Q&A: 'A KEY STEP TOWARDS ABOLITION'
Julio Godoy - Interview with Amnesty International's Martin Macpherson
LONDON (IPS) - Amnesty International has been fighting since its foundation for the universal abolition of the death penalty. In the next weeks, the UN General Assembly will be voting on a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions.
Directing Amnesty's campaign for the moratorium is Martin Macpherson. How close are we to an end to all state killings? Macpherson makes no predictions to IPS correspondent Julio Godoy. But the UN vote will be an historic milestone in the campaign to end capital punishment.
IPS: Why does Amnesty International want the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution calling for abolition of the death penalty?
Martin Macpherson: Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and without exception, believing it to be a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The death penalty legitimises an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims. Amnesty therefore demands unconditional and worldwide abolition of the death penalty.
A resolution by the UN General Assembly -- a universal body representing the entire UN membership -- calling for a moratorium on executions as a step towards abolition would be an important international milestone in the campaign to abolish the death penalty worldwide.
IPS: Why is there a push for this resolution on the death penalty just now?
Martin Macpherson: A death-penalty-free-world is increasingly becoming a real possibility. But to achieve that goal there must be strong political leadership and a well-crafted strategy to create global support.
This past year has seen renewed debate on the use of the death penalty prompted in part by the execution of Saddam Hussein. A time has been reached when it should be possible to adopt a resolution in the UN General Assembly calling for a moratorium on executions.
One-hundred-and-thirty-one countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Only 25 countries actually carried out executions in 2006. In 2006, 91 percent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the U.S. Amnesty International's statistics also show an overall decline in the number of executions in 2006 -- a recorded 1,591 executions, compared to 2,148 in 2005. These figures demonstrate that there is now a real momentum to end capital punishment.
Statements by both the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour have supported the "trend in international law and in national practice towards a phasing out of the death penalty".
IPS: Has the General Assembly ever taken a position on the death penalty?
Martin Macpherson: To date, the UN General Assembly has not adopted a resolution either calling for a moratorium on executions or abolition of the death penalty. It has adopted standards to limit the application of the death penalty and safeguards to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty.
One of these standards is the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Sixty-one states have now ratified this Protocol and a further eight are signatures to it. Amnesty International believes the UN General Assembly should now call for a global moratorium on executions as a key step towards the ultimate goal of abolition.
IPS: Calls for a UN General Assembly resolution on the death penalty failed in the past. Why should the efforts be successful this time?
Martin Macpherson: Yes, there were unsuccessful attempts in 1994 and 1999. But since then the number of abolitionist states in law or practice has increased. At the UN General Assembly in 2006, Finland, as the President of the EU, delivered a statement supported by 95 states which expressed "deep concern at the continuing use of the death penalty around the world". The statement went on to c (END)
