1. The European Union deeply regrets that five executions were carried out by the states of Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas in the United States of America in November 2022 and that a further three execution orders are pending for this year in the states of Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma. To date, there have been 17 state executions in five states this year and November has had the most executions in a single month.
2. On 9 November, Tracy Beatty was executed following the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision to deny a motion for suspension of his death sentence. Richard Fairchild was executed after his clemency request was denied by the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole. He allegedly suffered from brain damage and mental illness. Mr Fairchild’s execution was the third of 25 executions scheduled by the state of Oklahoma between August 2022 and December 2024.
3. Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution, scheduled for 17 November, was halted after Alabama officials were unsuccessful in setting the intravenous lines for the lethal injection drugs, subjecting him to additional pain. This is the third consecutive execution in Alabama with complications, leading Governor Kay Ivey to order a moratorium on executions and a review of the state’s execution procedures.
4. Kevin Johnson was executed by the state of Missouri on 29 November. He killed a police officer in 2005, when he was merely 19 years old, suffering from psychosocial disabilities and in psychological distress after his younger brother’s death following a police house search.
5. The EU again reaffirms its strong opposition to the use of the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. The death penalty violates the inalienable right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.
6. The EU believes that the execution of persons with a mental health condition or psychosocial disability is particularly regrettable and contrary to widely accepted human rights norms and the minimum standards set forth in international human rights instruments.
7. The EU, in accordance with its long-standing campaign against the death penalty, reiterates its call on the remaining 24 states of the United States of America that continue to practice capital punishment to establish a moratorium on executions, as a first step towards complete abolition. We strongly hope that the moratorium on federal executions, introduced in July 2021, pending a review of the Justice Department’s policies and procedures, will pave the way for a nationwide abolition.

The following countries align with this statement: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia and Ukraine