France welcomes repealing of death penalty

FRANCE reaffirms its continuous opposition against the death penalty globally.
In welcoming Papua New Guinea’s repeal of the death penalty, France, in a media briefing in Paris on Thursday by French foreign minister Anne-Claire Legendre, said France remained committed to ending this inhumane and ineffective punishment on a global scale.
Calling on countries still applying the death penalty to temporarily halt death penalty cases, with the view of getting rid of it completely. The European Union (EU), in a statement, also labelled the abolishment of the death penalty in PNG as a great victory for human rights and democracy.
“Throughout the years, the EU and its member states have reaffirmed their opposition to the use of capital punishment in all circumstances and called for the universal abolition,” the EU said.
“Seventy years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, worldwide abolition of the death penalty is closer than ever to becoming a reality and we are happy to have PNG on our side.”
United Nations resident coordinator Dirk Wagener said: “The step taken by the Government is highly commendable and is an important milestone towards further strengthening human rights for everyone in PNG.”
The statements follow Parliament’s repeal of the death penalty.
The penalties for offences that used to carry the death penalty have now been changed to life imprisonment and life imprisonment with parole.