Prison Executions
TRUTH OR TABLOID - Posted Thursday, April 6, 2000 -TRUTH. The rapid pace of U.S. executions is making it hard
to find civilian witnesses, as is required in some states.
Ninety-eight inmates were put to death in 1999 alone, with
an average of six civilians required to watch each execution.
Prison officials are beating the bushes for new witnesses via
the phone, press release and, of course, the ‘Net. Virginia
has resorted to using repeat witnesses: Teresa and Larry
Clark, a husband and wife chimney sweep team, have witnessed
a total of seven executions in the past three years (source:
Wall Street Journal). Do your civic duty--apply to witness
an execution today!:)shagmail (click).
DEATH PENALTY DISAPPEARING IN EUROPE
"At its October, 1997 Summit the Council of Europe strengthened its call for the abolition of the death penalty everywhere in Europe. French President Jacques Chirac called the summit "a step in the right direction, whether it be on human rights, social progress or peace". Earlier in 1997, President Boris Yeltsin ordered a moratorium on executions in Russia in order to qualify for membership in the Council of Europe. Council member states Italy, Spain, Moldova and Belgium have also recently abolished the death penalty...while the U.S. increases the number and pace of executions. The Council also reports that since 1990, 5 countries are known to have executed prisoners for crimines committed when they were under 18. They are Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA and Yemen."(Coalition for Prisoners' Rights, January 1998. P.O.Box 1911, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1911.) ~scroll down~
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT (1997) -
A total of 45 prisoners were executed in 19 states. One state carried out its first execution for more than 30 years. More than 3,387 prisoners were under sentence of death in 34 states and under federal law. There were reports of deaths in custody, police shootings in diputed circumstances, and torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. Chain gangs, which constitute cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, continued to be used and were introduced for women for the first time. There were legal developments in the cases of prisoners who had alleged that their prosecutors were politically motivated. In September, the first chain-gangs for female prisoners were introduced in jail in Arizona".
"WHY DO WE KILL PEOPLE WHO KILL PEOPLE TO SHOW THAT KILLING PEOPLE IS WRONG?..On April 23, 1998 Jose Villafuerta, a Honduran, was executed in Arizona, in defiance of the World Court's call to postpone the execution because the Honduran Embassy had not been notified hen the trial occurred, in violation of international standards.."
(Justicia, Judicial Process Commission, 121 N. Fitzhugh St.Rochester, NY 14614).
"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons" - Dostoyevsky.
