On 18 September, four of the EU’s Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) joined the international Alliance for Torture-Free Trade, which was launched during the United Nations General Assembly week in New York.
“The initiative – a joint effort by the European Union, Argentina and Mongolia, with a total of 58 participating countries – aims to stop the trade in goods used to carry out the death penalty and commit torture,” the EU said in a press release.
It also gave a reminder that international law bans torture in all circumstances. Despite this, tools of death and pain are still traded across the globe: “These include batons with metal spikes, electric shock belts, grabbers that seize people while electrocuting them, chemicals used to execute people and the forced injection systems that go with them,” the EU said.
“These products serve no other purpose than inflicting terrible pain and killing people. Now, we are taking concrete action to shut down this despicable trade. I am thrilled that so many countries around the globe have signed up to the joint Declaration and joined this Alliance. By standing together, we demonstrate that we will not tolerate this trade any longer,” said European Union Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström.
More information on the countries that have joined the Alliance and the content of the joint political declaration adopted in New York can be found here.
