Opening remarks Ivan Šimonović, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights at the Biennial High-Level Panel Discussion

Human Rights Council
28th session


4th March 2015
15:00p.m.-18:00 p.m.
Salle XX, Palais des Nations

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to participate in today’s High Level Panel focussing on “regional efforts aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and challenges faced in that regard.” I am confident that a regional approach can contribute to the global abolition of the death penalty. A number of positive regional efforts have contributed and continue to
contribute to the global trend towards abolition:

The Americas were the first to witness the abolition of the death penalty in Venezuela in 1867. Since then, many countries in the region have also abolished the death penalty both de jure and de facto. This led to the adoption in 1990 of the Protocol to the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights for the abolition of the death penalty.
In Africa, many States have taken an abolitionist stance. Following last year’s adoption of the Cotonou Declaration by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, calling for an end to the death penalty on the African Continent, a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the abolition of the death penalty is
currently under consideration.

The Council of Europe has gone so far as to make abolition of the death penalty a prerequisite for membership, and in the past sixteen years, no death sentence has been carried out in any of its 47 member States.

In the Middle East and Asia, national human rights institutions, parliamentarians, civil society organisations and other stakeholders are actively taking the abolitionist movement forward. In November 2014, in cooperation with OHCHR and the European Union, the Indonesian representative to the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights organised a regional meeting on moratorium on the death penalty in the ASEAN region. In December 2014, the Algerian Consultative Commission for the Protection and the Promotion of Human Rights, in collaboration with OHCHR, organised a regional meeting in Algiers on “moving away from the death penalty in the Middle East and North Africa. Both events provided opportunities for regional experts and State officials to discuss the progress towards the abolition of the death penalty in their respective regions.

I am pleased that the distinguished panellists will further reflect on the various regional efforts I have just briefly outlined.

Currently, around 160 countries from all regions of the world have either fully abolished the death penalty, or do not practise it. In the last six months, the death penalty was abolished in Chad, Fiji and Madagascar. In December of last year, a record number of countries supported the General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on executions
with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

However, despite this progress, there remain challenges: while we are seeing movement towards abolishing the death penalty in some countries, elsewhere, we are seeing moves towards its preservation, or even reintroduction. In 2013, after many years of moving away from the death penalty, there were more executing States and more victims of execution than in 2012. Some States justify the death penalty on the grounds that it is demanded by a large majority of the population, or that without it, it is impossible to fight drug trafficking or terrorism.

A few States continue to use the death penalty for drug-related crimes, with the argument that this harsh punishment is needed for deterrence purposes. However, there is no evidence that the death penalty deters any crime. Furthermore, the Human Rights Committee and other authoritative sources have confirmed that such crimes do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” set out in article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While the need to tackle drug-related offences has to be acknowledged, the focus of crime prevention should be on strengthening the justice system and making it more effective.

In practice, the death penalty is too often applied to the poor and marginalized foot soldiers, and not the powerful organizers of the drug business.

Of course, public opinion cannot be ignored, but a country concerned about human rights should not merely accept opinion polls as a reason for retaining the death penalty – especially when it may be based on misconceptions about its deterring effect and fairness of its application. Indeed, there is clear evidence of mistakes, abuses, and discrimination.

It has been empirically proved that the more the population is informed on facts, the less it supports the death penalty.
In this regard, it is important for the retentionist States to provide public, accurate and timely figures on their application of the death penalty, as well as crime statistics. Such openness can help their scientific analysis and move public opinion in favour of abolition, based on facts, knowledge and understanding.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since 2012, the UN Human Rights Office held a series of ‘knowledge events’ on the human rights dimensions of the application of the death penalty. A selection of contributions to these events has been published in 2014 in a book: “Moving away from the death penalty”.

I do apologize but we have run out of copies. The new, expanded edition of the book is scheduled for July this year.
In recognition of the crucial role that regional organisations play in promoting the abolition of the death penalty, OHCHR plans to hold a few regional seminars on “Moving away from the death penalty” this year. We hope to gather State officials, law-makers, practitioners and civil society to discuss at the regional level the challenges faced in moving away from the death penalty and ways to overcome them. We count on the support of our colleagues representing various regional organisations, as well as Member States and representatives of civil society. Hopefully, regional seminars may lead to another book:

“Death penalty: regional perspectives”, to be published in 2016.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me conclude,

We can do better. We need not kill immigrants, minorities, the poor and those with disabilities to show that we are committed to fight crime. Let us work together to improve efficiency of our justice system without resorting to the death penalty: an inhuman and outdated punishment.

Thank you very much.