The Council of Europe urged nations across the globe...

The Council of Europe urged nations across the globe to abolish the death penalty as the organisation celebrated Death Penalty Abolition Day. The council's secretary general, Walter Schwimmer, said the death penalty was arbitrary, discriminatory and irreversible. In 2001 the Parliamentary Assembly urged the United States and Japan to institute a moratorium on executions and to improve prison conditions. The council threatened to revoke the observer status of the two countries if there was no significant progress by January 1, 2003.