|
Kofi Annan si dichiara a favore della moratoria - 18.12.00 - 
''Mi
unisco a voi nel chiedere una moratoria mondiale'': il segretario
generale dell'Onu, Kofi Annan, ha accolto cosi' i promotori di 'Moratorium
2000', una coalizione internazionale che ha raccolto 3,2 milioni di
firme per sospendere in tutto il mondo le esecuzioni. Nel ricevere
le firme dalla Comunita' di Sant'Egidio e da Amnesty International,
Annan ha espresso la sua personale opposizione alla pena capitale,
sottolineando pero' che tocca ai singoli stati decidere su questo
tema. ''La perdita della vita e' qualcosa di troppo assoluto e
irreversibile perch� un essere umano la infligga ad un altro,
anche quando e' sostenuto da un processo legale'', ha detto Annan
in un incontro con suor Helen Prejean (la religiosa autrice del
celebre 'Dead man walking'), Paul Hoffman di Amnesty e Mario
Marazziti di Sant'Egidio.
 Annan
ha ricordato che esiste un protocollo contro la pena di morte
approvato 11 anni fa dall'Assemblea generale dell'Onu insieme ad un
trattato sui diritti civili e sottoscritto da 43stati. ''Se mi e'
permesso esprimere un'opinione personale - ha detto il Segretario
generale - credo che quegli stati abbiano ragione''. Per Annan,
''le future generazioni saranno d'accordo su questo. La cosa
tragica - ha aggiunto - e' che, mentre le nazioni dibattono, le
persone continuano ad essere giustiziate. Quando i cambiamenti
verranno, sara' troppo tardi per loro''. Nel Palazzo di vetro dell'Onu,
a sostenere l'iniziativa di Sant'Egidio e di Amnesty si sono
presentati anche due volti celebri di Hollywood, Susan Sarandon
(che ha interpretato suor Helen nella versione cinematografica del
libro) e Tim Robbins. ''Abbiamo l'opportunit� - ha detto la
Sarandon - diriflettere su cosa significa, per i nostri valori
americani, uccidere un' altra persona. Dopo la tragedia nel liceo
di Columbine (dove due studenti sterminarono i compagni di classe
nel 1999, ndr), ci siamo interrogati su quanto gli Usa siano
incredibilmente violenti, anche per colpa della tv, del cinema,
delle canzoni''. Per la Sarandon, la percezione di ''quanto sia
sbagliata la macchina della pena di morte'' sta aumentando. E tra i
Sostenitori dell'abolizione, l'attrice ha arruolato anche Harry
Potter: ''Nel suo ultimo libro, si e' pronunciato nettamente contro
la vendetta con la morte''. Tim Robbins ha riconosciuto le colpe di
Hollywood: ''Ogni volta che il cattivo viene ucciso dall'eroe di
turno, e' come se sostenessimo la pena di morte. Io ero favorevole,
ma quando conosci veramente di cosa si tratta, non puoi sostenerla''.
Per suor Helen, il fatto che alla Casa Bianca ci sia ora George W.
Bush, tenace sostenitore delle esecuzioni, non deve indurre al
pessimismo: ''La leadership viene dal popolo e non e' pi� vero che
la maggioranza sostiene la pena capitale. Dobbiamo dare ai leader
una via d'uscita elegante, convincendoli che le esecuzioni non
servono, neppure come deterrente''.
15/12/2000
UN
urged to work for global ban on death penalty -
A
Rome-based peace group will present petitions bearing more than 3
million signatures to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday
appealing for an end to use of the death penalty around the world.
The
signatories hail from 146 countries, according to the Community of
Sant'Egidio, which organized the petition drive and has also been
active in peace efforts in several Africa countries as well as
Kosovo.
Among
them are the Dalai Lama, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Indonesian
President Abdurrahman Wahid, the Archbishop of Canterbury George
Carey, Italian writer Umberto Eco, Italian film director Roberto
Benigni, Nobel literature prize winner Dario Fo and World Methodist
Council President Frances Alguire, the organizers said.
Amnesty
International and M2000, a group founded by Sister Helen Prejean,
also worked on the campaign. Prejean wrote Dead Man Walking, an
anti-death penalty book later made into a film starring Sharon
Stone.
Although
many countries have abolished capital punishment, executions remain
legal in some 90 countries and about 30 nations carry out
executions in any given year, according to human rights campaigners.
Among
these are the United States, China, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan,
the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Nigeria and Yemen.
