October 10th is “World Anti-Death Penalty Day”—an annual event supported by world organizations, including Amnesty International, the European Union, and the Council of Europe. They hope that a certain few countries will mark the day on their calendars.

The U.S., of course, still uses the death penalty, along with China, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan. According to the European Union, this is a major violation of human rights. The EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights identifies “the right to life” as a basic human right and the entity has frequently renewed its vow to abolish the death penalty across the world. Many countries have ceded in the last decade, but according to EU officials, America continues to ignore the subject in their regular meetings with Europe on the topic of human rights.

European Commission Spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told journalists in Brussels today that “Europe has created a de facto death penalty-free zone, which stretches from Iceland to Norway to Turkey. This is indeed one of Europe’s greatest achievements,” he said. “The EU has the leading role in the international efforts to abolish the death penalty.”

Today, a joint declaration was signed by the president of the European Parliament and top officials from the European Council, European Commission and representatives from the ministry that represents the 27 European countries in the EU. “The declaration confirms their joint commitment to continue to work toward the universal abolition of this punishment,” said Hansen.

A total of 137 countries have abolished the death penalty, with 10 reforming their laws or practices to exclude the punishment since 2005. “But of course, the figures of death penalty application around the world still remain too high,” said Hansen. “The EU’s action as the worldwide leader on the fight against the death penalty therefore remains urgent and necessary.”

China is an especially high priority for the EU. But so far, officials who believe the U.S. will allow reform anytime soon are far and few between. A human rights official from the EU stated that 26 “rounds” of conversations and debates have been conducted with China in recent years about human rights and the abolition of the death penalty, while negotiations with the U.S. have been much less frequent or specific.

Nevertheless, the EU keeps trying to put the pressure on. America is a regular referent in documents regarding the use of the death penalty, including the EU’s Memorandum on the Death Penalty:

“The EU is deeply concerned about the increasing number of executions in the United States of America (USA), all the more since the great majority of executions since reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 have been carried out in the 1990s. Furthermore, it is permitted to sentence to death and execute young offenders aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the crime, in clear infringement of internationally-recognized human rights norms.”

Although the EU admits that is cannot deal with America in the same way it deals with other countries because the USA is such a strong and powerful ally, the union is targeting the use of the death penalty on minors and certain inhumane methods of execution.

Whether or not the U.S. will respond to the pressure is yet to be seen, but the world’s most prominent human rights organizations have vowed to keep trying.

Tags: anti-death penalty day