On 14 April 2011, the President of the International Commission against the Death Penalty, Federico Mayor, gave a speech as a keynote speaker during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In the context of the presentation of the report of Ms Renate Wohlwend “The death penalty in the Council of Europe member and observer States: a violation of human rights”, the President of the International Commission against the Death Penalty, Federico Mayor addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe highlighting the role of the Council of Europe, OSCE and EU to make Europe a death penalty free zone. He pointed out that despite the progress achieved in the last decades efforts must be intensified until its total eradication. Federico Mayor further referred to two key arguments for the abolition: the irreversibility of the death penalty and the fact that there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty in relation to criminality.
The President of the International Commission also met with the Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Thomas Hammarberg and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Mr Mevlut Cavusoglu. The objectives of the meeting were to inform on the work that has been carried out by the ICDP since its establishment in Madrid in October 2010 and, secondly to establish future cooperation on the issue of the abolition of the death penalty.
Read here the Statement by the President of the ICDP, Federico Mayor delivered at the Parliamentary Assembly Session on 14 April 2011.
