Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-05-Speech-4-121"
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"en.20010705.6.4-121"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Frassoni is right when she says that today we are united on this matter, but twenty years ago we certainly were not. We have therefore made progress. Today the European Union is united against the death penalty, and this is reflected in the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights in Article 2, where it mentions the right to life. I recall that, when we were discussing this Charter, many in the Convention used to say to us: ‘It is inconsistent to say that this Charter is directed to the institutions of the Union,’ and you, Mr President, will no doubt remember this, ‘and at the same time demand the abolition of the death penalty, when the European Union cannot condemn anybody to death.’
It is true: there was an inconsistency there. We accepted it, however, because we believed that the Charter had to embody the values and principles that underpin the construction of Europe. I must also tell you that recently, Mr President, when I was on a flight here, I was reading the news that the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs had said that the Constitution of that country would have to be rewritten because, in order to join the European Union, it was necessary to abolish the death penalty, as laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. I remembered the title of that Oscar-winning film, ‘Life is Beautiful’, and realised that our work does occasionally bear fruit.
Therefore, Mr President, I believe not only that we Europeans should proclaim our desire that the death penalty should be abolished, but that we have a right and a duty to interfere in the affairs of other countries so that they do the same. For that reason, complying with a resolution of a conference held two weeks ago in Strasbourg, we have asked in this resolution – which I am sure will gain the unanimous support of this House – for a special day against the death penalty to be set up: a European day, which I hope will soon be a world day, since I believe there is room for hope. My good friend, Mrs Ana Palacio, who reads everything that is published, has today given me the editorial from the
in which a Supreme Court judge, Mrs O’Connor, who has always been in favour of the death penalty, is today saying the opposite.
Mr President, I believe that, if intelligent people change their minds, we shall be able to win this battle throughout the world."@en1
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