Un
Receives Anti-Execution Petition -
Monday
December 18 2000 �
By
DUNSTAN PRIAL, Associated Press Writer
UNITED
NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan lent his support to a
worldwide moratorium on the death penalty Monday after receiving a
petition signed by 3.2 million people seeking an end to
state-sponsored executions. Activist Sister Helen Prejean,
representatives of Amnesty International, and a Rome-based
interfaith group, the Sant' Egidio Community, delivered the
petition as demonstrators outside U.N. headquarters rallied to end
capital punishment. ``We are right now at a new moment in terms of
the American people's recognition that the death penalty does not
serve us as a country,'' said Prejean, whose work as a spiritual
adviser to a death row inmate was depicted in the 1995 film ``Dead
Man Walking.'' ``A moral threshold has been crossed,'' she said.
Prejean said the petition is aimed at pressing the U.N.
General Assembly to pass a resolution halting executions, then
eventually banning them.
Amnesty International Chairman Paul Hoffman cited the fact
that while fewer than 30 countries had abolished the death penalty
in 1970, more than 110 have such bans today. At Monday's ceremony,
Annan backed the campaign, questioning how the taking of one life
can justify taking another. ``Can the state, which represents the
whole of society and has the duty of protecting society, fulfill
that duty by lowering itself to the level of the murderer, and
treating him as he treated others?'' Annan said.
Annan praised the countries which have signed a protocol
aiming to abolish the death penalty worldwide. ``If I may be
permitted to express a personal view, I believe that those states
are right,'' he said. ``The forfeiture of life is too absolute, too
irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on another, even
when backed by legal process. And I believe that future generations,
throughout the world, will come to agree.'' As governor of Texas,
President-elect Bush presided over nearly 150 executions. In 2000
alone, 40 people were put to death in Texas, the most of any state
in U.S. history. Prejean acknowledged that changing public
perception of capital punishment in the United States is one of the
biggest challenges facing the anti-death penalty movement. Prejean
argued against the position that capital punishment serves as a
deterrent to crime, and that executions provide justice for the
families of murder victims.
Annan
voices support for death penalty moratorium -
18 December � Accepting a petition signed by some 3
million people seeking a universal moratorium on the death penalty,
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today offered his
personal support for the cause.
"Let
the States that still use the death penalty stay their hand, lest
in time to come they look back with remorse, knowing it is too late
to redeem their grievous mistake," Mr. Annan said in remarks
delivered after he received the petition at UN Headquarters in New
York. The Secretary-General pointed out that those signing the
document "believe the murderer's death does not expunge his
crime, but adds another crime to it." At the same time, he
observed that UN Member States are "deeply divided" over
the issue. "Many still hold that the right to life can be
forfeited by those who take life, just as their right to liberty
can be abridged," he said, adding that he respected the right
of people to hold this view. Offering his personal perspective on
the issue, Mr. Annan noted that "the forfeiture of life is too
absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on
another, even when backed by legal process." "It is
tragic that, while the nations debate this problem, people continue
to be executed," he said. "When the change comes, it will
be too late for them." The petition was presented to the
Secretary-General by Sister Helen Prejean of Moratorium 2000
campaign, Paul Hoffman of Amnesty International and Mario Marazatti
of the Sant'Egidio community.
18
December 2000 Press
Release - SG/SM/7666
SECRETARY-GENERAL JOINS
APPEAL FOR WORLDWIDE MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS, AS HE ACCEPTS
�MORATORIUM 2000 CAMPAIGN� PETITION AT HEADQUARTERS
Following is the statement of Secretary-General Kofi
Annan on accepting the petition of the Moratorium 2000 Campaign,
which calls for a universal moratorium on executions, in New York
on 18 December:
I am deeply moved, as well as pleased, to accept this
petition for a universal moratorium on executions, signed by over 3
million people in over 130 countries around the world.
On behalf of the United Nations, I accept your petition,
and I congratulate all those who have worked so hard to collect so
many signatures. I wish it were in my power to grant their wish
and, by so doing, to save the lives of thousands of men and women.
Some of those men and women are innocent -- awaiting execution for
crimes which they did not commit. Others have been condemned for
offences which in other countries would carry a much lesser
penalty, or might not be crimes at all. Many, however -- perhaps
the majority -- are guilty of taking the lives of others.
