NO to the Death
Penalty
The "Moratorium 2000" - International Campaign
|
NO to the Death
Penalty |
|
RECENT CHANGES ENACTED IN THE LEGISLATURES OF INDIVIDUAL STATES
Some countries toward the abolition of death penalty
 |
RUSSIA- feb '99 |
|
TURKMENISTAN- dec '98 |
|
BULGARIA - nov '98 |
|
LITHUANIA- nov '98 |
Feb. 99 - The Constitutional Court of Russia today prohibited all tribunals of the nation to pronounce new condemnations to death, reinforcing the moratorium on executions already in force from 1996, when Russia adhered to the European Council. Taking its recourse from a few recent condemnations, the decision, a spokesman announced, was based on article 20 of the Yeltsin Constitutions of 1993, according to which the condemnation to death may be pronounced only at the end of the processes in which also juries of the people take part. Until this time, such juries were instituted and functioned-also under an experimental title-only in nine of the 89 regions of the Russian provinces. The Russian government, on the other hand, was committed from the beginning of 1996, with the Council of Europe, to abolish the pain of death completely within three years, but the provision was rejected many times because of the strong contrasts it aroused in many political spheres of the nation. In the expectation of formal abolition, the Russian tribunals have until now continued to pronounce sentences of capital punishment (there are about a thousand condemned persons in the prisons of the nation) which have not been carried out since 1996 on the basis of a moratorium agreed upon between President Boris Yeltsin and the European Council. There is also being studied a proposal of amnesty to commute the executions of those already condemned to death.
During the first part of December, 1998, the President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, at the request of the appeals on the part of the European Parliament, signed the suspension of execution law. It is not yet clear how long this moratorium will last. In the meantime, Niyazov, absolute head of State, has also named himself as President of the Commission for Human Rights.
In the month of November, 1998, the Bulgarian Parliament officially abolished the death sentence. (see: Holy Father / intervention)
At the end of November, 1998, the Lithuanian Parliament took another step forward toward the abolition of capital punishment , thus going toward the pressing appeals and recommendations addressed to it by the European Parliament. The law must go through three votes before becoming effective.
President Guntis Ulmanis had imposed a moratorium of the death penalty since 1996; from that date, seven persons were condemned to death, but none have been executed.
The Speaker of the parliament, Andrius Kubilius has said that the new law, which must still be signed by the actual president, Valdas Adamkus, replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment in Lithuanian law. ôFinally, Lithuania has joined the other European Nations where the death penalty has already been abolished.ö The Mafia capo Boris Dekanidze was the last person to be executed in July of 1995 for his part in the assassination of a Lithuaninan journalist.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
