Declaration delivered by H.E. Ambassador Stanislav Raščan
I would like to draw the attention of the participating States to the following Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union, issued on the 4th of January 2008:
“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.
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.
The candidate countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate countries Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, the European Free Trade Association countries and members of the European Economic Area Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process”
