Posted on 01/04/2006 10:06:27 AM PST by Former Military Chick
“The death penalty is a brutal and vindictive travesty of justice” said Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in a statement issued today.
“Following the Christmas break, executions in the United States are expected to resume on 17 January 2006, when Clarence Ray Allen is scheduled to be put to death in the state of California. He is 75 years old. Mr Allen is not an innocent man. He was found guilty of a particularly gruesome crime, but in executing him at his advanced age and decades after the crime had been committed, the authorities are coming close to win the contest in cruelty and vengeance.
The death penalty is aberrant and inhuman in all circumstances, but even more so when it is applied in the cases of children, elderly or mentally ill people. In all member states of the Council of Europe, the death penalty was abolished because it is futile and wrong. The death penalty is not justice. It is a pathetic attempt to satisfy a primitive craving for spectacle and revenge. I therefore call on the Governor of California to spare the life of Clarence Ray Allen and on the US authorities to join virtually all other civilised and democratic countries in the world and abolish the death penalty once and for all. This is not just about the life or death of an old man - what is at stake is the respect for human dignity in American society as a whole” Terry Davis said.
The Council of Europe is the oldest European political organisation, established in 1949 to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe. It has 46 member states. Abolition of the death penalty is a legal obligation on the basis of Protocol 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The United States of America, together with Japan, are the only observer states to the Council of Europe to continue executing people.
Press Contact Council of Europe Press Division Tel. +33 3 88 41 25 60 - Fax. +33 3 88 41 39 11 E-mail: PressUnit@coe.int
Therefore, we need to kill Mr. Allen twice. Once local time and again for tea on GMT should work nicely
Kiss my can, euroweenies. There are numerous reasons the great greats packed their crap and deserted the place you now live. We don't need you all reminding us of why they left on a daily basis with your ignorant, socialist diatribes.
I support an effort to clean up the appeals system - starting with my state.
No, and the "Best of the Beheadings" videos are sold in Iraq, if not Europe.
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