Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the EU on the formal abolition of the death penalty in Togo

The EU welcomes the unanimous decision of the National Assembly of Togo on 23 June 2009 to abolish the death penalty for all crimes and to commute existing death sentences into life sentences. We congratulate the Togolese Parliament, the Togolese Government and the Togolese people on this important decision.

The Member States of the European Union consider that the abolition of capital punishment contributes to the enhancement of human dignity. The European Union reaffirms its objective of working towards universal abolition of the death penalty. It believes that abolition by Togo is an important step towards that aim and hopes that this decision will encourage other countries in the region to follow suit.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.