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Open Letter
AI Index: ACT 50/012/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 100
20 April 2005
The organizations joining this appeal are unconditionally
opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances in
all countries around the world on the grounds that it
is a violation of the right to life and that it is the
ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. As
long as the death penalty is maintained, the risk of
executing the innocent can never be eliminated. Executions
are brutalizing and only serve to reinforce the cycle
of violence. They achieve nothing but revenge and cause
anguish for the innocent relatives of those who are
executed.
One hundred and twenty countries -- more than half
of the countries in the world -- have now abolished
the death penalty in law or practice. An average of
over three countries a year have abolished the death
penalty in law or, having done so for ordinary offences,
have gone on to abolish it for all offences.
On 20 April 2005, the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights adopted a resolution on the question of the death
penalty calling for a moratorium on executions and the
observance of international safeguards in death penalty
cases. We welcome its adoption and urge all countries
in Europe and Central Asia that retain the death penalty
to follow the Commission's recommendations.
In particular, we are calling on the relevant authorities
in Belarus and Uzbekistan, whose countries are the last
executioners in Europe and Central Asia, to move swiftly
towards abolition by introducing a moratorium on death
sentences and executions as a first step with a view
to complete abolition of the death penalty in due course.
We are calling on the governments of all countries
and territories in the region that currently have moratoria
in place to fully abolish the death penalty as a matter
of urgency.
We urge the Presidents to exercise political leadership
on this issue and to do all within their remit to further
the trend towards abolition in the region.
The introduction of moratoria in Belarus and Uzbekistan
is particularly pressing as flawed criminal justice
systems in both countries provide a fertile ground for
judicial error. There have been credible allegations
of unfair trials, and torture and ill-treatment, often
to extract "confessions", on a regular basis.
In Belarus between four and seven people have reportedly
been sentenced to death and executed every year since
2000. President Islam Karimov said at a press conference
in December 2004 that between 50 and 60 people had been
sentenced to death in Uzbekistan in 2004. However, both
governments have consistently failed to publish comprehensive
statistics on death sentences and executions. The application
of the death penalty in Belarus and Uzbekistan is surrounded
by secrecy. As a result death row prisoners and their
relatives are subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment.
Neither the prisoners nor their relatives are informed
of the date of the execution in advance, denying them
a last chance to say goodbye. The body of the prisoner
is not given to the relatives for burial and they are
not informed of the place of burial.
Around 150 prisoners have "accumulated"
on death row since Kyrgyzstan introduced a moratorium
on executions in December 1998. Many death row prisoners
have been waiting for years in a state of continued
uncertainty as to their ultimate fate, which constitutes
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Kazakstan as
well as the internationally unrecognized regions of
Abkhazia and the Dnestr Moldavian Republic have also
continued to pass death sentences.
Russia has a moratorium on death sentences and executions
in place and is now the only country of all 46 members
of the Council of Europe that has still not abolished
the death penalty in law despite its promise upon accession
to the organization to abolish it no later than 1999.
Tajikistan and the internationally unrecognized region
of South Ossetia also have moratoria on death sentences
and executions in place.
In most of the countries in the region that no longer
carry out executions, relatives of death row prisoners,
who had previously been executed, have still not been
able to find out where their loved ones were buried.
In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, for example, domestic
legislation still stipulates that the place of burial
is not disclosed.
We are concerned that the conditions on death row
in the region fall far short of international standards.
In Belarus, for example, death row prisoners are not
entitled to any outdoor exercise and electric lighting
is on day and night. In Kyrgyzstan some death row prisoners
have reportedly lost mobility due to lack of exercise.
Many governments in the region have frequently referred
to public opinion as a key argument against introducing
a moratorium or abolishing the death penalty. At the
same time, several countries prevent an informed public
debate from taking place by withholding vital information
about the application of the death penalty, including
comprehensive statistics on death sentences and executions.
In Belarus and Uzbekistan there have been instances
where the authorities have actively limited the peaceful
expression of opinions on the death penalty, including
by harassing and intimidating activists.
The organizations joining this appeal believe that
governments should lead public opinion in matters of
human rights and criminal policy. Historically it has
almost always been the case that the death penalty has
been abolished by governments even though significant
sectors of the public favoured its retention.
We urge the governments in Europe and Central Asia
to refrain from deporting people to countries where
they are at risk of being sentenced to death, in line
with international treaty obligations. Many countries
have in the past facilitated such deportations and the
death verdicts have often been pronounced in unfair
trials accompanied by torture allegations. Russia deported
at least two men to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001
and 2000 respectively where both were sentenced to death,
in violation of Russia's human rights commitments as
a member of the Council of Europe. Kyrgyzstan deported
people to executions in China and Uzbekistan only months
after Kyrgyzstan had put a moratorium in place citing
its commitment to protect human rights. Other countries
that deported people to executions in recent years included
Kazakstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Background
In the nineteenth century and the period leading up
to the Second World War, the death penalty was permanently
abolished in several European countries. Out of the
atrocities of the Second World War came a new thirst
for human rights resulting, among others, in a new wave
of moves towards abolition of the death penalty. The
collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of independent
states from Eastern Europe to Central Asia gave a new
impetus to the drive towards a death penalty-free zone
in Europe and Central Asia.
