Minister Grlić Radman participates in panel on death penalty-related human rights violations

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman on Tuesday participated in a virtual high-level panel discussion on human rights violations in the context of the death penalty

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman on Tuesday participated in a virtual high-level panel discussion on human rights violations in the context of the death penalty. The panel is held biannually, this year focusing on the effects of the death penalty on crime rate.

UNHRC President Nazhat Shameem Khan chaired the panel, while UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet delivered the keynote address. The panelists included Chad’s Justice Minister Djimet Arabi, Commissioner of the International Commission against Death Penalty (ICDP) Tsakhia Elbegdorj, UN Human Rights Committee member Christopher Arif Bulkan and Oxford criminology professor Carolyn Hoyle.

Addressing the event, Grlić Radman reiterated Croatia’s strong opposition to the death penalty as well as our continuous pushing for its moratorium and ultimate global abolishment. The minister expressed belief that the death penalty does not deter the commitment of crime. He underlined the possibility of court errors with irreversible consequences, stressing the need for improving the justice system and changing the public perception about the justifiability of the death penalty.

In addition, Grlić Radman underscored satisfaction with the positive global trend towards death penalty abolition, as evidenced by the growing support for the biannual death penalty resolutions within the UNHRC and General Assembly. In that context, the minister welcomed Angola, Palestine, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Virginia (U.S.) joining the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the complete abolishment of the death penalty in Chad and Guinea.

Early 2020, Croatia became a full-fledged member of the ICDP Support Group, seated in Madrid, Spain.

 

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