Member nations of the European Union and the Council of Europe marked October 10th as ​“European Day Against the Death Penalty,” an action to under­score the con­ti­nen­t’s firm com­mit­ment to end­ing exe­cu­tions through­out the world. Leaders from the EU and the Council of Europe launched the ini­ta­tive dur­ing an October 9th con­fer­ence in Lisbon, Portugal.

On October 10 in New York at the United Nations, a press con­fer­ence also marked the ​“World Day Against the Death Penalty” with inter­na­tion­al human rights lead­ers urg­ing sup­port for a res­o­lu­tion call­ing for a glob­al mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions. Sister Helen Prejean, Tim Robbins, and Mike Farrell joined speak­ers from oth­er coun­tries in advo­cat­ing a halt to exe­cu­tions.

In Lisbon, European Commission President Juan Manuel Barroso not­ed, ​“The European Union is unre­served­ly opposed to the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment under all cir­cum­stances and has con­sis­tent­ly called for the world­wide abo­li­tion of this pun­ish­ment.”

One hun­dred and thir­ty-three coun­tries have abol­ished the death penal­ty in prac­tice or in law. Regional press con­fer­ences call­ing atten­tion to the day were also held in Morocco, Puerto Rico and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(European Union Press Release, October 9, 2007; World Coalition Against the Death Penalty Press Release, Oct. 10, 2007). See International.

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