The European Union has denounced the recent decision by the parliament of Papua New Guinea to reactivate the death penalty.
The EU says PNG has been observing a moratorium on the death penalty since 1954.
It says breaking such a long-standing moratorium would be profoundly regrettable and inconsistent with the growing worldwide trend in favour of abolition of the death penalty.
The European Union stressed in the statement that worldwide opposition to capital punishment has been demonstrated by repeated resolutions of the UN General Assembly calling on all countries to establish a moratorium on the death penalty.
As of now, about 150 of the UN's 193 member states have either abolished the death penalty or no longer practice it.
