URGENT ACTION:GUATEMALA Proposed resumption of executions

Decree 06-2008 was due to be sent by the Congress of
Guatemala to the President on 26 February (according
to the Constitution Congress has 10 days after the
approval of a law to send it to the President). The
President will have 15 days from the date he receives
the Decree to either approve the law or veto it.

In 2000, Congress had revoked the law which allowed
those sentenced to death to apply for presidential
clemency. In 2005 the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights (IACHR) found that Guatemala could not carry
out executions without a clemency procedure in place
and established criteria for such a procedure.

Although Congress's passing of Decree 06-2008 is
presented as Guatemala's attempt to comply with part
of the IACHR's ruling, the new law in fact breaches
both the ruling and international human rights law
which the Guatemalan state has committed itself to
respect:

Firstly, Decree 06-2008 fails to mention and define
the criteria under which pardons are to be granted,
even though the IACHR's ruling ordered the Guatemalan
state to specify clear criteria for evaluating
individual petitions for pardon. This leaves Guatemala
in breach of the American Convention on Human Rights,
which establishes that countries must comply with the
IACHR's judgements. In addition, Guatemala's own
Constitution establishes that international human
rights treaties prevail over national law.

Secondly, according to Decree 06-2008, the lack of a
presidential decision within 30 days of the
application for commutation of the death sentence
would suffice to consider the request "tacitly
rejected", which would therefore lead to immediate
execution. This is known as "negative administrative
silence". Under the terms of the new law,
administrative silence is effectively used as a means
of speeding up executions and would result in the
impossibility of appealing in order to stop them.
Amnesty International considers the use of
administrative silence, when related to the right of
life in the context of impending executions as wholly
unacceptable. In addition, administrative silence is
legally inconsistent with the obligation to establish
specific criteria for evaluating each case and take
them into account. If an appeal for clemency were
rejected by administrative silence, the authorities
would be failing in their duty to substantiate their
decisions following the criteria established by law.
Moreover, by leading to immediate executions by
default, administrative silence could lead to the
execution of prisoners who have appealed their
sentences to international bodies and whose cases are
still pending.

Amnesty International recognizes the grave situation
of public security in Guatemala. With over 5,000
murders a year and a conviction rate of less than one
percent, there is understandably much public anxiety
at the lack of security. To oppose capital punishment
is not to excuse or minimize the consequences of
violent crime. Amnesty International has been among
many national and international organizations
campaigning on behalf of victims of violent crime and
recommending changes in public security policies for
many years, in a manner consistent with human rights.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

To end the death penalty is to recognize that it is a
destructive, diversionary and divisive public policy
that is not consistent with widely held values. It
runs the risk of the irrevocable error of executing
the innocent. It tends to be applied discriminatorily
on grounds of race and class. It denies the
possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation. It
promotes simplistic answers to the suffering of the
murder victim's family, and extends that suffering to
the loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It diverts
resources that could be better used to work against
violent crime and assist those affected by it. It is a
symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to
it. It is an affront to human dignity. It should be
abolished.

At present, 135 countries - more than two thirds of
the countries in the world - have now abolished the
death penalty in law or practice. Furthermore, last
December the United Nations General Assembly adopted a
resolution calling for a moratorium on executions. The
resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority of
104 states -- including Guatemala. The resolution
called for all states that still use the death penalty
to respect international standards that provide
safeguards to those facing execution and to establish
a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing
the death penalty.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible:

- expressing concern at the situation of public
security and sympathy for the victims of the crime;

- expressing deep concern, however, that Guatemala is
considering reactivating executions;

- urging the President to exercise his constitutional
power to veto Decree 06-2008 because it is
inconsistent with the 2005 ruling of the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Ronald Ernesto
Reyes Raxcaco vs Guatemala, 2005); it introduces the
element of ''negative administrative silence'', which
is incompatible with the seriousness with which
clemency requests should be treated; and, it fails to
mention and define the criteria under which pardons
are to be granted;

- urging the President to exercise his constitutional
power to veto Decree 06-2008, because the death
penalty is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, with an average of
two to three countries per year abolishing capital
punishment in the last two decades, and it has not
been shown to have a special deterrent effect

- expressing serious concern that Guatemala will join
the USA as the only other country in the American
continent to execute people.

APPEALS TO:

President
Presidente de la Republica de Guatemala
Lic. Alvaro Colom
Casa Presidencial, 6ª Avenida, 4-18, Zona 1.
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax 011 502 2383 8390
E-mail: "This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it!"
Salutation: Estimado Sr. Presidente

COPIES TO:

Local human rights organizations
Red de organizaciones por la abolicion de la pena de
muerte
c/o ICCPG
5a calle 1-49, Zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 2230 1841
011 502 2232 5121
Email: "This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it!"

Ambassador Jose Guillermo Castillo
Embassy of Guatemala
2220 R St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 745 1908
Email: "This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it!"

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending
appeals after 9 April 2008.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots
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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact,
including contact information and stop action date (if
applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
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