To be an unfortunate person in a country, which uses the death penalty for certain crimes, is to assume more "respect" from the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, than our founding fathers might have ever imagined.I noticed reports in the Australian media concerning the possible fate of Saddam Hussein. According to the reports, Mr Howard will not be opposing the death sentence for Saddam. Mr Howard said much the same thing when the Bali bombers' were sentenced to death.
Recently, I received a letter from the Prime Minister, John Howard. In the letter, he stated that Australia is a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires State Parties to abolish and oppose the death penalty for every case and under any circumstance. Alas, Mr Howard also stated that he "respects" the rights of sovereign states to pass judgements relating to crimes committed within their jurisdictions - that includes the death penalty.
Let's see here ... this is an interesting and intriguing judgement.
Being an Italian born and proud citizen of this country, Australia, which long ago stopped slaughtering criminals in the name of justice, I find the word "respect" when referring to death penalty laws, as bizarre and an insult to every decent human being on this planet that values the sanctity of human life.
Respectable leaders of civilised nations that have abolished this vicious act of state-sponsored violence, have shown "zero respect" to the few sovereign states that still use this barbaric and animalistic punishment. The European Union (25-nation council) has expressed a very clear stance on its opposition to capital punishment in all cases.
But what intrigued me was the use of "respect".
In ordinary circumstances it means "admiration and honour", applied to something that is positive. You are eligible for respect when you contribute something good to society. Such as, when you show compassion to others less fortunate than yourself, and people who volunteer caring for others in various ways. Even criminals may be eligible for respect if they better themselves while in prison.
At any rate, the use of the word "respect" for something as final as the death penalty, prompted me to think about other crimes, besides murder, that are punishable by death in those sovereign states that deserve be "respected" according to Prime Minister Howard.
If you are a female and happen to commit the crime of adultery, you may be stoned-to-death. Homosexuality is another crime punishable by death. So are crimes of apostasy, blasphemy, prostitution, tax fraud, stealing petrol, corruption on earth, sorcery, robbing graves, and so on.
If you are an Australian citizen and happen to end up on the wrong side of the law in a sovereign state, don't rely on your Prime Minister to voice his opposition if your human rights are violated, or if you are unlucky enough to be sentenced to death for a handful of drugs.
You will need to remember that Mr Howard "respects" the rights of sovereign states to pass judgements relating to crimes committed within their jurisdictions, which includes the death penalty.
I assume Mr Howard's "respect" also extends to the various methods used by sovereign states to exterminate human beings; firing squad, beheading, stoning-to-death, lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gass and hanging, just to name a few. There are also many non-publicised methods of execution such as; slowly being tortured-to-death.
Anyway, once you are executed (hopefully not in public) to the complete satisfaction of that sovereign state, you won't be executed again --- there will always be other human beings (including Australian citizens) that will become eligible for execution under Mr Howard's policy of serial "respect".
Then there is a thing called "friendly respect", just as there is friendly detention. The Australian Prime Minister guarantees every sovereign state, which legally executes human beings, with this friendly respect. All you (or a member of your family) have to do is get arrested in a sovereign state, receive a less than fair trial and a death sentence. If you do this, and it happens to come to the attention of Prime Minister Howard, that sovereign state will become eligible for a honourable respect from our Prime Minister. This is referred to as "honourable respect".
But finally, it is the citizens of Australia themselves who will ultimately be affected the most from all of this "respect".
It's a shame that those who signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires State Parties to abolish and oppose the use of the death penalty for every case and under any circumstance, didn't know about respect for the death penalty.
Had they realised that Australia would have a future Prime Minister that would "respect" the use of the death penalty, they would surely have devoted their hearts and minds to "life, liberty and the pursuit for respect".
No other Prime Minister in the history of Australia has so powerfully expressed his sincere and deepest "respect" to the sovereign states that legally execute human beings to death.
It makes the word "respect" seem so ... "disrespectful".
Cheers, Dorina, Santo, Angela, Andrew, Tracey and Chris. Team at ACADP.
By Dorina Lisson posted 20 July 04
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DEATH PENALTY REGARDLESS OF THE LAW: Yusril Mahendra
Indonesia's Justice Minister says he would be happy to see the Bali bombers, [USA, CIA, call to arms false flag operation and those patsies], who are on death row executed, despite a court ruling that the law they were convicted under is unconstitutional.
CONGRATULATIONS ... YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR 'RESPECT'
To be an unfortunate person in a country, which uses the death penalty for certain crimes, is to assume more "respect" from the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, than our founding fathers might have ever imagined.
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Part TWO: Who really Benefited from the Bali Bombings?
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There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.
