EUROPEAN UNION - Statement on the latest executions in US

March 1, 2024:

March 1, 2024 - EUROPEAN UNION. Statement on the latest executions in US
by the Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano
The European Union deeply regrets the execution of Ivan Cantu in the State of Texas on Wednesday. For over 20 years, Mr Cantu has consistently claimed his conviction was based on false testimony and questionable evidence, but was denied a new evidentiary hearing.
We also take note of the fact that the State of Idaho resumed its use of capital punishment also on Wednesday after a 12-year break. The execution of Thomas Creech was called off after officials unsuccessfully tried to insert an IV line to administer the lethal injection. The EU recalls that lethal injection, like all execution methods, is a cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.
The EU strongly opposes the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a violation of the right to life and fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It represents the ultimate punishment that makes miscarriages of justice irreversible. 196 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. In this context, the EU welcomes the fact that 29 US states have either abolished capital punishment or imposed a moratorium on executions. However, we are concerned by the fact that the number of executions in the US increased last year, as 24 people were executed in five states despite a steady, overall decline of the use of capital punishment in the US since 2020.
The EU calls for states that maintain the death penalty to implement a moratorium and move towards abolition, in line with the worldwide trend.

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/us-statement-spokesperson-latest-executions_en