Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union praises Zimbabwe for ending the death penalty but says it should remove rules that allow it to be brought back.
According to the European External Action Service, the Spokesperson of EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said that the abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe is welcomed by the European Union.
“This is a historic move that places Zimbabwe among the largest numbers of states in the remainder of the world that have scrapped capital punishment. Zimbabwe had indeed abolished capital punishment back in 2005,”
it reads.
The statement cited that the European Union called on Zimbabwe to take the next step through an abolition of the provision that temporarily grants allowance for reinstating the death penalty as a state of public emergency occurs. The provision is incompatible with the inalienable right of life and can be regarded as cruel, inhuman treatment and an absolutely unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. The statement further continues to say that there is no convincing evidence to prove that the death penalty prevents crimes, and once miscarriages of justice take place, they become irreversible.
European Union abhors the death penalty firmly and categorically. The group of the European Union members strictly opposes it due to the prohibition on death in any case. EU members, through this group, abolished the practice of capital penalties as it answered the call made by the European Convention on Human Rights.
The EU finds capital punishment an attack upon the dignity of humanity and upon the right of life. It has been placed in legal status by having the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights declare that the death penalty is inadmissible in all cases. The EU is actively involved in diplomatic dialogue with countries that still execute the death penalty, urging them to reconsider their stance. This involves concerns over human rights violations associated with the capital punishment.
