Malta renews opposition to death penalty

Malta has welcomed moves by a number of countries to remove the death penalty, while condemning those which still impose it.

It a message to mark the World Day Against the Death Penalty (October 10) and the European Day against the Death Penalty, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg pointed out that the world would soon mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to life.

"This anniversary should inspire us to do all we can to achieve the global abolition of capital punishment," Dr Borg said.

"For years now Malta, along with its EU partners, has campaigned vigorously for the abolition of the death penalty. The adoption last year by the General Assembly of the resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty was a major success.

"I strongly welcome the fact that this year Albania, Argentina, the Cook Islands and Uzbekistan have completely abolished capital punishment. However, many countries continue to hand down death sentences, in some cases carrying out highly cruel forms of execution or punishing persons by death who were minors at the time their crimes were committed, as happens in Iran for example. We must condemn such practices in the strongest possible terms."