The Delegation of the European Union, the Missions of the EU Member States in Sri Lanka as well as the diplomatic missions of the Governments of Canada and Norway in Sri Lanka have written to President Maithripala Sirisena to verify the worrying information in the public domain about the intention of the Sri Lankan government to resume implementing the death penalty after a moratorium of more than 40 years.
In a letter sent to President Sirisena, the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka together with the British and the Canadian High Commissions, Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania and Norway said that they strongly and unequivocally opposed capital punishment in all circumstances and in all cases.
"The mentioned diplomatic missions have made known in their letter that they strongly and unequivocally oppose capital punishment in all circumstances and in all cases. The death penalty is incompatible with human dignity, does not have any proven deterrent effect, and allows judicial errors to become fatal and irreversible", the EU's delegation to Sri Lanka said.
The diplomatic missions have requested the President to maintain the moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty and to uphold Sri Lanka's tradition of opposition to capital punishment.
It was reported that when the Cabinet took the topic of capital punishment for discussion last week, it was only Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera who opposed it on principle.
"I have always been against the Death Penalty and my stance has not changed. Even within the Cabinet, I voiced by opinion but the majority was for it", Samaraweera said.
The Minister was of the opinion that life imprisonment for drug dealers was a greater punishment than death stating that “it would kill him a little every day instead of putting him out of his misery".
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