EU maakt zich zorgen over mogelijke herinvoering doodstraf in Guatemala (en)

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PRESSE 284

Declaration by the High Representative Catherine Ashton on behalf of the European Union on recent legislative developments in Guatemala concerning the death penalty

The European Union expresses its deep concern over the approval on October 5 by the Guatemalan Congress of a draft decree that allows the possibility for the President to grant clemency, as this is a step towards the restoration of the death penalty in Guatemala. The EU notes that there has been a de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Guatemala, with the last execution taking place in 2000, and that a previous attempt to reintroduce capital punishment was vetoed by President Colom in 2008. The EU salutes the President’s continued stance against the death penalty.

These latest legislative developments send a worrying signal to the international community at a time when the global consensus in favour of abolition is growing. This is not least illustrated by the growing number of states supporting the resolutions on the moratorium on the use of the death penalty that were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 2007 and on 18 December 2008. The EU therefore calls on Guatemala to reaffirm its commitment to the long-standing moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and to contemplate working for its progressive abolition.

The EU strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and reaffirms its objective of working towards its universal abolition. The EU believes that the abolition of the death penalty contributes to enhancing human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights. It considers capital punishment to be cruel and inhuman, and that it represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.

The EU shares the concerns of the authorities and the people of Guatemala about the alarming increase in the levels of criminal violence in the country. However, there is no evidence that the death penalty leads to lower levels of crime. In addition, any miscarriage of justice in applying the death penalty is irreversible - and no judicial system is immune to errors. The EU believes that the best hope to break the cycle of violence is not through more violence - as represented by the death penalty - but through continuing the process of reform of the judicial system and security services. It is with this aim in mind that the EU has been a longstanding supporter of the work of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, and of the strengthening of the judicial system in the country.