Skip to main content /WORLD
CNN.com /WORLD
CNN TV
EDITIONS


Europe steps in to death row case

Napoleon Beazley
Napoleon Beazley, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday  


STRASBOURG, France -- Europe's leading human rights body has urged the governor of Texas to spare convicted murderer Napoleon Beazley, who is due to be executed on Wednesday.

Beazley, 25, was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of John Luttig, 63, the father of a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge.

His case has provoked international condemnation because of the fact that he was still a teenager both when he committed the crime and when he was sentenced.

In a statement to Governor Rick Perry the 43-nation Council of Europe declared its unequivocal opposition to the death penalty, which it described as an "inhuman punishment."

Council President David Russell-Johnston and secretary-general Walter Schwimmer said that executing Beazley contravened international legal standards and was "against the norms of civilised society."

"We call on you to show restraint in the case of Napoleon Beazley whose life now depends entirely on your decision," the statement said. "This case has been marred by serious judicial flaws to which there is ample evidence.

"Napoleon Beazley was a minor at the time of the crime, and a federal judge involved in the case was the son of the victim. It is a matter of human decency to right the wrong before it is too late."

It is not the first time the Council of Europe, which is the guardian of the 1952 Convention on Human Rights, has criticised the U.S. criminal justice system.

In June it threatened to withdraw observer status from the U.S. and Japan unless they abandoned capital punishment by 2003.

The Beazley case has also had domestic ramifications. It has split the U.S. Supreme Court, led to renewed calls for the abolition of the death penalty and added to criticism of the Texas criminal justice system.






RELATED STORIES:
RELATED SITES:
• Council of Europe
• Supreme court of the United States

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.


 Search   

Back to the top