The question is, can the taking of one human life
justify taking another? Can the State, which represents the whole
of society and has the duty of protecting society, fulfil that duty
by lowering itself to the level of the murderer, and treating him
as he treated others? Those who have signed this petition believe
not. They believe the murderer�s death does not expunge his
crime, but adds another crime to it. Within the family of nations,
many have not yet accepted that belief. Many still hold that the
right to life can be forfeited by those who take life, just as
their right to liberty can be abridged.
I know that that view is strongly held by many persons
of wisdom and integrity, and I respect their right to hold it.
Indeed, the matter is one on which Member States of the United
Nations are deeply divided. There is, however, an Optional Protocol
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming
at the abolition of the death penalty, which was adopted and
proclaimed by the General Assembly exactly eleven years ago.
Forty-three States are already parties to it, and seven more have
signed it.
If I may be permitted to express a personal view, I
believe that those States are right. The forfeiture of life is too
absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on
another, even when backed by legal process. And I believe that
future generations, throughout the world, will come to agree.
It is tragic that, while the nations debate this
problem, people continue to be executed. When the change comes, it
will be too late for them. And, therefore, I join you in appealing
for a worldwide moratorium. Let the States that still use the death
penalty stay their hand, lest in time to come they look back with
remorse, knowing it is too late to redeem their grievous mistake.
Only sovereign States have the power to grant your
petition. I pray that they will do so.
Death
penalty petition targets US -
Monday,
18 December, 2000
Opponents
of the death penalty have organised a mass petition urging
moratoriums on capital punishment throughout the world. The
petition, with 3.5 million signatures, is to be handed to United
Nations Secretary-eneral Kofi Annan in New York on Monday. It comes
as a powerful advocate of capital punishment, George W Bush,
prepares to take office in the White House. Although many
governments have abolished the death penalty, executions remain
legal in about 90 countries. Signatories to the petition, which has
been organised by the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, say that
the death penalty is a denial of the universal right to life and
that it dehumanises the world by putting vengeance first. The Dalai
Lama, Indonesian President Abdurahman Wahid and Italian film
director Roberto Benigni are among those who signed. It will be
presented by veteran human rights campaigner Sister Helen Prejean.
Bush
targeted
Correspondents
say the United States is the key target of the campaigners. Sister
Prejean said she hoped that Mr Annan would use his influence to
persuade it to rethink. "He can hold up the United States and
say - wouldn't you like to join the good guys? Wouldn't you like to
join the global community of countries who stand for human rights?"
she said. But, with US popular support for the death penalty
running at about 60% and the emergence of President-elect Bush, the
petitioners have a problem. More than 660 people have been executed
in the US since the death penalty was re-introduced there in 1976.
In Texas, where Mr Bush has been governor for the past four years,
support for the death penalty rises to 80%. Mr Bush has overseen
more than 130 executions - a greater number than any other governor
in the US since the death penalty was reinstated.
Rest
of the world
But
worldwide, the number of countries which retain the death penalty
is falling. The European Union prohibits its use in peacetime.
Chief among those that still authorise judicial killings is China
which, according to Amnesty International estimates, executed over
1,000 people last year. Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic
Republic of Congo also carry out a large number of executions.
 Tuesday
December 19, 2000
Global
petition puts pressure on US to abolish death penalty -
By Rory
Carroll
Opponents of
the death penalty opened a political front against the next US
president, George W Bush, yesterday by presenting the United
Nations with a petition of 3.2m signatures from 146 countries.
A coalition
of intellectuals, entertainers and religious and human rights
groups said the petition marked a stepping-up in the campaign for
moratoriums on capital punishment.
The petition
was handed to the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, in New York,
but its focus was on Mr Bush, who has approved more executions than
any other US governor in modern times during his tenure in Texas.
The objective is to exploit America's growing fear that innocent
people are ending up on death row.
The
Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, an independent Roman Catholic
group which promotes peace in Africa and the Balkans, organised the
petition.
It said the
death penalty dehumanised the world by putting vengeance first.
The
signatories include the Dalai Lama; the Indonesian president,
Abdurrahman Wahid; the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey; the
writer Umberto Eco; the film director Roberto Benigni; and the
World Methodist Council president, Frances Alguire.
Sister Helen
Prejean, author of the book Dead Man Walking, told Mr Annan that
the petition was aimed at the estimated 90 countries where capital
punishment remains legal. Executions are common in China, Iraq,
Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority
territories, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
More than 660
people have been executed in the US since the death penalty was
reintroduced in 1976. It is supported by two out of three Americans.
