Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-25-Speech-3-215"
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"en.20001025.9.3-215"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, as you have said so well on many occasions, Parliament, and with it the Group of the European People's Party, has declared itself against the death penalty and in favour of a universal moratorium on capital punishment, the sole objective of which is to achieve the definitive abolition of the death penalty throughout the world.
We are therefore pleased that the Commission has adopted this objective and that it is being treated with the degree of gravity that the Commissioner told us this fundamental issue deserves, so that we might be in harmony with the principles we are defending.
It could not be otherwise, given that this practice, which is directly connected with respect for human life, runs contrary to the defence of human rights, the first of which, the basis and foundation for all the others, is the right to life, which is promoted by the European Union.
There comes a time, however, when words are not enough and a far more aggressive attitude must be adopted in defence of what, for the Christian Democrats, constitutes the very core of our philosophy and our political action: the transcendental value of the person and the right to life from the moment of conception until their natural death; two principles which are incompatible with the application of the death penalty.
Therefore, we are not only advocating its abolition, but also proposing the possibility of using budget lines intended for human rights to campaign in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty, and that non-governmental organisations, both international and local, and religious authorities may also participate in the implementation of these budget lines.
And we propose this, first of all, because human rights and the abolition of the death penalty constitute a whole and because this enables us to move from words to action, and because the participation of civil society is essential to creating a mindset and a collective awareness in favour of abolishing the death penalty.
It is clear that there is a tendency in favour of abolishing the death penalty. We need only look at the statistics. Nonetheless, it is still applied in 90 States and we cannot turn a blind eye to the 1,625 known executions carried out in 1998, 80% of which took place in just four countries, including, in third place, the United States of America with 68 executions.
Therefore, together with respect for human rights, the abolition of the death penalty must be a key element, Commissioner, in relations between the European Union and third countries. This is particularly so in the case of the United States due to the contradiction inherent in championing freedom throughout the world and having the power of life or death over its citizens, be it in order to set an example or because a majority of citizens requests it.
Democracy cannot subject everything to the law of numbers as no action affecting the fundamental rights of the person, the first and foremost of which is the right to life, can be undertaken or justified in the name of the majority.
If the death penalty – as the community of San Egidio told us – dehumanises our world by giving primacy to reprisals and revenge, then placing all measures, both economic and political, within our reach in order to banish a practice that is contrary to the principles and values that constitute our raison d'être should be a priority objective for the European Union."@en1
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