Subject: Open Letter- A coalition of non-governmental organizations is
calling for a death penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia
Please find below the open letter for a death penalty-free zone in Europe
and Central Asia, with all the signatures. Amnesty International would
like to thank everybody who supported this initiative.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Open Letter
AI Index: ACT 50/012/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 100
20 April 2005
A coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for a death
penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia
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 Belaru=
s and Uzbekistan, whose countries are the last executioners in Europe and C=
entral 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 - Michel Taube, President;
FIDH, International Federation for Human Rights - Sasha Koulaeva, Eastern
Europe and Central Asia Desk;
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 M=E9xico [Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture] - Fabienn=
e
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 Cort=E9s, 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 - Fabi=E1n
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).
Public Document
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