As Texas
governor, Mr Bush backed a law to shorten delays between
convictions and executions, blocked a bill to ban the execution of
people with learning disabilities, and presided over the first
execu tion of a woman since the civil war. Overseeing more than 150
deaths did his popularity no harm.
Sant'Egidio
senses that this campaign against the death penalty may succeed
where others failed because of revelations about incompetent
defence lawyers and dishonest prosecutors and police officers, and
the fact that a disproportionate number of black and Hispanic
convicts have been condemned.
In January
the Illinois governor, George Ryan, imposed a moratorium after 13
death-row inmates were shown to have been wrongly convicted. Such
scandals have rattled confidence in the system.
The Pope is
expected to use his new year message to the world to once again
condemn capital punishment.
Italy's
opposition was highlighted this year when the Colosseum in Rome was
bathed in light for 48 hours every time a death penalty was
suspended or commuted or a country abolished capital punishment.
The ceremony ends this month.
Global
appeal hopes to stall Texas executions -
By
Andrew Gumbel 19 December 2000
With
one of America's most ardent death penalty advocates about to enter
the White House, international opponents of capital punishment
presented a petition signed by more than three million people to
the United Nations yesterday to demand an immediate worldwide
moratorium on executions.
The
petition, signed by a vast range of luminaries from the Dalai Lama
to Roberto Benigni, the film director, and supported by both the
European Union and the Vatican, was theoretically aimed at all 31
countries still carrying out executions. But supporters made clear
that the United States, the only Western democracy on their
blacklist, was their number one target � particularly now that
George W Bush is to be the next president.
"When
he realises how bizarre executions in the US seem to the rest of
the world, perhaps this will lessen his support for capital
punishment," said Piers Bannister of Amnesty International,
which presented the petition alongside the Community of
Sant'Egidio, the Rome-based religious organisation dedicated to
promoting world peace, and Sister Helen Prejean, the American nun
famous for her solidarity with death row prisoners.
The
election of Mr Bush, who as Texas Governor encouraged executions at
a pace unprecedented in any US state, has come as a severe setback
to death penalty opponents at a time when doubts about the safety
and fairness of capital convictions are on the increase around the
world.
The
Philippines, a country hardly famous for its human rights record,
has decided to stop executions. In the US, Illinois recently
declared a moratorium because of compelling evidence that innocent
people were being sentenced to death. President Clinton, meanwhile,
has stayed the execution of Juan Raul Garza, the first federal
prisoner to face the death chamber in 37 years, following a flurry
of evidence suggesting that capital punishment is unfairly skewed
towards ethnic minorities and the poor.
Texas,
however, has just executed its 40th prisoner of the year, making
2000 a record-breaking year and putting Mr Bush's total at 151
executions in six years in office. With more than 80 per cent of
Texans supporting capital punishment � almost one-third more than
in the country as a whole � Mr Bush's unbending approach might
seem to be the perfect example of the "bipartisanship" he
is constantly touting.
But
capital punishment also appears to be something of a personal
crusade. Although the Governor's powers to stop executions are
relatively limited, Mr Bush has gone out of his way to encourage an
accelerated pace. In 1995 he signed legislation removing many of
the appeals processes that in other states can delay executions for
years. And more recently he vetoed a bill to provide better defence
lawyers for death row prisoners.
Some
activists hope his presence in the White House will make it easier
to raise awareness and galvanise supporters, precisely because of
his hardline views. Others are uncomfortable with that logic,
saying they would much rather the problem simply went away, but
still hope that international exposure will restrain Mr Bush's
baser instincts.
Although
the death penalty is largely administered at state level, one of Mr
Bush's first decisions will be whether to uphold or revoke Mr
Garza's stay of execution. Human rights activists do not believe he
is likely to show clemency, but they are also prepared to bombard
him with protests if Mr Garza is put to death
19/12
Annan
receives signatures, hopeful for execution ban -
UNITED
NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed hope
yesterday for a global ban on the death penalty after being
presented with petitions signed by 3.2 million people urging a
moratorium on executions. "What happens when you discover that
it is a mistake? Recently we have seen many who have been found not
guilty as a result of DNA and other new evidence. If they are dead,
how do you correct the error?" he told death-penalty foes. The
petitions were presented by representatives of the Community of
Sant'Egidio, the Rome-based peace group that organized the campaign,
Amnesty International, and Moratorium 2000. Sister Helen Prejean,
the founder of Moratorium 2000, pledged to return next year with 10
million signatures and said sentiment against capital punishment
was picking up in the United States, where polls show that most
people back the death penalty since the Supreme Court reinstated it
in 1976. "In the United States we are just beginning to see a
shift in public attitude," said Prejean, who wrote "Dead
Man Walking," an anti-death penalty book later made into a
film starring Susan Sarandon. Organizers said the petition's
signers hail from 146 countries. Although many countries have
abolished capital punishment, executions remain legal in some 90
countries.
