UN Moratorium on the Death Penalty: ALDE urges Merkel to take concrete action

12.07.50pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 1st Jun 2007

"I urge you, President, to take the necessary steps to ensure that a proposal for a resolution on a universal moratorium on the death penalty is submitted to the United Nations General Assembly without further delay" ALDE leader Graham Watson wrote today in a letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the EU Council.

The request came following a recent wake up call issued by Italian MEPs Marco Pannella and Marco Cappato (ALDE/Radicali) in view of the next meeting of the current UN General Assembly.

"Despite the requests made by our House and the successful outcome of the General Affairs and External Relations Council held in Brussels on May 14, no concrete steps have yet been taken after the deliberations of that meeting", Marco Cappato pointed out.

"As of today, the German Presidency of the EU has not proposed a draft of resolution to the next meeting of UN General Assembly. The search for co-sponsor countries has not begun either. Furthermore, no contact has been established with the UN Presidency to identify the rules of procedure concerning how to start the debate on the proposal for a moratorium. This means the unanimous position of the European parliament and of 27 European Ministers is simply overridden" Cappato concluded.

On 30th of April, Marco Pannella MEP went on a thirst strike in order to support our European governments and institutions to work for the presentation of this resolution to the UN, thereby overtaking bureaucratic boycotts, which are being pursued secretly and without informing the general public. Pannella has been on hunger strike since April 16th. Dozens of militants of the Transnational Radical Party are currently on an indefinite hunger strike for the same reason.