Statement on execution of Bali bombers

11 November 2008

Reprieve Australia strongly endorses the stance declared by Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, that Australia will soon co-sponsor an international moratorium on capital punishment at the United Nations General Assembly.

Rachel Walsh, President of Reprieve Australia, said today Australia should stand against capital punishment at every opportunity in line with the declared policy of both major political parties.

“It is highly regrettable that our Federal Governments – both Labor and Liberal – demonstrate very selective opposition to the death penalty,” Ms Walsh said.

“Australia did not speak out against the death penalty for the Bali bombers, yet we are signatories to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“When we signed up to the Second Optional Protocol, we pledged our support for an ‘international commitment to abolish the death penalty’", Ms Walsh said.

“That commitment cannot be conditional upon who is the victim or who is to be executed. Conditional opposition is no opposition at all.”

Rachel Walsh said Australia has a long and proud history of opposing the death penalty, from the very first abolition of capital punishment in Queensland in 1922 by a Labor Government.

“This opposition has been remarkably bipartisan in nature and remains part of the official platform of all our major political parties,” she said.

“As a nation that prides itself on its long history of standing up for what is right and opposing what is wrong, we must oppose the use of the death penalty, for any reason, against anyone, anywhere.”

Reprieve Australia seeks to provide legal and humanitarian support to those facing the death penalty around the world, and to educate locally on the death penalty. Since its inception in 2001, Reprieve Australia has sent more than 50 volunteer interns to work with pro bono capital defence and appeal attorneys in the US.
For further information:

Reprieve Australia – email: president@reprieve.org.au
Brian Morley   Mobile: 0423 074 240

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