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Human Rights Commissioner praises abolition of death penalty in Maryland, USA
Markus Löning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy, issued the following statement today (15 March) on the decision by the House of Delegates of the US state of Maryland to abolish the death penalty:
I welcome the Maryland House of Delegates’ decision today to repeal the death penalty in the US state of Maryland. This decision shows that the trend of abolishing the death penalty in the United States is continuing.
I appeal to the Governor of Maryland to now also commute the sentences of the prisoners remaining on death row.
The death penalty is cruel and inhumane. The German Government is working for its universal abolition.
Background information:
The Maryland House of Delegates voted to repeal the death penalty today (15 March); the state’s Senate had approved the repeal on 6 March.
The US state of Connecticut abolished the death penalty in April 2012, as did Illinois in 2011. A moratorium on executions went into effect in Oregon in 2011. The death penalty was earlier repealed in New Mexico (2009), New Jersey (2007) and New York (2007). The state legislatures of Montana, Colorado, Kentucky and Delaware are currently considering bills to repeal the death penalty.