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New Jersey abolishes death
penalty, hopes soar in Punjab
 Trenton, New Jersey, 19
December: In recent times, there have been few instances when hope
is read in a news item. In less than 72 hours since the New Jersey
legislature passed the anti-death penalty law, Governor Jon Curzine
has assented to it and helped soar the hopes of those on the death
row worldwide.
India-based human rights activists of all shades are
particularly pleased at the development as many Sikh, Kashmiri and
other political detenues are on the death row, waiting for the
executive’s final decision. Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar, Afzal Guru
are political detenues and there are a score of others whose files
are pending either before the President of India or with the
Ministry of Home Affairs.
Despite skepticism from some victims of families, New
Jersey has become the first state in more than three decades to
abolish death penalty.
Even those eight people who are presently on the
death row have been granted clemency and their sentences commuted to
life imprisonment.
“This bill does not forgive or in any way condone the
unfathomable acts carried out by the eight men now on New Jersey's
death row,” noted Corzine. “They will spend the rest of their lives
in jail.”
It was a “momentous day” not only for Governor
Curzine, but for all those in the US engaged in relentless
campaigning against capital punishment, including the countrywide
NCADP and the Death Penalty Information Centre.
"It's a day of progress for the state of New Jersey
and for the millions of people across our nation and around the
globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical response
to the grievous, even heinous, crime of murder," Corzine said.
Society is not forgiving criminals, the Democratic
governor insisted, but the law is necessary because "government
cannot provide a fool-proof death penalty that precludes the
possibility of executing the innocent."
“I believe society
first must determine if its endorsement of violence begets violence,
and if violence undermines our commitment to the sanctity of life.
To these questions, I answer yes.” said the Governor in an
impassioned speech while signing the historic law.
Sister Helen Prejean,
whose work against the death penalty was dramatized in the film
"Dead Man Walking," praised the ban after witnessing the historic
moment.
"The word will
travel around the globe that there is a state in the United States
of America that was the first to show that life is stronger than
death, that love is greater than hatred," Prejean told the crowd.
The announcement of
the state’s ban was celebrated as a historic victory in the
international anti-death penalty movement. Rome plans to light the
Colosseum – the second time this year, to show Italy’s support for a
global ban on death penalty. The United Nations General Assembly is
also soon expected to endorse a decision to place a moratorium on
executions worldwide.
Compassion was
palpably visible when Eileen and Charles Bennett, whose son-in-law
murdered their daughter and two grandchildren before committing
suicide, supported the ban. Charles Bennett said that executing him
would not have brought him any closure.
It is noteworthy
that states of New Mexico, Montana and Nebraska have not been
fortunate to secure enough support within their legislatures. The
last states to eliminate the death penalty were Iowa and West
Virginia in 1965, according to the National Coalition to Abolish the
Death Penalty.
Panjab Human Rights
Organisation led by Justice (Retd.) Ajit Singh Bains, Shiromani
Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann - whose party is
running a signature campaign against the death penalty, the
presidium led by Daljit Singh, human rights activists Navkiran Singh
and Harvinder Singh Phoolka and Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh
have welcomed the move and resolved to step up the campaign against
capital punishment in India.
19 December, 2007
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