Holly Cartner,
Executive Director,
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki to Eduard Shevardnadze
August 13, 1996President Eduard Shevardnadze
pr. Rustaveli, 8
380018 Tbiliisi
Republic of Georgia
By fax: (99532) 99-79-85 and (49) 5151.13056 Dear President Shevardnadze, On behalf of Human Rights Watch, the
international human rights
organization, I extend my respects. I write to express profound concern over the continued
practice of
execution in Georgia as a form of judicial punishment. In
particular,
we fear for at least three men who currently are awaiting
execution _
Irakli Dokvadze, Petre Gelbakhiani, and Badri
Zarandia _ and
at least five others who are currently being tried on capital
charges
and could be executed if found guilty _ Jumber Bokuchava,
Zviad Dzidziguri, Vakhtang Kobalia, Nugzar Molodinashvili,
and Simon Zhghenti. We
appreciate the importance of effective law enforcement in
Georgia. However, Human Rights Watch opposes the infliction of
capital
punishment in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty.
Moreover, the argument that rising crime merits the use of the
death
penalty rests on the specious assertion that capital punishment
acts
as a deterrent to would-be murderers that would therefore reduce
the
level of homicide. A 1990 United Nations study suggests that the
opposite is often true: that use of the death penalty in fact can
have
a "brutalizing effect" on societies, eroding the
principle of the
sanctity of human life, and justifying lethal vengeance. We are also concerned that the death penalty
is most often carried
out in a discriminatory manner. Discrimination on ethnic,
religious
or political grounds frequently enters into the determination
of which
persons are executed and which persons are allowed to live.
Furthermore, the inherent fallibility of all criminal justice
systems
assures that even when full due process of law is respected
innocent
persons are sometimes executed. Because an execution is
irreversible,
such miscarriages of justice can never be corrected. The risk of such injustice is
particularly real in Georgia because
of the disregard for due process guarantees that the Georgian law
enforcement and justice systems regularly demonstrate. Concern
about
the inadequacy of these systems has been brought to your attention
by
numerous sources, including the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the U.S. Department of State and U.S.
Helsinki
Commission, your own Committee on Human Rights and Interethnic
Affairs, and Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. Georgia's July 14, 1996, application for
membership in the Council
of Europe makes this appeal particularly timely. As you know,
member
States of the Council of Europe are expected to become signatory
to
the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental
Freedoms; Article 1 of the Sixth Protocol of that Convention
stipulates that "the death penalty shall be abolished. No one
shall be
condemned to such penalty or executed." In addition to the
humanitarian
considerations, instituting a moratorium would send a clear signal
to the
Council of Europe that Georgia is ready to comply with the human
rights
standards that are the cornerstone of that institution. We have written to you before with regard to
Mr.Dokvadze and
Dr.Gelbakhiani but have received no response. Both men,
whom
we have met in person, were savagely beaten and intimidated
during arrest and interrogation and ultimately confessed under
duress, a fact that was ignored in the judge's ruling. Both
remain on
death row seventeen months after their sentence was handed down.
To date, to our knowledge the Clemency Commission has not issued
a ruling in the case. Failure to respond conveys an indifference
to these
urgent cases that, we are sure, does not reflect your true
attitude. We respectfully
call on you to institute an immediate moratorium on
the death penalty and a full ban in the nearest future. We also
urge
you to use your good offices to secure an immediate commutation of
sentence from the Clemency Committee, and, if no such ruling is
forthcoming, to use your presidential prerogative to personally
commute the sentences immediately. Thank you in advance for your attention to these urgent
concerns. I
look forward to your response, which may be sent to me by fax at
(1) (212) 972-0905 or (095) 265-4448. Respectfully,
Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki cc: Chairman, Clemency Commission of the Georgian
Parliament
Chairman, Committee for Human Rights and Interethnic Relations
Chairman, Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights
U.N. Centre for Human Rights
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights JosƦnbsp;Ayala-Lasso
Secretary General Daniel Tarschys, Council of Europe
Special Rapporteur on the Death Penalty, Council of Europe
Ambassador Dieter Boden, Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck
U.S. Helsinki Commission
Ambassador William Courtney, U.S. Embassy |
