The United States of America and international law

Reply to Written question | Doc. 11705 | 17 September 2008

Author(s):

Committee of Ministers

Origin

adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 11 September 2008, at the 1034th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

Reply to Written question

: Written question no. 542 (Doc. 11541)

Thesaurus

1. In reply to the honourable member’s question, the Committee of Ministers would like to inform her that on 19 November 2007, its chairperson transmitted to the permanent observer of the United States of America to the Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1539 (2007) on the United States and international law together with its Recommendation 1788 (2007) as well as the Committee of Ministers’ reply.

2. The Committee of Ministers recalls that it has on many occasions confirmed its own commitment to the fundamental principles regarding detention, fair trial and the treatment of detainees, including the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as contained in Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and corresponding provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, the Committee of Ministers refers to the European Day against the Death Penalty, celebrated each year on 10 October, which it established in 2007 as a joint initiative with the European Union. It would like to inform the honourable member that the Ministers, meeting in Strasbourg on 7 May 2008 on the occasion of the 118th Ministerial Session, stated their determination to support once again the adoption of a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly.

3. Finally, the Committee of Ministers recalls that the Council of Europe’s member states are in dialogue with the United States’ authorities, notably in the framework of the meetings of the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI).