In a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Council...

In a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder appealed for clemency in the case of death row inmate Kevin Cooper:
"Since you took office as Governor, you have shown mercy and humanity in supporting decisions by the California Board of Prison Terms to set free apparently rehabilitated murderers. Yet ... you rejected a clemency appeal from death row inmate Kevin Cooper. As President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the 45-member nation Council of Europe and as a fellow Austrian, I appeal to you in the name of mercy and humanity to stay the execution of Kevin Cooper set for 10 February.
The Council of Europe is completely opposed to capital punishment. It considers that the death penalty has no legitimate place in the penal systems of modern civilized societies, and that its application constitutes torture and inhuman or degrading punishment within the meaning of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Council of Europe believes that the imposition of the death penalty has proved ineffective as a deterrent and, owing to the possible fallibility of human justice, also tragic through the execution of innocent people. I would like to recall that the willingness to institute an immediate moratorium on executions and to abolish the death penalty in the long term have become, since 1994, preconditions for accession to the Council of Europe. As a result, the 45 countries which make up the Council of Europe have been a de facto death penalty-free zone since 1997.
The Parliamentary Assembly considers that the same standard applies to countries enjoying Observer status with the Council of Europe, including the United States of America.
Once again, I appeal to you to show clemency in this case."