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Abolishing Capital Punishment

It's a remarkable coincidence that whilst debate rages about the Australian Leader of the Opposition's alleged "put down" of his shadow Foreign Affairs Minister in relation to his talk on capital punishment in Indonesia, two days ago was marked as World Day Against Capital Punishment.

ABC OnLine reports today:

"European Union leaders have used a global day against the death penalty to call for a worldwide halt to capital punishment.

The Council of Europe has organised the EU's first anti-death penalty day despite attempts by Poland, who have argued to also condemn euthanasia and abortion, to stop it.

Abolishing capital punishment is a requirement for all 27 EU members, but Poland's conservative, populist Government has often opposed the EU on issues ranging from homosexuality to environmental protection and the death penalty.

The secretary-general of the council, Terry Davis, explains why Europe is against the death penalty in all cases.

"It does not deter criminals from killing people, we know that, because if it did there would not be any murders in those states which still have the death penalty," he said.

"And worse still, it makes terrorism more difficult to combat, because terrorists want to be martyrs and we should not do anything which helps them to recruit other terrorists."

The European Union says last year, more than 3,800 people were sentenced to death in 55 countries."

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