Europe has been a death penalty free zone since 1997. The UN resolution on a world moratorium against the use of capital punishment is thus welcomed by the Council of Europe.
10/12/2007 ::
Europe has been a death penalty free zone for a decade, and the CoE thus strongly supports the UN draft resolution on a world moratorium against the death penalty. The resolution will be put to the vote in the UN General Assembly in December this year, and may become the start of a process to eradicate executions as a means of punishment world wide.
The Council of Europe marked its stance against death penalty this fall by establishing a European Day against the death penalty to be celebrated each October 10th. This year, the event was marked by a high level conference in Lisbon on October 9th, with the participation of the Prime Minister of Portugal, the President and Vice President of the EU-commission as well as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. State secretary Elisabeth Walaas represented Norway. October 10th 2007 marked the ten year anniversary of Europe as a death penalty free zone, reflecting the importance the CoE attaches to the fight against death penalty.