The European Parliament,

- having regard to Articles 3 and 4 of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights,

- having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights

and Article 1 of the VIth Protocol to that Convention which

entered into force in 1985,

- having regard to Article 6 of the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights and the 2nd Protocol to that

Covenant adopted in 1989 by the United Nations General

Assembly, which entered into force in June 1991, after a

tenth state had ratified it,

- having regard to Article 4 of the American Convention on

Human Rights,

- having regard to the 1957 European Convention on

Extradition,

- having regard to UN resolutions Nos. 32/61 of 8 December

1977, 35/172 of 15 December 1980, 1984/50 of 2 May 1989 and

39/118 of 14 December 1984 on the death penalty,

- having regard to its previous resolutions of 18 June 1981

on the abolition of the death penalty in the European

Community, and of 17 January 1986 on the abolition of the

death penalty and accession to the Sixth Protocol to the

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms,

- having regard to the resolution adopted by the ACP-EEC

Assembly on 27 September 1990 on the death penalty in the

ACP and EEC countries (Doc. 248/90),

- having regard to motions for resolutions B3-0605/89, B3-

0682/90, and B3-1915/90,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign

Affairs and Security (A3-0062/92),

A. alarmed at the fact that the laws of 132 out of 181 states

of the international community still make provision for the

death penalty (in 116 countries, this applies to ordinary

crimes and, in 16 countries, to exceptional crimes) and

that it is still actually applied in 96 countries,

including countries which have democratic political

systems,

B. whereas many countries, including those which have

democratic political systems, apply the death penalty in

circumstances which are specifically precluded by

international conventions on human rights (for example,

minors or people suffering from mental illness),

C. whereas the death penalty is frequently used in non-

democratic countries to restrict certain fundamental

freedoms such as political, religious or sexual freedom,

freedom of speech and freedom to form or join associations,

and is therefore used as an instrument to punish dissidents

or simply minorities,

D. whereas the death penalty is often inflicted in the absence

of judicial and procedural safeguards,

E. whereas past experience has shown that errors may be made

when sentencing people to the death penalty; whereas,

therefore, this has led and may continue to lead to the

execution of innocent people; whereas such sentences are

often influenced by social factors and ethnic prejudices,

F. welcoming Belgium's intention to abolish the death penalty

as provided for in a preliminary draft law due to be

submitted to its two Houses of Parliament,

1. Considers that no state, still less any democratic state,

should dispose of the lives of its citizens or other

persons on its territory by having its law impose the death

penalty for crimes, even very serious crimes;

2. Considers that the commitment to work for the abolition of

the death penalty wherever it is provided for or practised

may be seen as justifiable;

3. Calls on the Member States, therefore, in accordance with

the VIth Protocol to the European Convention on Human

Rights and the Optional Protocol to the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to undertake to

abolish the death penalty in those judicial systems in

which such penalty still exists for ordinary crimes (Greece

and Belgium even though they have not in effect applied it

for decades);

4. Calls also on those Member States which still make

provision for the death penalty to abolish it;

5. Urges all Member States which have not yet done so to sign

and/or ratify without further delay both the VIth Protocol

to the European Convention on Human Rights (Belgium,

Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom) and the Optional

Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights;

6. Calls also on all Member States to refuse to authorize the

extradition of persons accused of crimes punishable by the

death penalty in the countries which apply for extradition

unless the latter provide sufficient guarantees that the

death penalty will not be applied;

7. Hopes that those countries which are members of the Council

of Europe, and have not yet done so, will undertake to

abolish the death penalty (in the case of exceptional

crimes, this applies to Cyprus, Malta and Switzerland, and,

in the case of both ordinary and exceptional crimes, to

Turkey and Poland), together with those countries which are

members of the CSCE, in which the death penalty still

exists (Bulgaria, United States of America, Commonwealth of

Independent States, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia,

and Albania);

8. Calls accordingly on the Commission, the Council and the

Member States to exert all possible political and

diplomatic pressure in all quarters until the death penalty

is entirely abolished in all countries in which it sill

exists;

9. Urges the Council, the Commission, and, as far as is within

their power, the Member States to:

(a) work to secure within the United Nations a binding

decision imposing a general moratorium on the death

penalty,

(b) conduct their foreign policy, especially the sector of

economic cooperation agreements, in such a way as to

ensure that human rights are fully respected and, in

particular, that the abolition of the death penalty

becomes a factor of crucial importance, bearing in

mind, however, that the Community's bargaining

leverage in this sphere will be diminished so long as

some of its Member States continue to provide for the

death penalty under their laws;

(c) promote a widespread information campaign on the

European Parliament's position and also the arguments

against maintaining the death penalty in the judicial

system of any country, so as to make the public more

aware of the fact that the death penalty is both

ineffective and unacceptable;

10. Considers, furthermore, that it is also necessary, as a

means of combating the death penalty, to make every effort

to restrict or oppose the application thereof; calls,

therefore, on the Community institutions and the Member

States to make representations to those countries in which

the death penalty still exists, urging that:

(a) the death penalty should not be imposed in respect of

persons who are aged under 18 when the crime was

committed, pregnant women or women with small

children, elderly or sick persons or those suffering

from mental illness,

(b) all accused persons, and, in particular, those accused

of crimes punishable by the death penalty, should be

guaranteed a fair trial and, more specifically,

- the accused be deemed innocent until proved

guilty,

- the accused be guaranteed the assistance of

a lawyer and be given the opportunity of

preparing their own defence in full

knowledge of the facts of which they stand

accused, with the legal means of refuting

the charges through witnesses and evidence

for the defence,

- trials be held in public,

- provision be made to appeal against a

sentence;

11. Believes that the subject of extrajudicial 'executions' is

even more serious than the subject of this resolution and

therefore instructs its Committee on Foreign Affairs and

Security to draw up a report on this issue;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission, the Council, the Foreign Ministers meeting in

EPC, the governments and parliaments of the Member States,

the Council of Europe, the CSCE and the Secretary-General

of the United Nations.