©Flickr/Aapo Haapanen

October 10 marks the European and World Day against the Death Penalty. On this occasion the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini together with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe reaffirmed their strong and unequivocal opposition to capital punishment in all circumstances and for all cases.

Abolition of the death penalty is a distinctive achievement in Europe, with all European Union and Council of Europe Member States having abolished it.

The Council of Europe and the EU welcome the global trend towards the abolition of capital punishment, which has already resulted in more than two-thirds of all countries having abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. This global momentum must be seized to bring on board all remaining countries still carrying out the death penalty to establish without delay a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition, and to commute remaining death sentences to prison terms.

The Council of Europe and the European Union will continue their engagement in the United Nations to support the abolitionist global trend. They will employ all available means to combat torture and other grave human rights abuses in relation to the imposition and application of the death penalty.

Mobilising for universal abolition

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty aims to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty.

The World Coalition is striving to achieve these aims in the following ways:

by supporting its member organisations, local, national and regional abolitionist forces;

by coordinating the international advocacy towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty.

Take Action for World Day 2017!

The 15th World Day Against the Death Penalty is an excellent opportunity to publicly oppose the use of this inhumane punishment and to support those who are fighting for its abolition all over the world.

Check what you can do here.