The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions of 18 June 1981 on the abolition of the death penalty in the European Community, 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 of the Council of Europe, and of 12 March 1992 on the death penalty, that affirmed for the first time the right not to be killed by the State;

- having regard to Resolution 1097 (1996) and Recommendation 1302 (1996) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the abolition of the death penalty in Europe;

- 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: 58 countries having totally abolished the death penalty, 15 countries having abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes (such as wartime crimes), 26 being de facto abolitionist, while 95 still maintain and apply the death penalty;

- having regard to the resolution adopted by the Assemblée Paritaire ACP-UE on September 26, 1996, demanding for the abolition of death penalty in all the 70 + 15 countries;

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

B. welcoming the fact that, during the last two years, important international organizations such as the Council of Europe, the Latin American Parliament and the ACP Assembly have approved resolutions for a worldwide moratorium on executions as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty;

C. whereas, especially in the countries of the CIS, a debate on the question of the death penalty is taking place, which has led to a limitation of the scope of the death penalty by some states, while others are considering the possibility of abolishing or suspending capital punishment;

D. whereas the abolitionist policy of the Council of Europe in this area has led to the abolition of the death penalty by Moldova and Macedonia before joining the Council of Europe and to accession commitments by other countries to impose an immediate moratorium on executions and to abolish the death penalty within three years;

E. seriously concerned about recent reports that in 2 of the 40 Member states of the Council of Europe executions are still taking place: in Ukraine 89 executions took place in the first half of 1996, while more than 50 executions took place in the Russian Federation that year (where an estimated 700 prisoners are still on death row);

F. whereas 28 Members of the Council of Europe have abolished the death penalty for all crimes;

G. whereas 3 Members of the Council of Europe (Cyprus, Malta and the United Kingdom) have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes (such as war crimes);

H. whereas 7 Members of the Council of Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Turkey) are de facto abolitionist having not executed anyone in the last five years or having made an international commitment not to carry out any executions but still retaining the death penalty on their statute books without taking recourse to it;

I. whereas 6 Members of the Council of Europe (Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Macedonia and Moldova) have signed but not yet ratified the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights;

J. whereas 10 Members of the Council of Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom) have not yet signed the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights;

K. whereas 1 Member of the Council of Europe (Belgium) has signed but not yet ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

L. whereas 20 Members of the Council of Europe (Albania, Andorra, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Russian Federation, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom) have not signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

M. whereas Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina and Georgia fall under the 'Statut d'invité spécial' of the Council of Europe and the the European Parliament is presently discussing the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia;

1. Welcomes the introduction of moratoriums in Latvia and Lithuania in July 1996;

2. Firmly condemns those countries that leave decisions on the question of the death penalty to referenda, as recently happened in Belarus, where during this year more than 20 executions have been carried out;

3. Asks Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Macedonia and Moldova to ratify the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights which they have already signed;

4. Calls upon those European states who retain the death penalty without taking recourse to it, such as Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, Poland, Turkey and United Kingdom to abolish it de jure for all crimes as soon as possible;

5. Asks Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom to sign the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights;

6. Urges Ukraine and the Russian Federation (where a law for a moratorium on execution has been recently presented) to keep their commitment to the Council of Europe, to immediately adopt a moratorium and to abolish the death penalty;

7. Encourages the countries who have requested membership of the Council of Europe, such as Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina to introduce a moratorium and to move towards abolition by approving draft amendments to the constitution that forbid the death penalty and to abolish it from their penal codes;

8. Recommends all the Council of Europe member states to sign and/or ratify the 2nd Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

9. Recommends the Council of Europe to demand from its applicants to sign and to ratify the 2nd Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights before becoming member of the Council of Europe;

10. Asks all member States in the interest of building a world based on the respect of human rights, especially the right to life and the right not to be killed by a state to support a resolution for a universal moratorium on executions during the 1997 session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, as a first step to abolish the death penalty for all crimes by the year 2000;

11. Decides to use its influence during the negotiations on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with Georgia, Azerbeijan, and Armenia in favour of the abolishment of the death penalty;

12. Asks the governments and the parliaments of the States part to the ACP-EU agreement who have not yet abolished the capital punishment to undertake all effort in order to abolish it both de facto and de jure as soon as possible;

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the member states of the UE and the Council of Europe, to the governments and the parliaments of the ACP countries, to the governments and the parliaments of Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbeijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, to the President of its Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretary General of the UN, and to the President of its General Assembly.