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U.N. Plans to Resume Capital Punishment Debate
The following is from the article written by Thalif Deen, published by the Inter Press Service News Agency:
The contentious debate on the death penalty -- which split the 192-member U.N. General Assembly last December -- is refusing to die.
A group of 58 countries, strongly supportive of capital punishment, has written to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "placing on record that they are in persistent objection to any attempt to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty or its abolition."
Any attempts to place either a moratorium or abolish capital punishment are in violation of existing stipulations under international law, according to their written submission, described in U.N. jargon as a "note verbale", to the secretary-general.
The statement has been issued on the eve of the International Death Penalty Abolition Day, which will be commemorated next Saturday, Mar. 1.
All 58 countries seeking to "retain" the death penalty -- described as "retentionists" -- have reinforced their pro-death penalty arguments through a collective note.
The list includes virtually all of the members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), along with the Bahamas, China, North Korea, Japan, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Uganda, Singapore and Zimbabwe.
"This note verbale, signed by 58 delegations, underscores once again that there is no international consensus on the use of the death of penalty," Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon of Singapore told IPS.
When a disputed resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty was put to a vote in the General Assembly last December, there were 104 in favour and 54 against, with 29 abstentions. The "ayes" won.
Still, the General Assembly resolution, unlike a Security Council resolution, is not binding and does not have legal force or authority.
At least four countries -- Belize, Chad, India and the United States -- which voted against the resolution in December, did not sign the note verbale for some unaccountable reason.
But eight countries that abstained -- Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Fiji, Guinea, Laos, Swaziland and the United Arab Emirates -- have signed the statement and joined the retentionists.
A Third World diplomat, who was also a signatory to the note verbale, told IPS: "The collective statement is to signal to the other side that we do not accept the outcome of the General Assembly vote. We expected the battle to be resumed."
As a result, the death penalty issue will come up again during the 63rd session of the General Assembly, beginning September this year.
Read the entire story here.
