On October 10, the European Union com­mem­o­rat­ed World Day Against the Death Penalty, coin­cid­ing with events around the world chal­leng­ing the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe released a state­ment, not­ing, ​“Voices in favor of the death penal­ty with­in some parts of soci­ety, includ­ing in our con­ti­nent, show that there is a con­tin­u­ous need to spell out why the death penal­ty runs con­trary to the right to life and to human dig­ni­ty.” Around the world, 140 coun­tries have abol­ished the death penal­ty in law or in prac­tice, while only 58 coun­tries retain it. On October 8, the EU’s work in edu­cat­ing the pub­lic about the risks of exe­cut­ing the inno­cent was rec­og­nized at the 10th anniver­sary of Witness to Innocence in Philadelphia. Antonio de Lecea (pic­tured), the Principal Advisor for Economic and Financial Affairs of the EU Delegation to the U.S., accept­ed the award. See below for more events.

A state­ment call­ing for a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions was released by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. It was addressed to mem­ber states of the Organization of American States that still use the death penal­ty. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty launched an ini­tia­tive focus­ing on the use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in the Caribbean.

(EU Press Release, Oct. 10, 2013 (Brussels)). See International.

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