For the first time, they have chosen to
address the death penalty simultaneously, issuing reports for the autumn
session of the General Assembly on the subject. The reports were issued today.
The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Summary and Arbitrary Executions devotes detailed attention to the issue of
‘most serious crimes’, where debate rages as to whether capital punishment
imposed for drug trafficking is compatible with international law. The Special
Rapporteur on Torture, after covering the ways in which capital punishment
interacts with his mandate, considers the evolving international legal norm by
which capital punishment is, in and of itself, a form of torture.
It has always puzzled me that the world
will condemn a situation where an individual is hooked up to electrodes and
jolted unconscious by electricity by his or her tormentors, unless the
electricity is strong enough to kill, in which case there are some who say this
is not prohibited by international law. Or where we denounce the amputation of
various parts of the body, such as hands and feet, as a form of punishment,
only to deem it compatible with international law if it is the head that is
amputated.
Well done to the Special Rapporteurs for
this terrific initiative. Hopefully, it will help to build momentum for the
General Assembly debate and the bi-annual resolution calling for a moratorium
on capital punishment.
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