Today, on the World Day against the Death Penalty, we commemorate people around the world who have been sentenced to death and executed. Many of them have been given the death penalty because of their political activities, their commitment to human rights, their sexual orientation or their ethnic or religious affiliation. At least 1150 death sentences were carried out in the year 2023 alone. Given that countries such as China, Viet Nam and North Korea provide no information about the numbers of executions carried out in their countries, it can be presumed that the real number is much higher.

According to publicly available statistics, in 2023 the largest number of people were executed in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. There has been a considerable surge in the number of executions in Iran since 2023, where executions are repeatedly used as a means of political repression against demonstrators, dissidents and ethnic minorities. In Myanmar, executions began again in 2022, after a hiatus of more than 30 years.

Regardless of the motives for its use, the death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment that is not compatible with the inviolability of human dignity. For this reason, 144 countries so far have removed the death penalty from the statute books or introduced a moratorium.

Germany opposes the death penalty under all circumstances and is campaigning around the world for its abolition, including vis-à-vis close partners such as Japan and the US.

I would also like to use this day to thank all civil society activists who campaign tirelessly for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. We will continue to work together towards this goal.