51995IP0035

B4-0035, 0040, 0087, 0088, 0098 and 0107/95

Resolution on judicial murder in Texas

The European Parliament,

A. shocked at the execution on 4 January 1995 of Jesse Dewayne Jacobs at Huntsville penitentiary in Texas, despite his innocence, for a murder which his sister has been recognized as guilty of committing,

B. firmly convinced that the right to life and the right to be able to rely on a fair legal system are fundamental human rights; cannot fail to condemn the implementation of the death penalty passed in the state of Texas on Jesse Jacobs,

C. having regard to the international wave of protests against the death penalty which this case has prompted,

D. shocked and distressed by the fact that the US Supreme Court refused by 6-3 to intervene on the grounds that the letter of the law had been followed,

The European Parliament,

1. Insists that, whatever view is taken of capital punishment, the execution of somebody for a crime he did not commit is repugnant to all those who care for the most elementary conceptions of justice;

2. Deeply regrets the failure of the US Supreme Court in this case to uphold its own high tradition of the defence of the rights of citizens of the USA;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the President of the USA, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Governor of the State of Texas.