27 December 2006
No to the Death Penalty in Iraq and Everywhere
1. The Libyan League for Human Rights
(LLHR) would like to reiterate its firm opposition to the Death Penalty in all
cases indiscriminately and anywhere in the world. We have, ever since, the
establishment of LLHR in 1989 consistently defended and worked for its
universal abolition in all circumstances and in respect to all crimes
infomitted in time of peace or in time of war. We deeply believe that
everyone's right to life is a basic value and that the abolition of the death
penalty is essential for the protection of this right and for the full
recognition of the inherent dignity of all human beings.
2. This being said the LLHR is hereby
adding its name to those Human rights groups and organizations, including
Amnesty, HRW, FIDH, EMHRN and others which denounced the three death penalty
sentences pronounced by a “Court” in Baghdad. In turn we denounce the verdict
not only because we are against the death penalty as a matter of principle but
also particularly in this case because the death penalties came after a trial
that did not fulfil the basic requirements for Fair Trial. Human Rights Watch
called it a "lost opportunity to give a sense of the rule of law” and Amnesty
International described the prosecution as a "shabby affair, marred by serious
flaws" This is the least one can say about a trial that was characterized by
gross local and US occupation authorities interference in its proceedings and
illegal pressure put on judges and defence lawyers amid Baghdad's climate of
violence. In the words of Mr. Leandro Despouy, the UN Special Rapporteur on
the independence of judges and lawyers, "The tribunal has been established
during an occupation considered by many as illegal, is infoposed of judges who
have been selected during this occupation, including non Iraqi citizens, and
has been mainly financed by the United States,". He concluded by voicing
"strong objections" regarding the conduct of the trial and concern about the
consequences the verdict may have in Iraq and the wider region.
3. President George W. Bush has been
the only “leader” to have praised the death penalty sentences as “an important
achievement for Iraq's young democracy”. He is also the only one to have
called for immediate hanging of the former Iraqi President and his two aids.
No other leader has, at our knowledge, made such an inhuman statement. Mr.
Blair, the unconditional ally in the US occupation of Iraq, refused to support
the death penalty sentences. He declared: “We are against the death penalty -
we're against the death penalty, whether it's Saddam or anybody else,'”. The
European Union, which opposes the death penalty, said the former Iraqi leader
should not be executed. The 46-member Council of Europe and Finland, which
holds the European Union's rotating presidency, voiced the same sentiment.
Italy's Prime Minister, Mr. Romano Prodi, said he was opposed to the sentence,
echoing similar declarations from France, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Ireland, and
the Vatican.
4. We very much regret Mr. Bush’s
precipitous and abrupt request to carry out the sentences immediately which is
clearly in contradiction not only with the EU position, but also, most
importantly, with that of his closest ally in occupied Iraq; Mr. Blair who
refuses the death penalty to be carried out under any circumstance. In fact
Mr. Bush ‘s position on the execution of the death penalty sentences
pronounced in Baghdad seems to contradict his own position on identical death
penalty sentences issued by a Libyan Court in the case of the Libyan children
infected with AIDS Virus. On that verdict President Bush rushed, as soon as
the death penalty verdict was known to request “the immediate release of the
medical team sentenced to the death penalty”. The tone of the statement issued
by the White House on the Libyan verdict was threatening as it considers the
verdict illegal and reached by a Court that lacks the guarantee to a fair and
impartial trial”. This is exactly how authoritative impartial legal and
justice experts throughout the word qualify the Bagdad Court that issued the
death penalty sentences that Mr. Bush urges their execution without delay.
This is a perfect case of “Double Standard” so prejudicial to the cause of
Justice and of respect for Human Right. We urge Mr. Bush to be more consistent
on the issues of the abominable execution of death penalty sentences be it in
US occupied Iraq or elsewhere. The present political dichotomy is not only
immoral, it can also erode any margin, whatever thin may be, of credibility
Mr. Bush may still have when it infoes to fair trial and respect of Human
Rights.
27 December 2006
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