THE AGE

ILLINOIS/SOUTH AFRICA: Mandela, Tutu 'influenced' death-row decision

JANUARY 20, 2003:

Former South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu influenced Illinois Governor George Ryan in his landmark decision to empty his state's death row, The Sunday Independent reported.

Both Mandela and Tutu made calls to Ryan before his January 11 decision, in which he granted blanket clemency to all 167 inmates facing execution in the midwestern US state.

"I called him (Ryan) about our experience in South Africa and the fact that we abolished the death penalty," Mandela told the paper from his home in Maputo, where he is spending time with his wife Graca Machel.

"I appealed to him to withdraw the death sentences and he agreed to do so almost immediately."

Mandela said last week through a spokeswoman: "The death sentence is a barbaric act. I hope the whole of the US will follow Governor Ryan's example on commuting the death sentence."

Mandela, 84, himself faced the death penalty during his terrorism trial under apartheid in 1964. He was eventually sentenced to life, spending 18 of his 27 years in prison on Robben Island before his release in 1990.

In his departing speech as Illinois governor at the Northwestern University College of Law last weekend, Ryan said he also had a call from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, the paper reported.

Ryan said the cleric told him that "to take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, it is not mercy" and that justice allowed for mercy, clemency and compassion.

"These virtues are not weakness," Ryan said Tutu had told him.

Foreign Leaders Laud Move On Death Penalty in Illinois

By Peter Finn

January 18, 2003

BERLIN -- From across the world, bouquets of praise have been landing at the feet of former Illinois governor George Ryan following his decision a week ago to commute the death sentences of all 167 of his state's death row inmates.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela phoned the Republican governor to congratulate him. The Coliseum in Rome was bathed in golden light in appreciation of the gesture. And foreign newspaper editorial writers found an American to celebrate as a hero.

"The imposition of the death penalty is not the mark of a civilized, enlightened or just society," editorialized the Age newspaper in Melbourne, Australia. "Every time the death penalty is imposed in the U.S., that nation's claim to being a champion of human rights and a repository of civilized values is called into question."

Among Europe's political elite, capital punishment is regarded as a barbaric throwback that should not be tolerated, even if a majority of the public supports it. In 2000, Italian President Carlo Ciampi said opposition to capital punishment had become a "most eloquent signal affirming a European identity."

The execution of criminals continues to be a running quarrel between the United States and other democratic nations.

"The death penalty is un-American because it postulates the infallibility of a government institution," wrote Die Welt, the conservative German daily. "America's democracy is based on the mistrust of government, on the ability to revise all decisions."

Political leaders and commentators expressed the hope that Ryan's decision two days before he left office Monday will prompt a national debate in the United States. "I congratulate George Ryan on his courage and his conviction," said Walter Schwimmer, secretary general of the 44-country Council of Europe, a human rights organization, "I sincerely hope that this is a step forward to the abolition of the death penalty in the whole of the United States." Abolition of the death penalty is a condition of membership on the council.

Despite the seeming unanimity of the accolades for Ryan in Europe, the public is ambivalent about capital punishment, according to opinion polls. Significant numbers of citizens said they would support the death penalty for certain crimes.

Nonetheless, European governments refuse to extradite suspects unless they receive a guarantee that the death penalty will not be sought. They also refuse to provide evidence if it will be used in seeking a capital conviction.

Most recently, France and Germany conducted intensive negotiations with the Justice Department before they agreeing to provide evidence for the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen who is charged with capital offenses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

"The U.S.A. is on the wrong side of history on this fundamental human rights issue," said Amnesty International in a statement. "Governor Ryan has shown that change is possible and that principled human rights leadership is crucial."

Opposition to capital punishment becomes particularly acute overseas when foreign nationals are executed in the United States. Mexico, for instance, has 51 citizens awaiting execution in the United States, more than any other foreign country. President Vicente Fox telephoned Ryan to "express his deep appreciation for this historic decision," according to Fox's office. Ryan commuted the death sentences of three Mexicans.

Mexico this month asked the International Court of Justice at The Hague, the highest U.N. judicial body, to examine the cases of Mexican citizens on death row who were allegedly denied their rights to consular representation.

Germany brought a similar case in 1999, just before the scheduled execution of a German national, Walter LaGrand, in Arizona. The court ruled for Germany, and said the execution should be postponed. The U.S. Supreme Court by a majority vote refused to issue a stay of execution and forwarded the international court's request without comment to authorities in Arizona, where the governor ignored it. LaGrand was executed March 3, 1999.

The World Court, as it is known, later said its ruling was "not a mere exhortation" but "created a legal obligation for the United States." That opened the way for future battles with American authorities over the issue.

� 2003 The Washington Post