From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 28 Dec 92 11:50 PST
Subject: LATIN AMERICA: DEATH PENALTY PROPOS
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700915:000:3896
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Dec 28 11:50:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: LATIN AMERICA: DEATH PENALTY PROPOS

/* Written 12:10 am  Dec 26, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in
igc:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: LATIN AMERICA: DEATH PENALTY PROPOSED TO FIGHT REBELS, DRUG
TRADE

an inter press service feature

by marco antonio sibaja

washington, dec 23 (ips) -- led by peru, latin american
governments may reverse a regional trend and begin applying the
death penalty against guerrilla fighters and drug traffickers.

faced with the prospect of keeping rebel leader abimael guzman
jailed for life, peru's president alberto fujimori has announced
his intention to defy the country's constitution and reinstate the
death penalty.

according to juan mendez, executive director of the humanitarian
organisation ''americas watch,'' fujimori's decision would not
only violate the peruvian constitution, but also international
human rights accords.

mendez said that, while no international treaty explicitly
specifies the death penalty as a human rights abuse, the san jose
pact -- a regional human rights accord -- prohibits signatory
nations from reinstating the punishment once it has been
abolished.

peru is a signatory nation, but fujimori has signaled his
willingness to void the accord in order to apply the death penalty
to guzman and other ''sendero luminoso'' guerrillas.

''many countries have renounced international treaties over
objections to a single point, but the peruvian case would be the
first time anyone has done so against a human rights accord,''
mendez said.

however, if peru does renounce the treaty, it would still
officially remain in effect for one year, prohibiting the
immediate restoration of the death penalty.

an official with the u.s. state department said that peru's
insistence on reinstating the death penalty could affect the
country's efforts to obtain desperately needed international aid.

the source, which requested anonimity, said peru needs to generate
''enthusiasm'' in the international community to inspire the level
of support necessary to combat the country's economic problems,
drug trafficking and insurgency.

''we cannot tell them not to do it, because we have the death
penalty ourselves, but it is very possible that other countries
will be opposed,'' the source said.

the united states is the only country on the american continent
that applies the death penalty, while in the caribbean the
punishment is still used in various countries, including cuba and
grenada. (more/ips)
----

latin america: death (2)

the americas watch expert said that while some latin american
nations may still have the death penalty in their penal codes,
they do not use it in practice.

in other latin american countries, the death penalty is applied,
but only in cases of treason or cowardice amongst members of the
armed forces, mendez said.

in addition to the death penalty, the fight against armed
guerrillas and drug traffickers has seen the return of other
judicial and human rights aberrations: masked or anonymous judges
and military trials for civilians.

colombia, guatemala, and peru have all resorted to these judicial
mechanisms.

mendez pointed out that colombia was the first country in the
region to use anonymous judges to try accused drug traffickers,
due to the threats and assassinations against judges on the part
of powerful drug cartels.

but peru has carried the practices to their extreme, using
anonymous judges, military trials, and even anonymous witnesses,
in trials against sendero guerrillas.

these anamolies have turned into one of latin america's new human
rights dilemas, as the region continues its transition from
decades of military rule to civilian governments.
(end/ips/trd/so/hr/mas/im/eli/92)
----