We have great sympathy with the victims of crime and
recognize the duty of governments to tackle problems
of law and order. However, scientific studies have consistently
failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty
deters crime more effectively than other punishments.
The most recent survey of research findings on the relation
between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted
for the UN in 1988 and updated in 2002, concluded that
"it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that
capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater
extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly
lesser punishment of life imprisonment."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
International non-governmental organizations
Amnesty International - Irene Khan, Secretary General;
ECPM, Ensemble contre la peine de mort - Micheel Taube,
President;
FIDH, International Federation for Human Rights - Sidiki
Kaba, President;
Human Rights Watch - Rachel Denber, Acting Executive
Director for Europe and Central Asia;
ICJ, International Commission of Jurists - Nicholas
Howen, Secretary General;
International Federation of ACAT, Action by Christians
for the Abolition of Torture - Sylvie Bukhari-de Pontual;
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights -
Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director;
International League for Human Rights - Scott Horton,
President;
OMCT-Europe, World Organisation Against Torture - Laetitia
Sedou, European Co-ordinator;
Penal Reform International - Paul English, Executive
Director;
Regional non-governmental organizations
ACAT México [Action by Christians for the Abolition
of Torture] - Fabienne Cabaret, Legal Coordinator (Mexico);
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants - Esther C Bangcawayan,
Women Program / Area Co-ordinator (Hong Kong);
Asian Human Rights Commission - Basil Fernando, Executive
Director (Hong Kong);
Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty - Dorina
Lisson, President (Australia);
Azerbaijan Foundation for Democracy and Human Rights
Protection - Rena Sadaddinova (Azerbaijan);
Azerbaijan Human Rights Center - Eldar Zeynalov, Director
(Azerbaijan);
Belarusian Helsinki Committee - Dzmitry Markusheuski,
Press Secretary (Belarus);
Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law - Nigina
Bakhrieva, Program Director (Tajikistan);
Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development
- Emil Adelkhanov, Deputy Chair of the Council (Georgia);
Center of Legal Aid for Ethnic Minorities - Guncham
Nurakhunova, Director (Kazakhstan);
Centre for Civil Initiatives - Albert Voskanyan, Director
(Nagorno-Karabakh);
Centre for Humanitarian Programs - Batal Kobahiya (Abkhazia);
Chernihiv Public Committee of Human Rights Protection
- Oleksiy Tarasov, Chair (Ukraine);
Congress of Caucasian Women - Maka Khangoshvili, Chair
(Georgia);
Death Penalty Focus - Lance G. Lindsey, Executive Director
(United States of America);
Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights - Nana Kakabadze,
Chair (Georgia);
Helsinki Citizens' Assembly of Azerbaijan - Arzu Abdullaeva
(Azerbaijan);
Helsinki Citizens' Assembly of Vanadzor - Artur Sakunts
(Armenia);
Human Rights Center "Fray Francisco de Vitoria"
- Miguel Concha Malo, Chair of the Board (Mexico);
Human Rights Committee - Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada
(Mexico);
Human Rights Information and Documentation Centre -
Ucha Nanuashvili, Executive Director (Georgia);
Human Rights Network "Todos los Derechos para Todos"
[All Rights for All] - Edgar Cortés, Secretary
General (Mexico);
Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan "Civil Assistance"
- Ruslan Sharipov, Chair (Uzbekistan);
Independent Human Rights Group - Dinara Sayakova, Director
(Kyrgyzstan);
Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders
of Uzbekistan - Surat Ikramov, Chair (Uzbekistan);
Institute of Peace and Democracy - Leyla Yunus (Dr.),
Director (Azerbaijan);
Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - Arianna
Ballotta, President (Italy);
Joint Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty
- Father Franco Mella (Hong Kong);
Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing - Bill Pelke,
President (United States of America);
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic
Diocese - Christine Or (Hong Kong);
Legal Aid Society - Nozima Kamalova (Uzbekistan);
Legal Forum Association - Yury Shentsov, Executive Director
(Kyrgyzstan);
Legal Initiative - Valeri Fadeev, Chair (Belarus);
Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of
Human Rights - Fabián Sanchez Matus, Director
(Mexico);
Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture - Tamara
Chikunova, Chief-Coordinator (Uzbekistan);
Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights - Hon. Renny
Cushing, Executive Director (United States of America);
Norwegian Helsinki Committee - Bjorn Engesland, Secretary-General
(Norway);
Professional Assistance - Yelena Volochay, Member of
Board (Ukraine);
Public Committee for Aid to Refugees "Civil Assistance"
- Svetlana Gannushkina (Russia);
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - Rick
Halperin, President (United States of America);
Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights - Farid Tukhbatullin
(Turkmenistan);
Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation on Human Rights - Tadzhigul
Begmedova, Chair (Turkmenistan);
United Filipinos in Hong Kong Secretariat - Emmanuel
C Villanueva, Secretary-General (Hong Kong);
Uzbekistan Human Rights Society "Ezgulik"
- Vasila Inoyatova, Chair (Uzbekistan);
Women's Association of Abkhazia - Natella Akaba, Chair
of the Steering Board (Abkhazia);
Youth Human Rights Group - Maria Lisitsyna, Chair of
the Coordinating Council (Kyrgyzstan).
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