hankyoreh

A light show on the building of Seoul City Hall on Nov. 30

European Union (EU) ambassadors issued a statement on Oct. 8 expressing their support for a National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommendation calling for the South Korean government to enter an international agreement on abolition of the death penalty.

Meeting with the Hankyoreh that day, a diplomat with the EU delegation to South Korea (serving as the EU’s local embassy) said it was the “first time the EU and its individual ambassadors have issued a statement on abolishing the death penalty.”

At a plenary session in Sept. 10, the NHRCK approved a motion to recommend that the South Korean government join the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights for abolition of the death penalty.

Countries that sign on to the protocol – adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989 – are obligated to take necessary measures to abolish the death penalty, including bans on executions. Eighty-five countries are currently parties to the protocol. Of the 36 members of the OECD, all but four are parties – the exceptions being South Korea, Japan, the US, and Israel.

The statement endorsing the NHRCK’s recommendation was issued in the name of EU ambassador to South Korea Michael Reiterer and ambassadors for all 28 EU member countries in Seoul. In the statement, the signatures said they “strongly support” the NHRCK recommendation for South Korea to join the Second Optional Protocol, adding that the EU “strongly and clearly opposes the death penalty in all situations and circumstances.”

The statement also expressed hope that the South Korean government would declare an official moratorium on the death penalty and vote in favor at a UN General Assembly meeting in December.

“The death penalty has no proven deterrent effect [against crime] and is a system that renders judicial errors irreversible,” it said.

With the EU and its ambassadors now urging South Korea to sign on to the Second Optional Protocol, the debate over abolition of the death penalty appears likely to heat up.

Democratic Party lawmaker Keum Tae-sup previously served as lead sponsor for a resolution urging the government to sign on to the Second Optional Protocol in time for World Day Against the Death Penalty on Oct. 10.

In a press conference with Amnesty International Korea at the National Assembly press center on Oct. 5, Keum said, “Abolition of the death penalty is an ineluctable global trend, and we strongly urge the South Korean government to sign on to the Second Optional Protocol and vote in favor of the death penalty moratorium resolution [at the UN General Assembly session in December].” Keum was one of 31 lawmakers sponsoring the resolution.

By Jung Hwan-bong, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]