World Day against the Death Penalty: Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter launches a call for dialogue on abolition

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 09.10.2015 - In a new joint declaration with 17 other foreign ministers, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Didier Burkhalter has emphasised the importance of constructive dialogue between countries which have already abolished the death penalty, and those which have yet to do so. Dialogue is an important means of achieving worldwide abolition, he said. Switzerland firmly rejects the death penalty, under all circumstances, and is committed to its abolition worldwide by 2025.

The death penalty is incompatible with both human rights – in particular the fundamental right to life – and with justice systems aimed at rehabilitation. Switzerland is therefore committed to achieving worldwide abolition by 2025, or at least ensuring that it is not applied by those states which continue to include it in their criminal legislation. "I have always been shocked that it is possible to decide the death of another human being. That is fundamentally wrong in my eyes, and I don't believe that taking another human life is conducive to anyone's inner peace", said Mr Burkhalter. He continued with, “where the death penalty still exists, we must engage in a dialogue to prevent black-and-white judgements from being made and to bring others around, one step at a time”.

That is precisely the aim of the joint declaration that Mr Burkhalter launched today with foreign ministers from 17 other countries around the world to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty. The foreign ministers who have signed the declaration are united in their belief in a movement towards global abolition, and in the need for the death penalty to become a sentence of the past everywhere.

Some 100 states have abolished the death penalty to date, most recently Madagascar, Fiji, Suriname and the US state of Nebraska. Around 60 more have not carried out any executions in the past ten years. According to Amnesty International, just 40 years ago only 16 countries had legally abolished capital punishment.

To achieve its aim of ending the death penalty worldwide, or a moratorium on all executions, Switzerland has been working hard at the international level – namely at the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. At the end of September 2015, Mr Burkhalter indicated at a side event to the UN General Assembly in New York that many victims' families express forgiveness and compassion rather than demanding the death penalty. In the autumn session of the Human Rights Council, which has just ended, Switzerland joined other countries in successfully proposing a new resolution which highlights the problems associated with applying the death penalty, specifically the inevitable violations of human rights.

At the bilateral level, Switzerland is seeking talks with countries that are on the path towards abolition. Factual information about the risks and shortcomings of the death penalty are paramount to paving the way for a serious discussion on this issue.

The World Day against the Death Penalty was held for the first time on 10 October 2003. It forms part of the international campaigns run by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty. On every World Day since 2012, Mr Burkhalter has joined his counterparts from around the world in calling for the abolition of capital punishment.

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