EU Condemns Resumption Of Federal Executions In US, Calls For Reconsideration Of Decision

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) The European Union has decisively slammed the US decision to resume Federal executions after a 17-year stay in a press release issued by the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Friday.

In late June, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for federal executions to resume after 17 years by denying a legal challenge from four convicted murderers who asked for a stay of execution by arguing that federal executions must adhere to specific protocols used by the US states in which each of them was sentenced. The four executions - the first on a federal level since 2003 - are now scheduled to proceed on July 13 and will continue into August.

"The European Union strongly opposes the decision of the United States Department of Justice to resume the federal death penalty after a 17-year hiatus. We urge the U.S. administration to reconsider and not proceed with the federal executions due to take place starting on 13 July. This decision runs counter to the overall trend in the United States and worldwide to abolish the death penalty, either by law or in practice," the press release said.

The EEAS stressed that Brussels opposes the death penalty at all times, as it is "a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, incompatible with the inalienable right to life," that cannot be seen as an effective deterrence to criminal behavior.