Spain welcomes the progress made in Fiji - whose Parliament removed the last references to the death penalty from its internal legislation on 10 February - and Madagascar - which abolished the death penalty on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.
Spain welcomes the decisions reached by the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire - which voted in favour of a definitive abolition of the death penalty on 10 March - and the Parliament of Surinam - which voted on 3 March in favour of removing the death penalty from its criminal code. Both laws are now pending presidential approval. Spain expresses its satisfaction at all these acts of political courage and congratulates those responsible as they join the global trend towards abolishing the death penalty.
However, worrying signs are being seen in other parts of the world - mainly in Asia and the Middle East: an increase in convictions, the execution of children and the mentally ill, the end of moratoria, an increased number of offences punishable by the death penalty and use of the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and crime in general to justify the death penalty.
Spain supports the efforts being made by States to combat drug trafficking and terrorism - the bitter and difficult effects of which Spain is no stranger to, but highlights its stand against the death penalty anywhere and under any circumstances, considering it to be a cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment with no proven effect on crime prevention and with no chance for reparations to be made in the event of a judicial mistake. For those States that continue to apply the death penalty, Spain recalls the minimum standards set by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and other texts on human rights.
Ministerio