Brussels, 21 March 2024
The European Union deeply regrets the execution of Willie James Pye in the State of Georgia on Wednesday. We deplore the fact that this execution took place despite evidence indicating that the convict had an intellectual disability. The use of the death penalty for persons with such impairments is explicitly prohibited by international standards on the human rights of those facing the death penalty.
Moreover, in 2005, the US Supreme Court outlawed executions of individuals with intellectual disabilities. We also regret the fact that the State of Georgia has resumed its use of capital punishment and has thus joined a small group of States in the US that continue to rely on this inhuman and degrading punishment.
The EU strongly opposes the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a violation of the right to life, and fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It represents the ultimate punishment that makes miscarriages of justice irreversible. 196 innocent people have been exonerated from death row in the United States to date.
The EU continues to call for the universal abolition of the death penalty and for States that maintain the death penalty to implement a moratorium and move towards abolition, in line with the worldwide trend.
Source – EEAS