October 9, 2008
Death Penalty: The Last Legitimate Crime
Below is an article written by UNPO:
The abolition of the death penalty has become a heavily politicized subject over the past decades. With Europe being the only region in the world where the death penalty is no longer applied. All 47 members of the Council of Europe have abolished or installed a moratorium on the death penalty. Furthermore, abolition of the death penalty is a prerequisite for membership to the Council.
Now that the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty a year ago with 104 states in favour, one would think that the World Day Against the Death Penalty would become obsolete. The present situation could not be further from the truth. Major international players such as the United States of America, People’s Republic of China and Islamic Republic of Iran voted against this resolution and still apply the death penalty.
Today, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and its Members join the world movement striving for a moratorium on all executions. Many of UNPO’s Members continue to suffer under regimes which apply capital punishment, sometimes even for the most marginal ‘crimes’. UNPO and its Members strive for an absolute moratorium and eventual abolition of the death penalty worldwide. Too many regimes have invoked capital punishment as a means to silence those who oppose them. It is due time that this last legitimate crime will be brought to an end.
