Statement by Maria Arena, (S&D, Belgium), Chair of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights and Hannah Neumann, (The Greens/EFA, Germany), Chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, following seven people being put to death in a mass execution in Kuwait.
“We are deeply dismayed by the mass execution of seven individuals in Kuwait. We reaffirm the European Parliament’s strong opposition to the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. The use of capital punishment has been consistently condemned by the European Parliament, constituting as it does the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
We wish to express our full support for EU diplomacy and the summoning of the Ambassador of Kuwait. Furthermore, we expect the EU to actively address the recent executions and the death penalty in Kuwait as a matter of priority within the framework of the upcoming EU-Kuwait Human Rights Dialogue.
The resumption of executions in the country is a negative signal coming after no executions in five years. We call upon the Kuwaiti authorities to immediately suspend the death penalty as a step towards its abolition.”
