The more I hear about Ban Ki-moon - the new Secretary General of the UN, the more I like. While I am under no illusion that he can change the large, inept organization into a power for good, he at least seems to be far and away better connected to reality that his predecessor.
The U.N. has an official stance opposing capital punishment and Ban’s predecessor Kofi Annan reiterated it frequently. The top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, restated it again on Saturday after the former Iraqi dictator was hanged.
Ban, however, took a different approach, never mentioning the U.N. ban on the death penalty in all its international tribunals, and the right to life enshrined in the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Saddam Hussein was responsible for committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against Iraqi people and we should never forget victims of his crime,” Ban said in response to a reporter’s question about Saddam’s execution Saturday for crimes against humanity. “The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide.”
Good for him. I hope Kofi Annon chokes on the news. This is a pragmatic and logical stance, and increases
This dose bring up a very interesting point with regards to the UN’s official stance on the death penalty. Specifically, it looks as if the majority of the UN member countries do support the deal penalty, including the largest UN members including the US, China, and Russia. If the UN is to represent the member states, then the policies of the UN should be representative of those states. I did some quick web searches, and can’t find a break down of UN member countries and their respective stance on capital punishment.
I hope Ban Ki-moon continues to show good sense. My hope for the UN went out the door with Bolton, but perhaps there is some glimmer of hope.
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