EU Urges Lebanon to Abolish Death Penalty, Lauds Moratorium
Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, Ambassador Christina Lassen, called on Lebanon on Sunday to abolish the death penalty, on the occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty that will be marked on Monday.
"The European Union and Lebanon have a regular and open dialogue on human rights. Abolition of the death penalty is one of the issues that figure prominently in the agenda of our bilateral talks,” Lassen said in a statement distributed by her press office.
“Although the last execution in Lebanon took place in 2004, death sentences are still being handed down,” the ambassador lamented.
She called on Lebanese authorities to adopt a law “confirming the existing moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its abolition, as well as to ratify the 2nd Optional Protocol on the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights aiming at its abolition.”
“We are glad to see that many of our partners in Lebanon share our views. This includes many civil society activists, but also policy makers, judges, religious leaders and citizens from all across the Lebanese society,” Lassen said.
“On this day, we stand by them and share their hopes to make abolition a reality in Lebanon," she added.
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