Verklaring Hoge Vertegenwoordiger Ashton over aannemen protocol door Mongools Parlement over afschaffen doodstraf (en)

The spokesperson of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton issued the following statement today:

"The High Representative welcomes the ratification by the Mongolian Parliament on 5 January 2012 of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, which follows the moratorium on the use of the death penalty established in January 2010.

The High Representative congratulates Mongolia on this historic decision. The EU considers capital punishment to be a cruel and inhuman punishment which fails to deter criminal behaviour and which represents a grave denial of human dignity and integrity. In the light of this ratification, the High Representative encourages the Mongolian authorities to take the necessary steps to amend the Criminal Code so as to abolish the death penalty in national law."