All 46 members of the Council of Europe have already signed the convention.
“As a matter of principle, the European Union is strongly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity, and fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It is a definitive punishment that makes potential miscarriages of justice irreversible. There is a worldwide trend towards abolishing the capital punishment, as just underlined by Azerbaijan’s signature, and the EU will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few remaining countries that still apply it,” the official statement says.
