Switzerland speaks out on US death penalty

Switzerland is expressing its concern over plans in the United States to expand the use of the death penalty.

An executive order from Donald Trump says the attorney general should call for the death penalty to be used in cases of murdering a law enforcement officer and a serious crime committed by an undocumented person. 

Trump has also reversed a moratorium on the death penalty at a federal level. 

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Tim Enderlin from the Human Rights Division at the foreign ministry says ‘the death penalty runs counter to human rights and there’s no evidence it has a deterrent effect when compared to the use of prison sentences.’

Switzerland has a long-standing objection to the death penalty and fights for its abolition.

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