Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the EU on the abolition of the death penalty in Uzbekistan

1. The EU welcomes the abolition of the death penalty in Uzbekistan on 1 January 2008. We congratulate the Uzbek government and the Uzbek people on this important decision and the EU encourages the Uzbek government to fully implement it and carry out further reforms of the judicial system.
2. Members of the European Union consider that the abolition of capital punishment contributes to the enhancement of human dignity. The European Union reaffirms its objective of working towards universal abolition of the death penalty. It believes that abolition by Uzbekistan is an important step towards that aim and hopes that this decision will encourage other countries in the region to follow suit.