EU PLANS A RESOLUTION AT UN AGAINST CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

By Barry James

International Herald Tribune

Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Brussels - Risking a clash with the United States, the European Union is planning to introduce a motion in the UN General Assembly demanding a global moratorium on the death penalty.

The political directors of EU foreign ministries will meet next week to decide on the text of the resolution. It is expected to closely resemble one that was passed in April by the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. That resolution has been accepted by 30 countries and rejected by 11, including the United States and China.

The resolution stated. "The abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights." The EU resolution also is likely to call on states not to impose the death on against anyone suffering from a mental disorder.

Thirty-eight U.S. states allow the death penalty, which has widespread popular support despite some evidence that it is not effective in reducing crime and can be more expensive that sentencing criminals to life in prison.

By contrast, no country is allowed to belong to the Council of Europe if it retains the death penalty. The European Convention on Human Rights calls for the abolition of the death penalty. Under prompting from the European Parliament. Abolition of it also forms part of the foreign and security political platform of the EU.

The EU is hoping to get as many as 80 co-sponsors for its resolution in the General Assembly. Although the measure would not be binding its supporters hope that it would exert moral pressure on about 70 countries committed to retaining the death penalty.