19 december 2000
Kofi
Annan krijgt drie miljoen handtekeningen tegen doodstraf -
In
het kader van haar internationale campagne tegen de doodstraf heeft
de Sint-Egidiusgemeenschap, bekend van haar
bemiddeling tussen de Algerijnse regering en de GIA en van de
vooraanstaande rol die ze in de vredesprocessen in Guatemala en
Mozambique vervulde, gisteravond drie miljoen handtekeningen
overhandigd aan VN-secretaris-generaal Kofi Annan. Met de actie wil
Sant�Egidio, zoals de christelijke ngo internationaal bekendstaat,
haar eis kracht bijzetten tot een internationaal moratorium op de
doodstraf. Onder meer de Tibetaanse dalai lama, de Indonesische
president Gus Dur, voormalig Nobelprijswinnaar voor de Vrede Elie
Wiesel en de primaat van de Anglicaanse kerk hebben de actie
ondersteund. Ook de internationale mensenrechtenorganisatie Amnesty
International (AI) zegde haar steun toe.
�Het
initiatief voor onze actie tegen de doodstraf hebben we in 1998
genomen�, zegt woordvoerder Jan De Volder van de
Sint-Egidiusgemeenschap. �We koesterden de hoop om in dit
jubileumjaar 2000 een wereldwijd moratorium op de doodstraf te
bewerkstelligen, maar dat bleek te hoog gegrepen. Hoe dan ook, drie
miljoen handtekeningen is niet niets en we zijn vastbesloten met
onze actie door te gaan tot de doodstraf uit de wereld is geholpen.
�Natuurlijk
is de verkiezing van George W. Bush een streep door de rekening en
hadden we liever Al Gore als president gezien, ook al hebben de
Democraten inzake de doodstraf niet echt hun nek uitgestoken. Wat
er ook van zij, cruciaal voor een mogelijk moratorium is de
evolutie van het debat in de VS. Ondanks de verkiezing van Bush
denken we dat daar een positieve evolutie aan de gang is. Kijk naar
staten als Illinois, waar een moratorium is ingesteld nadat
gebleken was dat meerdere terdoodveroordeelden er onterecht ge�xecuteerd
waren. Ook de Amerikaanse publieke opinie begint daar oren naar te
hebben, de publieke steun voor de doodstraf neemt, op Texas na,
algemeen af.�
De
actie van Sant�Egidio is de grootste ooit gehouden ter
afschaffing van de doodstraf. De laatste jaren konden meer en meer
landen overgehaald worden om ze niet meer uit te voeren of een
moratorium in te stellen. �Recente voorbeelden�, schrijft de
gemeenschap in een mededeling, �zijn het federaal moratorium dat
uittredend VS-president Clinton in overweging nam en de omzetting
van alle uitgesproken doodstraffen in levenslang op de Filippijnen.
�Sant�Egidio
wil wereldwijd moratorium en geniet steun van Amnesty�
Ausgabe
Nr. 51/00, 21.12.2000
Nonne
Helen macht mobil Globale Zivilgesellschaft
kontra Weltmacht: Die Romer Gemeinschaft Sant'Egidio legt sich
mit George W. Bush an Von Oliver Fahrni
<Welthauptstadt
des Todes>: Merry Christmasin Huntsville, Texas
Noch
nicht im Weissen Haus angelangt, hat sich Amerikas bestellter Prasident
schon eine machtige Gegnerin zugezogen. Sie sitzt in einem kleinen
Kloster im Romer Trastevere-Quartier. Sie agiert im Halbschatten, pflegt
die Paralleldiplomatie, die diskret vorbereitete, effiziente Aktion.
Sie konnte George W.
