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Jeremic establishes October 10 as European day against death penalty
Belgrade/Lisbon,
9 October 2007
Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic, in the capacity of Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), established today October 10 as the European day against the death penalty.
Author:
Fonet
At a conference titled “Europe against the Death Penalty”, Jeremic said that the European day against the death penalty will provide a platform for making efforts to abolish the death penalty globally.
By establishing this day we once again affirm our adherence to the great European ideal and values which connect us. With this we establish Europe as a zone without the death penalty. At the same time we express the hope that this zone will very soon expand to other parts of the world, said Jeremic.
According to Jeremic, even though the death penalty was abolished in Europe, it is still valid in other parts of the world.
We respect diversity and differences in tradition which characterise us as an international community, but we consider that the death penalty is one difference too much. Precisely due to that Serbia supports the initiative to seek a moratorium on implementation of the death penalty in other countries through a resolution in the UN General Assembly, said Jeremic.
He said that the European day against the death penalty is a strong political and symbolic signal to the world that Europe respects basic human rights.
According to Jeremic, the European day against the death penalty offers all countries a chance to encourage countries in Europe which did not ratify protocols 6 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights to do so as soon as possible.
He said that Europe is a continent where the death penalty is not implemented any more, and the CoE adopted legal instruments which have outlawed the use of the death penalty.
Jeremic said that joining the CoE, the oldest pan-European organisation, also depends on the willingness of candidate countries to immediately establish moratorium on execution of death sentences, and to pledge to abolish it.
I am very proud of the fact that not a single death sentence was executed in any of the 47 member countries of the CoE since 1997, and in Serbia since 1992, stressed Jeremic.
The conference on abolishment of the death penalty was organised by the CoE, the European Commission and Portugal, the country currently holding the EU Presidency.
By establishing this day we once again affirm our adherence to the great European ideal and values which connect us. With this we establish Europe as a zone without the death penalty. At the same time we express the hope that this zone will very soon expand to other parts of the world, said Jeremic.
According to Jeremic, even though the death penalty was abolished in Europe, it is still valid in other parts of the world.
We respect diversity and differences in tradition which characterise us as an international community, but we consider that the death penalty is one difference too much. Precisely due to that Serbia supports the initiative to seek a moratorium on implementation of the death penalty in other countries through a resolution in the UN General Assembly, said Jeremic.
He said that the European day against the death penalty is a strong political and symbolic signal to the world that Europe respects basic human rights.
According to Jeremic, the European day against the death penalty offers all countries a chance to encourage countries in Europe which did not ratify protocols 6 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights to do so as soon as possible.
He said that Europe is a continent where the death penalty is not implemented any more, and the CoE adopted legal instruments which have outlawed the use of the death penalty.
Jeremic said that joining the CoE, the oldest pan-European organisation, also depends on the willingness of candidate countries to immediately establish moratorium on execution of death sentences, and to pledge to abolish it.
I am very proud of the fact that not a single death sentence was executed in any of the 47 member countries of the CoE since 1997, and in Serbia since 1992, stressed Jeremic.
The conference on abolishment of the death penalty was organised by the CoE, the European Commission and Portugal, the country currently holding the EU Presidency.
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