European Union heads of missions in Dhaka on Wednesday expressed the hope on the eve of the European Day and the World Day against death penalty that Bangladesh would abolish capital punishment in keeping with a UN resolution. In a letter to the editors of Bangladesh, they recalled that the United Nations General Assembly had adopted ‘Resolution 65/206’ at its 71st plenary session in December 2010, urging countries to issue a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
“We hope that all members of the UN including Bangladesh will take the actions which the Resolution calls for, and thereby contribute more to the development of fundamental rights and human dignity in the world,” wrote the letter.
Ambassadors of Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and the European Union and British High Commissioner jointly wrote the letter a day before the World Day.
The European Union reaffirmed its ‘absolute opposition’ to the death penalty and said that the EU was convinced that “its abolition is an integral part of respect for human rights and protection of human dignity”.
“The death penalty concerns everyone’s right to life,” the letter read.
“The state, with its particular responsibility as the ultimate guarantor of all persons’ human rights, should not deprive anyone of his or her life,” the letter said, calling for measures to abolish the death penalty.
-With The New Nation input