Bush leicht das Amt verderben: Die katholische Laiengemeinschaft
Sant'Egidio schickt sich an, die Weltoffentlichkeit zu mobilisieren
- fur ein Moratorium aller Exekutionen, also der Todesstrafe. Am
vergangenen Montag ubergaben die Romer Menschenrechtler,
unterstutzt von
Amnesty International und der Gruppe Moratorium 2000, Kofi Annan
mehr als 3,2 Millionen
Unterschriften aus 145 Landern zur Achtung der staatlichen
Totung. Der Uno-Generalsekretar lobte und dankte warmer als ublich:
<Ich bin tief bewegt. Ich bete fur Ihren Erfolg.> Auf der
Petition fand er
Vaclav Havel, den deutschen Aussenminister Joschka Fischer, Indonesiens
Prasident Abdurrahman Wahid, Nobelpreistrager Elie Wiesel, den Dalai
Lama, Umberto Eco, Gunter Grass, den Erzbischof von Canterbury, Danielle
Mitterrand und mit ihnen ein so erlesenes wie umfassendes Who's who
aus Weltreligionen, Politik, Wissenschaft, Kultur und Sport. Fur
sie alle ist die Todesstrafe <grausam, unmenschlich,
erniedrigend>. Sie trifft oft
Unschuldige, ist aber ohne Wirkung auf Gewaltverbrecher. Kurzum:
der Triumph von
Blutrecht und Rache uber die Zivilisation. <Drei Millionen sind erst
ein Anfang>, frohlockte Schwester Helen Prejean, Grunderin von Moratorium
2000, <in ein paar Monaten kommen wir mit zehn Millionen Unterschriften
wieder.> Zwar zielt Sant'Egidio mit ihrer ersten globalen Offensive
auf alle 86 Staaten, die Verurteilte heute noch hangen, erschiessen,
kopfen, vergasen, verbrennen, zu Tode spritzen. Zuvorderst auf China,
das in diesem Jahr vermutlich an die tausend Straftater exekutiert hat.
Mario Marazziti, ein hochrangiger Fernsehjournalist, der bei Sant'Egidio
die Kampagne leitet, mochte die Vereinigten Staaten denn auch nicht
hervorheben. Aber er raumt ein, dass sich die Frage in und an
Amerika entscheiden
wird: <Solange die fuhrende Demokratie systematisch das fundamentale
Menschenrecht auf Leben verletzt, ist ein Durchbruch in Diktaturen
oder Landern mit religiosem Recht kaum vorstellbar.> George W. Bush
hat sich mit einiger Energie in die vorderste Linie manovriert. Nirgendwo
in der demokratischen Welt wurden in den letzten Jahren so viele Menschen
exekutiert wie in Texas, wo Bush als Gouverneur waltet, und in Florida,
wo Bushs Bruder regiert. Im texanischen Huntsville, der <Welthauptstadt
des Todes> (Margrit Sprecher in ihrem Buch <Leben und Sterben
im Todestrakt>. Haffmans, 1999), werden sogar Geistesgestorte
und Minderjahrige dem
Henker zugefuhrt. Das triste Privileg, Kindertater umzubringen,
teilt Amerika mit dem Iran, mit Somalia und China. Mehr als 3600
Verurteilte warten in Amerikas Todeszellen auf ihre Hinrichtung. <Dieses
Land muss sich jetzt entscheiden, ob es zu den Schurken oder zu den
guten Jungs gehoren
will>, sagt die Nonne Helen Prejean: <Wir laden Amerika ein,
der Weltgemeinschaft jener Lander beizutreten, die fur die Menschenrechte
einstehen.> Doch der neue Prasident sah sich bisher lieber in
der Rolle des Rachers als des Gerechten: <Bei uns gilt: Boses
Benehmen hat bose
Folgen.> Das bringt Stimmen. Wurde sich nicht Sant'Egidio mit
ihm anlegen, konnte
George W. Bush mit der Drei-Millionen-Petition verfahren, wie
mit allen Bittschriften, Gnadengesuchen, Aufrufen, die vornehmlich europaische
Menschenrechtler und Humanisten immer wieder an den Gouverneur richteten:
Ignorieren, ab in den Schredder. Aber wo die Romer Laiengemeinschaft hinlangt, kommt in der Regel Bewegung in
verkeilte Fronten.
Seit 1968 speist sie in Armenkuchen Zehntausende. Der Burgerkrieg von Mocambique wurde in ihrem Kloster beendet. Sant'Egido-Vermittler
griffen im Libanon, im
Kosovo, in Algerien und vielen anderen Konflikten ein.
