- 13/05/01

On the Death Penalty, a Gulf as Wide as the SeaEurope's View of the Death Penalty

To the Editor:It is heartening for Europeans to see Americans beginning to question their country's attachment to the use of capital punishment ("Europe's View of the Death Penalty," editorial, May 13).You mention that the 15-nation European Union will admit no country with a death penalty. In fact, the moral stand taken by European governments and parliaments on this fundamental issue of human rights extends far wider than that. The 43-nation Council of Europe - which includes, for example, Russia and Ukraine in its ranks - has been a de facto "death-penalty-free zone" since 1997. All European Union candidate countries belong to the council, which since 1994 has insisted that all new members must sign Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights abolishing the death penalty. BRUNO HALLERSecretary General, Council of Europe Parliamentary AssemblyStrasbourg, France,