Statements made by the Ministry of Foreign and European Spokesperson (Paris, July 22, 2009)

Sudan / Ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration
United States / Death Penalty

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Sudan / Ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration

The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling on the Abyei region represents a milestone in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between northern and southern Sudan.

France calls on both parties, which had agreed to submit their territorial dispute to the Permanent Court and to the formation of the ad hoc Abyei Arbitration Tribunal, to fully implement this decision in the timeliest fashion. They must do everything possible to apply it locally.

France welcomes the presence in Abyei of UN special envoy Ashraf Qazi and the peacekeeping measures taken by the UN Mission in Sudan, UNMIS, to strengthen its presence in the region. In accordance with the mandate established by SCR 1870, UNMIS must intervene if necessary to protect civilian populations.

France contributed 100,000 euros to the Financial Assistance Fund for the Permanent Court of Arbitration in order to help finance expenses incurred by the ad hoc Abyei Arbitration Tribunal.

United States / Death Penalty

France condemns the execution of Marvallous Keene in the state of Ohio on Tuesday, July 21. This brings the number of persons executed in that state since the beginning of the year to three.

This execution is the thousandth by lethal injection since the United States Supreme Court authorized the reinstitution of the death penalty in 1976, after it was abolished for four years.

France regrets the resumption of executions by lethal injection since April 2008, after a seven-month de facto moratorium while the Supreme Court examined the constitutionality of this method of execution.

France, along with the European Union, reiterates its opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances. It considers it to be cruel and inhuman treatment and notes that no legal system is immune from judicial error. Finally, its deterrent effect has in no way been proven.

In keeping with the resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 and 2008 at the initiative of France and the European Union, France calls on the United States to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

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