Zielstrebig bauen sie an einer Welt-Okumene aller Religionen (Buddhisten,
Hindus, Shintoisten inklusive). Kritiker verdachtigen Sant'Egidio,
der verlangerte Arm italienischer oder vatikanischer Aussenpolitik
zu sein. Sogar das Ohr des reaktionaren Papstes haben die Links-Katholiken
gewonnen. Wie effizient sie sind, zeigt die Liste der Organisationen,
die das Moratorium unterstutzen. Mario Marazziti: <Zum ersten
Mal entsteht hier eine globale, moralische und interreligiose Front
fur das Leben von
Christen, Muslimen, Juden, Buddhisten und anderen Gemeinschaften;
und sie ist zugleich ein Bundnis zwischen Religiosen und Laienorganisationen
wie Amnesty.> Was Marazziti nur in Ansatzen formuliert: Es ist der erste Versuch, weltweit eine
Zivilgesellschaft um ein
Anliegen zu sammeln - und die fuhrende Grossmacht zu einer anderen Politik
zu zwingen. Ein Test fur die Hoffnung, der wirtschaftlichen Globalisierung
eine neue Form der Politik von unten beizugeben. <Der gemeinsame
Kampf gegen die Todesstrafe ist ein Schlussel>, sagt Marazziti, <denn
wir sagen damit, dass Menschenrechte, Folter, Gewalt keine interne Angelegenheit
eines Staates sind. Dies ohne neokolonialistische Anwandlungen,
die westlichen Staaten unterstellt werden konnten.> Die Forderung
nach dem Moratorium hat die Gunst der Stunde. Immer mehr Staaten rucken
von der Todesstrafe ab oder vollziehen sie nicht. In Amerika erschuttert
eine Reihe von Enthullungen selbst die Henkersfreunde: Dutzende von
zum Tode Verurteilten wurden nach DNA-Tests fur unschuldig befunden
- zum Teil nach mehr
als funfzehn Jahren im Todestrakt. Der Gouverneur von Illinois,
ein Parteifreund Bushs, setzte alle Hinrichtungen aus, weil er der
Justiz nicht mehr traut. Sie richtet rassistisch und sozial diskriminierend.
Viele Prozesse werden summarisch abgewickelt. Schlecht bezahlte
Pflichtverteidiger lassen die Angeklagten im Stich. Die <Chicago
Tribune>
untersuchte 300 Todesurteile in Illinois und fand, dass in 33 Fallen
die Anwalte gar nicht mehr zugelassen waren. Staatsanwalte unterschlugen
Entlastungsbeweise. Fur manche Unschuldige kommt der Nachweis zu spat - sie wurden schon hingerichtet.
Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung
Neue
Westf�lische Zeitung
Annan
unterst�tzt weltweite Initiative gegen Todesstrafe
New
York (dpa) - UN-Generalsekret�r Kofi Annan hat sich f�r eine
weltweite Aussetzung der Todesstrafe ausgesprochen. Er unterst�tze
einen entsprechenden Aufruf von Organisationen wie Amnesty
International und der italienischen katholischen Laienorganisation
Sant' Egidio, sagte Annan am Montag in New York.
Bei
einem Treffen �bergaben deren Vertreter mehr als drei Millionen
Unterschriften, die zur Unterst�tzung des Appells in mehr als 130
L�ndern gesammelt wurden. Tausende M�nner und Frauen s��en
weltweit in Todeszellen und s�hen ihrer Hinrichtung entgegen,
sagte Annan. Manche von ihnen seien unschuldig. Andere seien f�r
Delikte verurteilt worden, die in anderen Staaten straffrei seien
oder nur geringe Strafen nach sich z�gen.
Die
Mehrzahl seien allerdings M�rder. Die Mitgliedstaaten der
Vereinten Nationen seien aber "tief gespalten" in der
Frage, ob man M�rder t�ten d�rfe oder nicht. Zu den Bef�rwortern
der Todesstrafe geh�rten durchaus "viele Pers�nlichkeiten
von Weisheit und Integrit�t und ich respektiere, dass sie dieser
Ansicht sind".
Annan
verwies darauf, dass nur souver�ne Staaten die M�glichkeit h�tten,
dem Moratoriums-Appell stattzugeben. "Ich bete daf�r, dass
sie es tun." Von den 189 UN-Mitgliedsstaaten h�tten bislang
43 ein Zusatzprotokoll zur Internationalen Konvention �ber B�rgerrechte
und politische Rechte unterzeichnet, mit dem die Abschaffung der
Todesstrafe angestrebt wird.
Die
r�mische Kirchengemeinde Sant' Egidio hatte den internationalen
Appell und die Sammlung von Unterschriften vor zwei Jahren angeregt.
