Crime & Justice, Europe, Headlines, Human Rights

DEATH PENALTY: Europe Squeezes Russia

Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Jul 21 2006 (IPS) - Though Russia first declared its willingness to abolish the death penalty more than a decade ago, that determination has foundered because many legislators believe it is a necessary tool to fight terrorism.

“It’s been obvious Russia has not adopted the protocol abolishing death penalty, despite increasing calls to do so, and it’s likely it would not do away with it most especially this time when Russia has stepped up its fight against terrorism, ” Chairman of the State Duma’s Legislative Committee Pavel Krasheninnikov told IPS.

The issue has come to a head now because Russia took over the rotating chairmanship of the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body, in May. The 46-member council is reticent to have the former Soviet Union as its head if it has not complied completely with Council of Europe ideals, Secretary General Terry Davis said at a parliamentary session in June.

The problem, parliamentarians in Russia say, is that the legislature is reluctant to abolish the death penalty at a time when terrorism appears to be on the rise. Removing capital punishment from the law books would make them appear soft on terrorism, they believe.

However, the Head of the Centre for Development of Democracy and Human Rights based in Moscow, Yury Dzhibladze, told IPS he did not believe that was a cogent reason to keep the death penalty on the books.

“This is a very worrying status quo,” Dzhibladze said. “Russia cannot be considered a full-fledged and true democratic European nation until the moment it abolishes this obsolete and barbarian method of governing people.”

The public attitude can change if politicians and leaders engage actively in public awareness campaign about abolition of capital punishment and democratic values in modern society, he says, adding that there is nothing unusual about that. Governments often go against the will of the majority in such serious matters.

“These kinds of issues are not decided by a referendum, at least not in this country. Often a leader, as poet Alexander Pushkin once said, is more progressive than the majority of a backward and conservative public,” Dzhibladze said.

In late June, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly issued a fresh statement urging Russia to ratify the protocol on death penalty.

“The death penalty has been abolished in all the member states, with just one exception,” the document said. “More than ten years after accession, the Russian Federation still retains the death penalty in its legislation, although it does respect the moratorium on the executions it decided in 1996.”

The Council of Europe will continue to insist that Russia ratify the European Convention on Human Rights’ protocol on the abolition of the death penalty, Davis said at the last parliamentary session.

The Soviet Union executed an average of 730 people per year from the 1960s until its dissolution in 1991. In 1996, Russia imposed a moratorium on capital punishment, and three years later, the Constitutional Court formally barred death sentences. Still, some lower courts continue to sentence defendants to death.

President Vladimir Putin has suggested he might take steps towards abolishing the death penalty in Russia. He did not elaborate what steps he would take in light of public opposition.

Many politicians in Russia argue they need to impose capital punishment for terrorists. Russian legislators also point to a massacre at the Dubrovka theatre in October 2002, in which 130 people were killed and more than 700 wounded. More recently, 331 people died in the Beslan school hostage crisis, the worst case of terrorism in the nation’s post- Soviet history.

Those responsible for those crimes, most Russians believe, should be executed, according to polls conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in August last year.

Kostantin Kosachyov, head of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, said there was no majority in parliament in favour of ratification of the protocol against the death penalty.

“There has not been any serious and controversial matter that came up before us and has taken such a long time to find a collective solution as the death penalty,” Kosachyov told IPS. “We certainly have no right to debate ratification while there is a risk that it will be rejected. If this happens, the issue will inevitably be delayed.”

Surprisingly, Sergey Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council (Russia’s Upper Chamber), in June rejected all talks concerning Russia’s unchangeable attitude towards abolition of capital punishment.

Several legislators this year have talked about maintaining the moratorium and privately advocated for its extension after it expires early next year. Krasheninnikov called death sentences ordered by lower courts “a serious legal mistake and judicial decisions not in conformity with the times.”

The pressure that international organisations are putting on Russia regarding this issue is not a factor here, Krasheninnikov said.

“Public opinion influences the matter a great deal. From the political viewpoint, nobody ventures to raise issues related to the abolition of the death penalty while terrorist attacks still happen,” Krasheninnikov said.