Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum Hosts Abolition of Capital Punishment in the World Session

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum Hosts Abolition of Capital Punishment in the World Session

AMMAN – July 1, 2014- Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum hosted an important discussion session about the abolition of the capital penalty in the world with the Former French Minister of Justice and President of the Constitutional Council of France, HE Mr. Robert Badinter.

The session was chaired and moderated by the Head of the Forum, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, and attended by ambassadors, representatives of diplomatic missions, judges public, legislative and private sector workers, academics, former ministers, senators, and the media.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh welcomed the guests and the attendees, saying that the important discussion session was to discuss and present views in a civilized, objective and rational manner.

Expressing his own view, he said that there must be full punishment for those who deserve it, but it should not be execution. This is because no one has the right to end someones life butGod. He added that capital punishment should not be subject to amnesty, and that he personally believes that lifetime imprisonment is equivalent to capital punishment. He added that he is proud of the effective judicial system we have in Jordan. 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh presented his guest as a global figure who has worked in courts and in many international commissions and has offered his aid in the field of human rights. He also reviewed the achievements of Mr. Badinter in France, the EU and the UN, as well as the role he played in organizing European conventions.

For his part, Mr. Badinter appreciated HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh for inviting him to speak at the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University headquarters, and for giving him the opportunity to penetrate cultural barriers that hinder communication with others. He also praised the University for addressing and discussing major issues to find solutions.

He said that he has always fought the death penalty and that he decided to devote himself to work on the abolition of capital punishment because no one has the right to finish someone elses life.

He added that in 1981 France was the thirty-fifth country to abolish capital punishment, and that among the 198 country members of the UN, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty while more than 50 countries have not, and that more work must be done to abolish the punishment completely.

He clarified that there are communication and international conventions in this regard, and that some countries influence others, as in the case of Europe, where out of 48 countries, 47 have abolished the death penalty. He also said that the European Commission for Human Rights and the European Courts concluded that this punishment is inhumane and useless, and that all European countries made bilateral and regional agreements to exclude this punishment from international law. He referred to the bloody crimes that occurred during the World War II, and said that we will not repeat the actions of the past. He also mentioned the regional conventions that prevent capital punishment in the north and in the south of Latin America.

He added that some states of the United States still apply this punishment, but that there is a positive trend towards abolishment, and that there are discussions in the General Assembly of the UN on how to achieve complete abolishment at the international level.

He said the USA is democratic and proud of its system of justice, and developed the panel law in the states, and that some states refused the death penalty, and six states recently abolished it and the rate of execution has decreased after Bush’s presidential reign.

He also referred to the International Tribunal in The Hague when the death penalty was refused to be applied against the murder with the biggest number of victims in the world (Yugoslavian and European massacres). This step requires major decisions of the members.

At the end of the session, many attendees presented their questions and views.