Abolish death penalty - European Union
Oct 12, 2008
THE European Union (EU) has urged the Government to abolish the death penalty and devise viable alternatives to capital punishment.
By Jude Kafuuma
THE European Union (EU) has urged the Government to abolish the death penalty and devise viable alternatives to capital punishment.
“The EU is the leading institutional actor in contesting the death penalty worldwide and its actions in this area represent a key priority of its external human rights policy,†said Ambassador Vincent de Visscher.
He was speaking at the launch of a book titled: “Towards Abolition of the Death Penalty in Uganda,†at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) head offices in Nsambya on Friday.
Visscher said: “The EU considers capital punishment to be a cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.â€
“It is impossible to become a member of the EU without first abolishing the death penalty.â€
Although the death sentence is still law in Uganda, the Constitutional Court has recently ruled that it was not mandatory to pass the sentence.
Livingstone Ssewanyana, the FHRI executive director, said there was need for solutions and alternatives like life-imprisonment, which are more viable than death.
THE European Union (EU) has urged the Government to abolish the death penalty and devise viable alternatives to capital punishment.
“The EU is the leading institutional actor in contesting the death penalty worldwide and its actions in this area represent a key priority of its external human rights policy,†said Ambassador Vincent de Visscher.
He was speaking at the launch of a book titled: “Towards Abolition of the Death Penalty in Uganda,†at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) head offices in Nsambya on Friday.
Visscher said: “The EU considers capital punishment to be a cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.â€
“It is impossible to become a member of the EU without first abolishing the death penalty.â€
Although the death sentence is still law in Uganda, the Constitutional Court has recently ruled that it was not mandatory to pass the sentence.
Livingstone Ssewanyana, the FHRI executive director, said there was need for solutions and alternatives like life-imprisonment, which are more viable than death.