The Council of Europe on Tuesday designated October 10 as the European Anti-Death Penalty Day at the Europe Against The Death Penalty Conference held in the Portuguese capital Lisbon.

"In the name of the Council of Europe, I solemnly proclaim a day against the death penalty be held on October 10 each year," said Vuc Jeremic, president of Ministers Council of the Europe and who is also Serbia's Foreign Affairs Minister.

"We confirm Europe as an area free of the death penalty," he added.

Jeremic said he hoped many people in the world would join this cause, and that he believed death penalty does little to discourage crime and only perpetuates the cycle of violence.

The council first made the decision on September 27, as part of a broader debate on the right to life, which covered abortion and euthanasia, raised by Poland.

At the opening session of the conference, Portugal's Justice Minister Alberto Costa congratulated his nation, saying "during the Portuguese presidency the Council has achieved consensus on the death penalty."

The Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis said that 2007 marks a decade without the death penalty in the European Union.

"We have to explain why it is important to abolish it and that there is no contradiction between fighting crime, including terrorism, and defending human rights," said Davis.

Portugal is the current holder of the six-month rotating European Union presidency. Slovenia will take over the role on Jan. 1, 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2007)