UK reiterates opposition to death penalty 'On anniversary of World Day Against Death Penalty

THE government of theUnited Kingdom hasreiterated its opposition to death penalty in all circumstances and as a matter of principle.It stressed that there was no evidence that death penalty deterred people from committing crimes and that any miscarriage of justice sas irreversible and irreparable.This was contained in a press statement signed by the Press Secretary, British High Commission, Abuja, Mr Hooman Nouruzi, as the government spoke through its Foreign Office Minister, Mr Jeremy Brown, on Monday, on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the World Day Against Death Penalty.He said: 'Since I launched the Government's Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty in October 2010, we have continued to take action against our three goals, taken all appropriate opportunities to raise the issue with our priority countries and I have raised it with a number of my counterparts, including in Asia and the Caribbean.'Brown noted that 'there have been several positive developments over the last year' which he welcomed, adding that at the end of last year, there was record support achieved at the United Nations General Assembly with an increase in the number of countries voting in favour of the Resolution on the Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty.'And this year we have seen China reduce the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty from 68 to 55 and Trinidad and Tobago ruled the mandatory death penalty for felony murder unconstitutional. The UK is keen to see this increasing international trend towards abolition of the death penalty continue,' he stated.The release stressed that 'the UK Government is absolutely committed to its efforts to achieve its objective of global abolition of the death penalty,' just as it called on all states to formally establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to abolishing it.Meanwhile, the UK government's Strategy for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, which was publically launched in October 2010, set out three goals: an increase in abolitionist countries or countries which had established moratoriums on executions; a reduction in the number of executions and restrictions on the use of the death penalty and ensuring countries which retained the death penalty meet European Union minimum standards on its use.
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