The European Parliament,

A. whereas, during their June session, the Brazilian Senate and Chamber of Deputies are required to vote on an amendment to the constitution providing for the introduction of the death penalty for various common law crimes and then to submit the decision to a referendum,

B. whereas the last legal execution in Brazil was carried out in 1855; whereas the death penalty was removed from the Brazilian penal code in 1890 and its abolition was enshrined in the 1988 Constitution,

C. having regard to Articles 3 and 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Second Optional Protocol on civil and political rights, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1989, with Brazil voting in favour,

D. whereas the death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, which has a brutalizing effect on all those involved in the sentencing and execution as well as on society itself; whereas the reintroduction of the death penalty in any country will run counter to the trend throughout the world to abolish it in practice as well as in law,

E. whereas an issue such as the death penalty should never be the subject of a referendum, especially in the situation prevailing in Brazil,

F. recalling its previously adopted stances of resolute opposition to the death penalty,

1. Denounces the attempt to reinstate the death penalty for common law crimes in the Brazilian constitution;

2. Appeals to the members of the Brazilian Senate and Chamber of Deputies to resolutely oppose the restoration of the death penalty;

3. Calls on the Commission and the Council to use all political and diplomatic means available and to act at every level to prevent the death penalty from being restored in Brazil;

4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, European Political Cooperation, the President of Brazil and the Presidents of the Brazilian Senate and Chamber of Deputies.