Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union concerning the execution of two persons in Thailand on 24 August 2009
The European Union deplores the executions of Bundit Charoenwanich and Jirawat Phumpruek by lethal injection in Bangkok’s Bang Kwang Prison on 24 August.
The European Union regrets that the executions mark the end of a near six year-long
de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Thailand.
The European Union would like to state its well-known position that the death penalty has not been found to act as a deterrent and that any miscarriage of justice – which is inevitable in any legal system – is irreversible.
The European Union considers this punishment cruel and inhuman. We are opposed to the use of capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances and have consistently called for its universal abolition. We believe that the abolition of the death penalty is essential to protect human dignity, and to the progressive development of human rights. Consequently, the death penalty has been abolished throughout the European Union.
The European Union calls on the Royal Thai Government to abolish the death penalty completely and, in the meantime, to establish a moratorium on executions as urged by United Nations General Assembly resolutions 62/149 and 63/168. Such steps would contribute to the Royal Thai Government’s expressed ambition to promote human rights.