Posted on 01/12/2007 8:05:53 PM PST by Kitten Festival
Peruvian president Alan Garcia Thursday proposed a national referendum [press release, in Spanish] on introducing capital punishment for convicted terrorists after a legislative proposal to that effect was defeated 49-26 in the Peruvian Congress [official website] on Wednesday.
Garcia described the defeat as one contrary to the will of the Peruvian people, and "[it was his] duty to fulfill what [he has] promised... in [his election] campaign." Political observers believe that Congress is unlikely to support the referendum proposal, which itself requires the approval of Congress.
Congressional opposition to the proposal cite the American Convention on Human Rights [text], which Peru has signed and ratified, prohibiting signatories from introducing or expanding the application of the death penalty. Capital punishment is currently only authorized in cases of wartime treason in Peru.
The capital punishment proposal was part of Garcia's election platform. Since the 1980s, Peru has faced an insurgency from the Shining Path a Maoist organization designated in the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
(Excerpt) Read more at jurist.law.pitt.edu ...
Signs of intelligent life , south of the border.
Do it here, we'll get Inca on your A$$...
Yep. Peru understands this quite well and is duly impressed. I like Peru.
Does Peru now belong on the list of nations that "get it"? To date: Australia, Somalia, Ethiopia. It might now be four.
I'd put 'em there. Alan Garcia has called Hugo Chavez a clown and thug to his face. He certainly gets a lot of it.
maybe john howard mixed with jimmy carter's economic savvy. Holders of Intis (former currency of peru) will appreciate the irony.
More likely just a politician trying to make headlines with this stuff.
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori waged an aggressive and highly successful campaign against Shining Path and Tupac Amaru. Fujimori, originally an elected leader, seized near-dictatorial powers in April 1992, with military support, and disbanded Peru’s congress and courts, which he said were limiting his ability to crack down on terrorism. Within a few years, Fujimori had captured most of the leaders of the rebel groups, and terrorism subsequently declined sharply. Thousands of Peruvians were convicted of terrorism-related charges and sentenced to life imprisonment by military courts. Human rights activists accuse the Peruvian military of committing widespread human rights abuses during the crackdown, including the jailing of thousands of innocent Peruvians. But in 2003, Peru’s constitutional court struck down the anti-terror laws enacted under Fujimori and as a result more than 1,900 jailed members of the Shining Path have been given the right to request retrials in civilian court, including the group’s leader Abimael Guzman—who was captured and jailed in 1992.
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