Political statement by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to the UN Human Rights Council on the incompatibility between the death penalty and human rights – Geneva, June 22, 2015

On behalf of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Ambassador Regina Maria Cordeiro Dunlop, today made a Political Declaration, as part of the 29th Session of the UNHRC, on the incompatibility between human rights and the death penalty, and the urgent need to impose a universal moratorium on the latter, with a view to its abolition.

The content of her speech was as follows:

“Mr. President,

I have the honor to address you on behalf of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The death penalty is a flagrant violation of human rights and is incompatible with the principles of humane treatment and due legal process. The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The right to be treated with dignity imposes a duty on the state to treat all people humanely, not with cruelty. Every violation of human dignity affects not only the individual concerned but also society as a whole.We sometimes hear the argument that capital punishment is a deterrent against crime. However, there is no proof of a causal link between the death penalty and the effective control of criminality; nor is there proof that it is more effective than imprisonment in reducing crime. The General Assembly itself recognized that there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty.

To condemn a person to death is to deny the right to life enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Execution is the ultimate and irrevocable punishment, and the risk of executing an innocent person cannot be ignored. It is a discriminatory punishment, since poor people from racial, ethnic or specific religious minorities are more likely to be sentenced to death. It is even more worrying when used as a political tool. We are particularly concerned about the phenomenon of mass convictions, since sometimes the death penalty can be used to purge, control and intimidate a population, and to threaten political opponents.

As many resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have already established, the death penalty should not be applied to people with mental or intellectual disabilities; or in the case of crimes committed by persons under the age of 18, or by pregnant women. Tragically, the death penalty is often imposed upon those people. We firmly condemn the imposition of the death penalty in connection with any offense, and we consider it particularly shocking when the death penalty is imposed as a punishment for crimes related to drugs. In addition to its complete ineffectiveness in fighting drug trafficking, the imposition of the death penalty in drug-related cases is clearly a violation of international human rights obligations. The punishment must be proportional to the seriousness of the offense and must never be made more severe by procedures that submit prisoners to inhuman, cruel or degrading treatment.

Mr. President,

Recent developments give us cause for optimism. More than 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in their legislation or in practice. In 2014, the total number of executions decreased by 22% in comparison with 2013. Every year, positive legislative developments bring us closer to the abolition of the death penalty. In our region, the recent abolition of the death penalty by Suriname deserves to be commended, as it represents a step towards the declaration that South America is a zone free from capital punishment.

We urge all countries that still apply the death penalty to join a universal moratorium on this form of punishment, with a view to its complete abolition. We also urge the countries that have not yet done so to accede to or ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at abolishing the death penalty.

Thank you very much.”