Bianca Jagger Nicaraguense por gracia de Dios ?? · @BiancaJagger
5th Apr 2011 from Twitlonger
In my letter 2 Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen I urge him 2 prevent Lundbeck from selling pentobarbital used in US executions.
Dear Prime Minister Rasmussen
I am writing in my capacity as Goodwill Ambassador to the Council of Europe to express my deep concern and horror at what I believe to be a flagrant violation of basic human rights committed by Danish pharmaceutical company, H. Lundbeck. Regrettably, there are still parts of the world which practice the death penalty, a barbaric punishment. Europe renounced such practices more than three-quarters of a century ago, and Denmark was among the first to do so. Yet now, due to the unscrupulous actions of Danish manufacturer, Lundbeck, a member of the Council of Europe runs the unthinkable risk of becoming complicit in executions.
Lundbeck is the sole FDA-approved supplier of pentobarbital, a drug which has been designated by several states in the USA implementing the death penalty, as an essential component of their new lethal injection protocols. More and more states are opting to use Lundbeck’s drugs in executions, in large part because Lundbeck has made it easy for them to do so. Lundbeck has missed every opportunity to put a stop to the use of their drugs in executions, and as such, is directly complicit in aiding and abetting capital punishment in the USA.
As a member of the Council of Europe which is committed to the abolition of the death penalty and signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights which expressly prohibits the use of capital punishment (protocols 6 and 13), I trust that Denmark will be the first to deplore the reprehensible behaviour that is currently being exhibited by Danish manufacturer, Lundbeck. As a member of the Council of Europe Denmark should not support capital punishment under any circumstances.
It is deplorable for Lundbeck to continue selling pentobarbital in contravention of The Anti-Torture Regulation(EC No. 1236/2005 concerning trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment). Lundbeck must stop selling pentobarbital, and do whatever it takes to prevent the company from being complicit in executions.
As Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador and Founder and Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation (BJHRF), and as a Member of the Executive Director’s Leadership Council of Amnesty International USA, I respectfully urge you to prevent Lundbeck from engaging in corporate complicity in capital punishment in the USA. I appeal to you to exercise your leadership and do all within your power to prevent the killing of prisoners who are scheduled to be executed with pentobarbital. I thank you in advance for your attention to this urgent and important matter.
Respectfully yours,
Bianca Jagger
Founder and Chair, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador,
Member of the Executive Director's Leadership Council of Amnesty International USA