US: Statement by the Spokesperson on the executions in Texas and Utah

The European Union regrets the execution of Arthur Lee Burton in the State of Texas on Wednesday and of Taberon Honie in the State of Utah earlier today.

With the execution of Taberon Honie, the state of Utah has resumed after 14 year the use of capital punishment rejoining a small group of States in the US that apply this inhuman and degrading punishment.

The EU strongly opposes the capital punishment at all times and in all circumstances. The death penalty is incompatible with the inalienable right to life and is a cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment. It represents the ultimate punishment that fails to act as deterrent to crime and makes miscarriages of justice irreversible. 200 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.