Death Penalty

Without wishing to discuss the pros and cons of the ultimate punishment, I am intrigued by these two items in the current issue of Europa Newsletter.

On the occasion of the second World Day Against the Death Penalty, the EU called on all countries that still permit the death penalty to put an end to executions and to abolish the death penalty. The EU welcomed the global trend towards abolition and the fact that the international community has excluded the use of the death penalty in establishing international tribunals and the International Criminal Court, which are competent for the most heinous crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity.

Its interesting that one should get so happy about making sure that a future Osama or Saddam is not executed, but it is consistent. This however is bizarre.

EU Foreign Ministers agreed to end sanctions against Libya. However, concerns remain about the human rights situation in Libya and notably about the fact that Libya has not yet abolished the death penalty.

Most Libyans have about as much chance of being strung up as I have of becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury. Yet all Libyans live under an illiberal regime, where the rule of law and property rights are absent. The country is run by an all powerful dictator, for whom the citizens are nothing more than pawns. And in all of this, our esteemed leaders choose to focus on an issue that for most Libyans is probably not even an issue. What a strange set of priorities