Live and let live

The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rene van der Linden, sent a letter to President Lech Kaczyński expressing the organization's deep concern over the growing support in Poland for reintroducing the death penalty.

"Reintroduction of the death penalty would represent a serious retrograde step in the development of a pan-European space of respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In particular, [it] would constitute a flagrant breach of a country's obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights, which enshrines the fundamental values of the Council of Europe," van der Linden wrote.

He added that, given the gravity of the issue, PACE will closely follow developments on this issue, and called on the President to retract his proposals.

PACE's concern was prompted by President Kaczyński's recent announcements on Polish Radio 1. While on air, Kaczyński said that Europe needs a debate on the death penalty. He stressed, however, that at the moment its reintroduction is impossible.

The President's Chancellery said that PACE's concerns were ungrounded, and Zbigniew Ziobro, the Minister of Justice strongly criticized van der Linden's letter. "The PACE president not only questions the debate [...] but also suddenly attacks something that for the last two 2,000 years of Europe's existence has been functioning and still functions in civilized countries, as I can't see anyone denying that the US or Japan are civilized countries," Ziobro said on Polish Radio 1.

The death penalty has not been used in Poland since 1988. It was officially abolished in a new Penal Code in 1997.