On November 8, Counselor Christian Wenaweser, speaking...

On November 8, Counselor Christian Wenaweser, speaking at the Third Committee of the General Assembly, said the abolition of the penalty would contribute to the progressive development of human rights. He added that it made sense to call on those countries that still maintained the penalty to establish a moratorium on executions. That was the only intent of the (EU) draft; it was not an overly ambitious or zealous undertaking. He also noted concerns that had been expressed. There was the argument that the draft aimed to undermine the sovereignty of States. It was true that a discussion on the death penalty was the wrong place to discuss possible new notions of the established term "sovereignty." Another concern was that some countries were imposing values on others who did not recognize or cherish those values. He said that the value at issue in the draft was that of recognizing the value of human life, a value shared by all civilizations and embedded in the consciousness of people worldwide regardless of cultural background. He added that he would be willing to make revisions in the text to accommodate the expressed concerns, and said he had no illusion that the open debate would bring a consensus on the issue.