As the seventh World Day Against the Death Penalty was marked on Sunday, it is grimly disturbing that we are continuing to see such widespread use of the death penalty across the world. Amnesty report that in 2009, 18 countries carried out executions, with a total of 714 people executed during the year, and this does not even include figures from China, where these remain a state secret. The majority of the world's executions take place in China, so the actual figure is likely to be in the thousands.
Some of the crimes committed by people who have been sentenced to death are appalling. Why then does the government remain absolutely opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances, no matter what the crime?
The answer to my mind is clear.
First, there is no evidence to suggest that a person who commits a crime, which carries a life sentence in prison, would have acted any differently if he or she had known that their crime could have resulted in their execution.
Second, any miscarriage of justice leading to the imposition of the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. It is difficult to forget the case of Derek Bentley, executed in 1953 when he was only 19 years old and eventually cleared 45 years later.
Third, if the state has the authority to execute its own citizens as a criminal penalty, the balance between the rights of the individual and the power of government is fundamentally altered.
Finally, the existence of the death penalty undermines human dignity and has no place in the 21st century. Abolishing the death penalty is a vital step towards the development of full and universal human rights.
There is now clear international momentum towards global abolition. In the past 10 years alone, 22 countries have abolished the death penalty. But global abolition is still many years away, and considerable challenges remain before we can live in a fully abolitionist world. Only 58 countries retain the death penalty. But that is still 58 too many.
New strategy
On Monday, the British government launched its new strategy for global abolition of the death penalty. Britain will direct its work at the most prolific users and in those places where we can make a real difference.
This may sometimes require a pragmatic approach with some countries.
For example, encouraging states to formally establish moratoriums on the use of the death penalty. And the UK calls on those countries that continue to rely on the death penalty, to ensure that international minimum standards are adhered to, including never executing juveniles, pregnant women or persons who have become insane, and ensuring rights to a fair trial and to appeal.
Britain's international project work is also yielding results. The UK's Foreign Office funds projects to bring legal challenges to the constitutionality of the imposition and the application of the death penalty. Britain has recently supported successful challenges in Kenya, Barbados and Uganda among others.
Removal of the mandatory death penalty can significantly reduce the number of prisoners who are sentenced to death. Just last month, 167 prisoners on death row in Uganda had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment as a result of an Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded project and last year Kenya commuted the death sentences of its entire death row of 4,000 prisoners. These are steps in the right direction.
But we cannot stop there. The abolition of the death penalty will not happen overnight and there is much hard work ahead.
The UK remains firmly committed to taking action on its own and together with its international partners in order to achieve its ultimate aim of global abolition.
Jeremy Browne is the UK's Foreign Office Minister.
