ACP-EU JOINT ASSEMBLY

ACP-EU 2145/97/fin.

RESOLUTION adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 20 March 1997 in Brussels/Belgium

on the abolition of the death penalty

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Brussels from 17 to 20 March 1997,

- having regard to its previous resolution on the abolition of the death penalty and in particular the resolution adopted on 26 September 1996, calling for the abolition of death penalty in all the signatory States of the Lomé Convention,

- having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 17 May 1995, affirming that an article on prohibition of the death penalty should be incorporated in the Treaty on European Union, and that of 20 February 1997 calling on all the Member States to support a resolution on a worldwide moratorium on exceptions at the 1997 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,

- having regard to the last report of the United Nations on the death penalty (E/CN.15/1996/19)that confirms the abolitionist trend among its member states,

A. whereas recourse to the death penalty has been proliferating throughout the world during the last few years,

B. welcoming the complete abolition of death penalty in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Moldova and Macedonia in 1995 and 1996,

C. welcoming the fact that, during the last two years, important international organisations such as the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Latin American parliament and the ACP-EU Joint Assembly have approved resolutions for a worldwide moratorium on executions as a first step toward the abolition of the death penalty,

D. noting with satisfaction that Italy has proposed to the Intergovernmental Conference introducing a new provision banning the death penalty when Maastricht Treaty is revised,

1. Reaffirms its absolute opposition to the death penalty;

2. Calls on all the signatory states of the ACP-EU Convention which have not yet abolished capital punishment to do so as a matter of urgency;

3. Calls on all the Member States of the European Union and ACP to promote the adoption of a resolution on a universal moratorium on executions at the 1997 UN General Assembly, as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty for all crimes by the year 2000;

4. Believes that in all negotiations on Partnership and Cooperation Agreements, as well as in the negotiations for the next Lomé Convention, the abolition of the death penalty must be a priority;

5. Asks the Commission to pay special attention to the death penalty in his annual reports on human rights clauses in EU agreements with third countries and in its reports on the implementation of the Lomé Convention;

6. Repeats its call to the Intergovernmental Conference to incorporate prohibition of capital punishment in the new EU Treaty;

7. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, to the Commission, to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the President of its Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretary-General of the UN and the President of its General Assembly