death penalty news June 1, 2004
MEXICO / USA: Legislators from Mexico, U.S. discuss terrorism, migration, capital punishment Terrorism, migration and Mexico's steadfast opposition to capital punishment topped the agenda Friday as 35 U.S. and Mexican legislators launched two days of meetings on issues on issues affecting the North American neighbors. Neither side said it expected major agreements, but both voiced hope participants would find a better understanding of the neighbors' differing perspectives. "There aren't any goals. It's not about who can gain this or who can gain that," said Francisco Barrio, a member of Mexico's lower house of representatives from President Vicente Fox's National Action Party. Barrio is leading Mexico's delegation of eight senators and 12 representatives. Visiting from Washington are eight representatives -- five Republicans, two Democrats and one Independent -- and three senators: two Democrats and one Republican. Headed by Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona, the delegation also includes lawmakers from Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. Delegations of U.S. and Mexican lawmakers have held annual meetings each year since 1960 -- except 1993, when the U.S. Congress was debating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. U.S. leaders say they are most interested in talking trade and discussing anti-terrorism measures, as well as addressing Mexico's ongoing fight against drug traffickers and organized crime. The continual and often illegal migration of Mexicans into the United States remains a top priority for Mexican lawmakers. "Illegal migration is a reality that's not going to change in the next few years," Barrio said. "Recognizing that and focusing on how to turn it into a win-win situation for both nations, that's what's preferable." But Kolbe noted that as much as either side might want an agreement on migration "this issue more than other issues doesn't get solved at the bilateral level." "It's up to each congress to legislate it," he said. "Therefore, we can only exchange ideas. ... These meetings will start their debate." Kolbe added that he also believed there was little chance of any movement on the issue in the United States given that it's an election year. Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama and leader of the Senate delegation, added that while Mexican migration to the United States has benefited people on both sides of the border, "we do believe any country is allowed to set its own standard." "The United States has the right and a duty" to establish a system that protects its borders, he said. "I believe we can create a system that is beneficial to both countries." The recent U.S. security crackdown on the Arizona border has drawn criticism from Mexican leaders, who worry that overzealous authorities may violate the human rights of those trying to sneak across. U.S. agents armed with the latest technology have flooded the area to cut down on drug trafficking and illegal migrant crossings. "Mexico should have been consulted before the crackdown began," Barrio said. Another source of contention between the two sides is Mexico's staunch opposition to the death penalty, which is in effect in many of the states represented by visiting U.S. lawmakers. Last month, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row by failing to inform them of their right to consult with their government, and ordered Washington to review their cases. The United States often has ignored the court's rulings, however. "We are simply proposing that the United States follow international law," Barrio said. "It's simple." In a small victory for Mexico on Thursday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals indefinitely postponed the execution of Osbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer from Mexico, pending further court review. (source: AP / SFGate.com) ================== JAPAN: Death penalty bad for victims' relatives, U.S. campaigner says A son of a murdered man in the United States voiced opposition Saturday to the death penalty as "bad for victims of crime." At a symposium on capital punishment in Tokyo, sponsored by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Renny Cushing, the executive director of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, said bereaved families of victims are expected to welcome the execution of offenders, even if they are opposed to the death penalty. Cushing told the audience of more than 200 people that there is a stereotype saying victims want or need the death penalty. But Cushing called such expectations "re-victimization" as they "take away my values." Cushing's father was shot to death in 1988 but Cushing opposed capital punishment before the incident. He said he wants to live in "a world where life is respected" and did not want to lose this values because of his father's murder. The change would "make the tragedy worse," he said. Cushing, a former member of New Hampshire's state house of representatives, also noted that a society with the death penalty tends to focus on how offenders will be punished while ignoring victims. He said people should think about what victims need and how to help them, and he showed appreciation of a JFBA proposal calling for establishing a system to fully support crime victims and bereaved families and to enable them to recover from their losses. In the November 2002 proposal, Japan's largest lawyers' group said the government should suspend executions until public debate over capital punishment reaches a certain consensus, though the JFBA has never sought an end to the death penalty. Cushing said he once drafted a bill to abolish the death penalty in order to say, as a member of a bereaved family, "no more killing." His lecture is part of a series of nationwide JFBA symposiums on capital punishment prior to the federation's annual human rights meeting in October in the city of Miyazaki. It will be the first time the JFBA brings up capital punishment at one of its human rights meeting. The Tokyo symposium on Saturday will be followed by six others in Osaka, Sendai, Matsuyama, Sapporo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. (source: Kyodo News / Japan Today)
