B4-0461, 0473, 0475, 0480, 0496 and 0502/99

Resolution on the issue of the death penalty and a universal moratorium on capital punishment

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its previous resolutions on the death penalty,

A.recalling the 1994 UN General Assembly resolution on establishing a universal moratorium on the death penalty, which was rejected by only 8 votes,

B.recalling the 1997 UN Commission on Human Rights resolution (E/CN.4/1997/L.20), which said that the abolition of the death penalty helps reinforce human dignity and extend basic rights,

C.recalling the 3 April 1998 UN Commission on Human Rights resolution (E/CN.4/1997/L.20), calling for the establishment of a universal moratorium on the death penalty,

D.welcoming the fact that the resolution on the issue of the death penalty submitted this year to the UN Commission on Human Rights was the fruit of an initiative taken by the Union as such, sponsored by 72 countries, and was adopted on 28 April by 30 votes to 11 with 12 abstentions,

E.whereas the text of the resolution adopted regrettably failed to make explicit reference to tabling a resolution calling for the establishment of a universal moratorium on capital punishment at the forthcoming UN General Assembly,

1. Welcomes the adoption, on the Union's initiative, of the resolution on the abolition of the death penalty by the UN Commission on Human Rights;

2. Supports present-day thinking on human rights amongst the peoples of the European Union, which insists on the dignity of each human person, in that the dignity of the offended person and that of the offender must be equal, and insists that the desire for and performance of justice must be dispassionate;

3. Stresses that the UN Commission on Human Rights' adoption, for the third year in succession, of a resolution calling for the abolition of the death penalty, and the fact that a growing number of countries is sponsoring these resolutions, constitute the requisite premises for a principle of international law, which should now be affirmed by the UN General Assembly;

4. Reiterates, therefore, its request to the Council, and to the German Presidency-in-Office in particular, to take whatever steps may be necessary to ensure that, at the Cologne Summit, the European Council decides to call, on behalf of the European Union, for the issue of the moratorium to be entered on the agenda for the next UN General Assembly;

5. Calls on the Council to instruct the coming Finnish Presidency-in-Office to table, on behalf of the Union, and before 20 August 1999, a formal request that the issue of the universal moratorium on capital punishment be entered on the agenda for the next UN General Assembly, and to take all requisite steps to achieve this;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and to the Parliaments of the Member States.