In an "open letter to the people of the United States...

In an "open letter to the people of the United States of America," Mrs. Nicole Fontaine, the President of the European Parliament, expressed the wish for an open and frank dialogue with the United States on the death penalty. This letter letter was sent to all Governors of US states having the death penalty, and it was made available to a number of US media organisations 48 hours before the execution of Rocco Derek Barnabei in the state of Virginia. The text of this letter was also addressed to Governor Leavitt of Utah, in his capacity as Chairman of the National Governors' Association, and released at the NGA Annual Meeting in February 2000. "Within the EU Parliament, the voice of 370 million Europeans, a vast majority cannot understand why the United States is the only major democratic state in the world that carries out the death penalty," Fontaine wrote. (see Documents)