28/08/2012 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), the Parliamentary Assembly's General Rapporteur on the death penalty, is dismayed by recent reports of a wave of executions in The Gambia.
"The Gambia had already successfully abolished the death penalty. Even after current President Jammeh brought back capital punishment in 1995, he respected a de facto moratorium. The President's announcement during a speech on 19 August 2012 that he would have all 47 death row inmates killed by mid-September represents a terrible step backwards for this country. The nine executions reportedly carried out on Sunday are a tragedy, which must not be allowed to continue. I can only appeal to President Jammeh to stop the killings now."
The Council of Europe opposes the death penalty under all circumstances. It has succeed in making Europe a death penalty-free continent, with the notable exception of Belarus.