UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS/DEATH PENALTY: THE EUROPEAN UNION IS UNITING, BUT ONLY TO MAKE A STEP BACKWARDS. THE RESOLUTION PROPOSED BY THE FIFTEEN EXCLUDES ANY KIND OF REFERENCE ON THE PROPOSAL OF A MORATORIUM ON CAPITAL EXECUTIONS AT THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN 1999.

Geneva, 20 April, 1999. It appears clear that the motion for the resolution which the European Union intends to submit for vote at the UN Commission on Human Rights represents a significant step backwards compared to the resolutions adopted in 1997 and 1998.

The resolution of 1999 also does not deny the legitimacy of the capital punishment.

After two years, since the Commission on Human Rights has taken significant steps forward for the adoption of a universal moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty world-wide, the common proposal submitted by the Fifteen of the EU surprisingly does not mention a request of adopting a moratorium by the 1999 session of the UN General Assembly, which could obtain the support of at least 100 States.

Actually, there are more than 100 UN Member States opposing the death penalty or having even established a moratorium on executions taking into consideration UN bodies such as the International Tribunals for Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, in which the States explicitelly exclude the death penalty, and the same is provided for in the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

For the first time, the European Union as such is proposing a resolution on the matter. In such conditions, the absence of any step forward represents a big step backwards. Without a direct proposal to the General Assembly, the resolution of the Commission on Human Rights risks to be just an alibi to avoid the General Assembly's decision.

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