BELGRADE – In view of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, foreign ministers of 42 countries, including Serbia, have issued a joint appeal for abolition of the death penalty.
“Justice that kills is not justice. Convinced of the inherent inhumanity of the death penalty, the 42 countries represented here oppose its use under any circumstances anywhere in the world,” reads the appeal.
The ministers underscore that the death penalty is not only an intolerable affront to human dignity, but its use goes hand in hand with numerous violations of the human rights of the condemned and their families and has no positive impact on crime prevention or security and does not in any way repair the harm done to the victims and their families.
“Armed with these convictions, we take the opportunity presented by the 11th World Day against the Death Penalty to reiterate our unrelenting dedication to the abolition movement in Europe and all over the world,” the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a release.
Today, only about 50 countries still allow capital punishment, whereas twenty years ago it was almost twice as many, the release notes.
As the resolutions of the United Nations show, a growing majority of States support the establishment of a universal moratorium on death penalty.
The joint appeal for abolition of the death penalty was signed by the foreign ministers of Serbia, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Luxembourg.
The list of signatories also includes the foreign ministers of Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Source: In Serbia, October 11, 2013