HRC62 - EU Statement - Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

HRC62 - EU Statement - Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

62nd session

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

18 June 2026

EU Statement

Mr President,

The EU thanks the Special Rapporteur for his important report.

Mr Special Rapporteur, as this is your last presentation to this Council, we also commend your valuable contributions throughout the mandate, including the significant guidance you have initiated and your constructive country-level engagement. In your report you argue persuasively that the death penalty cannot be reconciled with the absolute prohibition of torture and the duty to protect human dignity, irrespective of the safeguards applied. As you note in your report, this conclusion is supported, inter alia, by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.

The EU agrees that capital punishment violates the inalienable right to life and is incompatible with human dignity. We share your view that the death penalty is often discriminatory and has a disproportionate impact on persons in vulnerable situations. We therefore reiterate our call for the total abolition of the death penalty.

As the next World Congress against the death penalty is set to open in Paris on June 30, and new commitments are expected from several States, the EU calls for the implementation of moratoria by States, as a step towards abolition.

Special Rapporteur, when drafting your report, you interviewed a number of persons whose lives have been directly affected by capital punishment - persons formerly on death-row, family members of persons who have been executed and professionals drawn into the execution process. Could you please share with us some of the key insights from these testimonies?