In April, Djibouti, a small African country which had already abolished the death penalty in 1995 for all crimes, decided to go one step further and include the abolition of the death penalty in its Constitution. This decision does not come as a surprise and is in fact in line with the international trend toward abolition.
Today, more than two-thirds of the world’s countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice: 95 have abolished it for all crimes; nine retain it for extraordinary crimes such as those committed in times of war; and more importantly, 35 countries are de facto abolitionists.
That means that even though the death penalty is still provided for in legislation, no executions have been carried out for at least several years. This is the case for instance in Mongolia, which announced in January the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty and indicated that death sentences would be commuted to 30 years of imprisonment.
Mongolia is following the example of other countries like Algeria, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Nauru, Suriname, Tajikistan and South Korea, which maintain de facto moratoriums.
Judging by the numbers, the trend is toward worldwide abolition of the capital punishment since over the last 20 years, more than 50 countries have abolished capital punishment for all crimes worldwide.
Moreover, there is a link between the non-democratic nature of the regime and retention of capital punishment (36 countries out of the 43 retaining it are non-democratic regimes).
What’s more, not only the number of countries moving toward abolition is progressing, but also the scope where capital punishment is still allowed at the international level is shrinking.
That is for instance the case of the newly established International Criminal Court, which despite being in charge of judging severe criminals, has specifically ruled out capital punishment as a possible sentence for convicts.
An international criminal justice free of capital punishment represents a major breakthrough toward universal abolition of the death penalty. Even though there are different ways to achieve abolition, looking at the experience of abolitionist countries shows some common features. Active discussion among intellectual and parliamentarian groups, political debate leading to proposals for new legislation are experiences which can be found among most abolitionist countries.
In nearly all countries, abolition did not take place with majority public support. Politicians led the way and public opinion followed. Besides, alternatives to capital punishment exist like life imprisonment without parole. The introduction of such alternatives is often a crucial step toward abolition.
This was the case in the US state of New Mexico, which introduced it in its legislation last year and abolished the death penalty at the same time. The EU is at the forefront of the fight against the death penalty and is involved in a global campaign against the death penalty, not one that is directed against any particular country.
Indeed, until this month, the EU carried out more than 20 demarches for individual cases in about eight countries and is systematically raising the issue with partners that still retain capital punishment, including the US and Japan.
The abolition of the death penalty represents one of the main objectives of the EU’s human rights policy. In countries where abolition is not likely, the EU calls for a moratorium of executions as a first step.
Guy Ledoux is the head of the European Economic and Trade Office.
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