WRITTEN QUESTION P-1690/99

by Rosa Díez González (PSE) to the Council

(20 September 1999)

Subject: Death penalty handed down to Spanish citizen Joaquín José Martínez in the US

On 2 November 1999 the Supreme Court in the US state of Florida will hear an appeal against the death sentence handed down to Spanish citizen Joaquín José Martínez, an inmate on death row at Starke prison in the United States. The defence team for this European citizen has stressed that legal guarantees and the presumption of innocence were ignored in reaching such an unspeakable verdict, which many US states still enforce.

Given the urgent nature of this case and the fact that such an inhumane punishment is irreversible:

1. What steps has the Council taken to ensure that a universal moratorium on executions (resolution of 18 June 1998) is honoured and that a punishment which constitutes an affront to the most basic democratic values is abolished once and for all, bearing in mind, inter alia, European Parliament and United Nations resolutions and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights?

2. What action can and will the Council take to prevent the execution of Joaquín José Martínez from going ahead and ensure that he receives a free and fair trial?

Reply

(2 December 1999)

1. EU action against the use of the death penalty is a key element of the EU's overall human rights policy. In June 1998, the Council adopted guidelines for EU policy towards third countries on the issue of the death penalty. The final objective is a worldwide abolition of the death penalty. With the view of reaching this objective, where the death penalty still exists, the Council calls upon States to introduce a moratorium and insists that minimum standards be respected. It further encourages States to become party to the international legal instruments that prohibit capital punishment

2. In line with these guidelines, the EU has taken the initiative to introduce jointly for the first time, at the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1999), the draft resolution on the death penalty which had hitherto been introduced by Italy. This initiative was very successful; not only did it contain stronger language than previous resolutions, it also attracted more co-sponsors 72 States against 65 in 1998. The EU has also taken the initiative to organise in the margins of the CHR a discussion panel on the death penalty in which NGOs and government representatives from different countries participated.

3. In view of the success encountered by the draft resolution on the death penalty at the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the EU also presented a draft resolution on the death penalty for the first time at the UN General Assembly (54th session), which took place this year. The resolution calls upon all States that still maintain the death penalty to establish, inter alia, a moratorium on executions with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty. The Council is confident that this EU initiative will further reinforce the international trend towards abolition of capital punishment.

4. In addition to general initiatives in multilateral or bilateral contexts, there are occasions when the European Union makes specific demarches concerning individual cases. The European Union is particularly concerned with cases which violate minimum standards in terms of human rights. For instance, the death penalty should never, in any circumstances, be imposed on persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of their crime, pregnant women and mothers, and persons who have become insane. The European Union also attaches great importance to the respect of standards offering minimum legal guarantees, such as clear and convincing evidence, the competence of the court and its strict observation of procedures as well as adequate legal assistance.

5. In the case of Mr Joaquín José Martínez, the European Union will closely follow the results of his appeal to the Florida Supreme Court and will react in the light of the principles set out above.