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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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World Day against the Death Penalty: the President of the European Parliament

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World Day against the Death Penalty
Brussels -
Monday 10/10/2011
World Day against the Death Penalty (Brussels ).

Marking today the World Day against the Death Penalty, the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek stated:

"The opposition to capital punishment underpins our European values.

Even the best justice system is subject to human errors, and these mistakes can only become evident with time and through judicial reviews.

But our opposition to capital punishment is even more fundamental: it is anchored in the belief that no justice is ever achieved when the state takes away the life of its own citizen. Whether we look at deterrence, punishment or redress, there is no justification for the death penalty. It is the ultimate cruel and inhumane punishment.

I remain extremely worried about the case of Yousef Nadarkhani in Iran who may still face the death penalty. Any punishment in his case would be unjustified.

I was greatly saddened by the case of Troy Davis in the US, which strongly symbolises all the reservations of the abolitionist movement worldwide. The EU and especially the European Parliament will always stay vigilant: from China to Iran, from Bahrain to Yemen, we will keep pressure on governments and raise awareness among civil society about the ills of capital punishment.

On this note, I would like to praise the government of Gabon, which abolished the death penalty in 2010. I reiterate our appeal to every country still applying the death penalty to abolish it or establish, pending its abolition, a moratorium on executions and death sentences."

Location: City of Brussels, Belgium
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