Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Death Penalty - UK to Retain

The UK will not support an international moratorium on the death penalty, proposed earlier in the year by Italy, because it is unwilling to create problems for the US.

British diplomats told The Independent that it was too delicate a matter at too sensitive a time for the beleaguered Bush administration, bogged down in Iraq and facing increased pressure from a Democrat majority in Congress.

British diplomatic sources spoke to The Independent after the EU foreign ministers summit in Brussels on in late January. The Netherlands, Denmark and Hungary are said to have followed the British position, torpedoing hopes that the EU would back the initiative with a single voice.

Besides Italy, Germany, France and Spain were the main countries in favour of the move, which had also secured backing from European Commission President Barroso.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has also been at the vanguard of moves to ban the death penalty.

While serving as Berlusconi's foreign minister, he was the driving force behind a similar initiative that never reached the UN.

'It's a subject which Italy has pushed in Europe... but in 2003 some countries did not have the political will to push it beyond Europe's borders due to the principle of non-interference. I, on the contrary, believe that Europe's foreign policy must include the defence of fundamental values,' remarked Frattini. He also proposed making 10 October the European Day against the death penalty, to complement the existing 'World Day' on the matter.

An Amnesty International report found that over 2,100 people were executed around the world in 2005. China carried out the lion's share (1,770+), followed by Iran (94+), Saudi Arabia (86+) and the USA (60).

Abolition of the death penalty is a condition for entry into the EU, which guarantees the right to life (and prohibition of torture) via the European Convention on Human Rights.

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