MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

on the abolition of the death penalty

pursuant to Rule 47(1) of the Rules of Procedure

tabled by Olivier Dupuis, Jean-François Hory and Gianfranco Dell'Alba in the name of the ERA Group

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on the abolition of the death penalty, notably that adopted on 17 May 1995 which states that an article specifically referring to a ban on capital punishment should be incorporated into the Treaty on European Union, and that adopted on 20 February 1997 which calls on all Member States to support a resolution urging a universal moratorium on executions during the 1997 session of the UN Commission on Human Rights as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes by the year 2000;

- having regard to the resolutions adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on September 26, 1996, and March 20, 1997 that calls upon the abolition of death penalty in all the 70 + 15 countries;

- 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. considering the multiplication of the use of the death penalty worldwide in the last years;

B. welcoming the complete abolition of the 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 Latin American Parliament and the ACP-EU Joint Assembly have approved resolutions for a worldwide moratorium on executions as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty;

D. seriously concerned by recent reports that in some of the 40 member states of the Council of Europe executions are still taking place: in the Ukraine 167 executions took place in 1996, while more than 50 executions took place in the Russian Federation that year (where an estimated 700 prisoners are still on death row);

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

F. whereas three 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);

G. whereas seven 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 retain the death penalty on their statute books without taking recourse to it;

H. whereas six 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;

I. whereas ten 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;

J. whereas one 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;

K. 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,

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

2. 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;

3. Calls upon those European States who retain the death penalty, without taking recourse to it, to abolish it de jure for all crimes as soon as possible;

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

5. Urges the Ukraine to keep its commitment to the Council of Europe and immediately adopt a moratorium and abolish the death penalty;

6. Proposes that the EU Member States within the Council of Europe demand that its applicants sign and ratify the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights before becoming members of the Council of Europe;

7. Calls on all signatories to the ACP-EU Convention, who have not yet abolished capital punishment, to proceed with abolition;

8. Believes that in all negotiations on Partnership and Cooperation Agreements the abolition of the death penalty must be a priority, and therefore requests the Commission to introduce a clause on the "abolition of the death penalty" in all future Partnership and Cooperation agreements with third countries, as well as in the revision procedure for the existing cooperation agreements;

9. Calls upon those countries who are presently negotiating Partnership and Cooperation Agreements, such as Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, to adopt a moratorium and abolish the death penalty;

10. Repeats its request to the Intergovernmental Conference to incorporate a ban on capital punishment into the new treaty on the European Union;

11. Asks the Commission to pay special attention to the death penalty in its annual reports on human rights clauses in EU agreements with third countries;

12. Asks the Council, the Member States and the Commission in the framework of its competence, to introduce and promote a resolution for a universal moratorium on executions during the 1997 session of the UN General Assembly, as a first step to abolish the death penalty worldwide for all crimes by the year 2000;

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the parliaments of the Member States of the EU and the governments and parliaments of the Council of Europe and the ACP countries, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 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.