Seitdem hat sie weltweit f�hrende Vertreter von Staaten, der
unterschiedlichen Religionen, der Geisteswissenschaften sowie des
Kulturlebens f�r den Aufruf gewinnen k�nnen.
In
Rom sollte nach Angaben von Sant' Egidio aus Anlass der
Unterschriften�bergabe am Abend das Colosseum in besonderen Farben
erleuchtet werden. In New York trafen sich Gegner der Todesstrafe
nahe des UN-Hauptquartiers zu einer Kundgebung, auf der neben
anderen die Hollywood-Schauspielerin Susan Sarandon und die
Ordensschwester Helen Prejean sprachen.
Annan: no alla pena di morte
di Aldo Civico
La
Comunit� di Sant�Egidio ha presentato al segretario generale dell�Onu oltre 3 milioni di firme contro la
condan�no capitale.
New York.
Un grappolo di
persone entra alla spicciolata nella chiesa in stile coloniale di
St. Joseph nel cuore del Greenwich Village. Que�sta gente, giovani
soprattutto, � riuscita a svincolarsi dalla frenetica folla
natalizia che sta occupando la opu�lenta Fifth Avenue. Davanti ad
una icona di Cristo, la piccola comu�nit� di Sant�Egidio s��
data appun�tamento per accendere una can�dela e formulare una
preghiera per i condannati a
morte, senza dimenticare le vittime di mani as�sassine. Una
giornata lunga e sto�rica si sta per concludere.
In prima fila c�� suor Helen Prejean, che l�attrice Susan Saran�don ha
magistralmente interpre�tato nel film Dead
Man Walking. La giornata per lei era iniziata molto presto. Non
era stata un�alba qualsiasi. l� 1 8 dicembre 2000 avrebbe
segnato un passo importante nella storia dei diritti umani. D� l�
a qualche ora, lei e gli amici di Sant�Egidio si sarebbero
trovati faccia a faccia con Kofi An�nan momento la sua mente era
per� affollata dalle domande e dalle ansie delle grandi occasioni.
Kofi Annan.
Poco prima di mezzogiorno suor Prejean � arrivata in effetti al decimo
piano del quartier generale delle Nazioni Unite. Accanto a lei
Mario Marazziti della Comunit� di Sant�Egidio. Sotto il braccio,
or�goglioso e trepidante, custodiva un grosso ed elegante volume:
conteneva oltre 3 milioni di firme raccolte in due anni in 145 paesi del
mondo per chiedere la mora�toria contro la pena di morte.
Per la prima volta, grazie all�iniziativa per una Mora�toria
internazionale, si � in effetti creato uno schiera�mento
interreligioso e laico, che raccoglie leader di diversa
provenienza, dal Dalai Lama a Elie Wiesel, da esponenti di rilievo
del mondo islamico come il pre�sidente indonesiano Wahid a
numerosi vescovi e re�sponsabili delle maggiori confessioni
cristiane ed esponenti della cultura come Umberto Eco, Roberto
Benigni e Dario Fo.
�Quando ho visto Kofi Annan
�ci
racconta suor Prejean � la sua
figura mi ha ricordato Nelson Mandela. Dalla sua bocca non uscivano
frasi fatte o di circostan�ze. Le sue parole erano sostanzia�te
da valori. Crede fermamente in ci� che dice�, Annan si �
schierato con energia dalla parte di chi con�sidera la pena di
morte una grave e volgare violazione dei diritti umani: �La
condanna a morte � troppo assoluta, troppo irreversi�bile, perch�
un essere umano pos�sa applicarla ad un altro, anche se la
sentenza � pronunciata da un tribunale. � terribile che, mentre
le nazioni ne stanno discutendo, le
I esecuzioni proseguano�.
A raccogliere e diffondere la netta presa di posizione di Kofi
Annan, nella conferenza stampa
seguita alla consegna della petizio�ne c�erano decine di
microfoni, tra
cui quelli dei pi� grandi media sta�tunitensi
come la Cnn e l�agenzia Associated
Press. �Ho la percezio�ne � ci dice suor Prejean sul sa�grato della chiesa
� che
nell�opi�nione pubblica americana ci sia un effettivo cambio di
sensibilit�. Un segnale si era avuto anche nel no�vembre
scorso, quando per la pri�ma volta tutte le organizzazioni degli
Stati Uniti che lottano con�tro la pena di morte si erano riunite
a San Francisco.
|
