversible.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential
candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as
Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia align themselves
with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the
Stabilisation and Association Process.
SOURCE
European Council
