Dec. 8
MEXICO:
Mexico to debate death penalty
With kidnappings and drug slayings terrorizing the nation, Mexican
legislators are opening the way for what promises to be an emotional
debate on whether to reinstate the death penalty.
The bill, sponsored by Coahuila Gov. Humberto Moreira, could come up for
debate as early as Tuesday in the federal Chamber of Deputies. It would
reinstate the punishment for kidnappers who kill their victims.
"These are people who won't be rehabilitated in jail," said Moreira, whose
cattle-ranching state borders Texas. "Let's get real, and lets start
executing the kidnappers."
The proposal has sparked outrage from human rights activists, the Roman
Catholic Church and fellow politicians, who have denounced it as immoral
and illegal. Mexico abolished the last vestiges of the death penalty in
2005, and it was last applied in 1961.
The measure, which would require a constitutional amendment, is unlikely
to win the necessary 2/3 majority in the federal Congress and the 32 state
legislatures. Mexico is also bound by the Inter-American Convention on
Human Rights, which bars countries that have abolished the death penalty
from reinstating it.
Critics have accused Moreira of exploiting Mexicans' fear of violent
crime, and kidnapping in particular, to rally votes ahead of 2009
congressional elections. The governors Institutional Revolutionary Party
is hoping to rebound as the countrys dominant political force, 9 years
after the collapse of the 1-party system in 2000.
"This is playing with the feelings of desperation of many Mexicans," said
Carlos Navarrete, a senator of the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party,
which opposes the bill.
Mexico has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the world, with dozens
of Americans among the victims. Officially, an average of 70 people are
abducted each month, although private security firms say the real figure
is 10 times higher. Most Mexicans don't report kidnappings for fear of
endangering the victims' lives - or that the police may be involved.
Many of the kidnappings are carried out by drug syndicates.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
