NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
As the countdown began for the execution of Timothy J. McVeigh by chemical injection at 8 a.m. EDT Monday (June 11), the debate on the death penalty kicks into higher gear.
Two Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church had earlier issued a statement against the execution of McVeigh, the first person to be put to death by the federal government since 1963. In a related development, Frank G. Wisner and Thomas Pickering, former U.S. Ambassadors to India, joined a group of diplomats in opposing the execution of mentally retarded people. The New York Times quoted the diplomats as saying that the large number of executions tarnish the image of the U.S. in other countries.
Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles and Chairman, Committee on Domestic Policy, United States Catholic Conference, and Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore and Chairman, Committee on Pro-Life Activities, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in their statements that nothing could diminish the horror of the killings, nor dilute the responsibility of the perpetrator(s).
”Yet, this execution can only compound the violence," they warned. "It will not bring genuine healing or closure. It will not bring back to life those who died. It will be just one more killing. McVeigh, on the other hand, apparently will get what he wants -- more attention and notoriety.”
"As pastors, we strongly believe that the use of the death penalty diminishes us as human beings. We recall the words of the poet who explained that "No man is an island, entire of itself" and that therefore "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind." How much more so are we diminished, when a man is killed on our behalf?"
Whatever the argument, the execution will in fact be carried out, at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Officials do not expect any last minute appeals.
McVeigh was convicted of killing 168 people -- 149 adults and 19 children -- in 1995 with a truck bomb that damaged the Alfred P Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City.
McVeigh's attorney Nathan Chambers revealed, two days ago, that his client had expressed regret for the deaths, while maintaining that the bombing was necessary to teach the government a lesson.
McVeigh meanwhile wrote in a recent letter that he will with his last breath blame the government for his actions. In an excerpt of a letter written to The Buffalo News and released on Saturday, McVeigh insisted the bombing was necessary to send a message to what he called an out-of-control government.
``I am sorry these people had to lose their lives,'' McVeigh said in his letter. ``But that's the nature of the beast. It's understood going in what the human toll will be.''
"How can more violence and killing -- state-sanctioned or otherwise -- serve justice?," Cardinals Mahoney and Keeler ask. "With Timothy McVeigh's execution, we add to our culture of death. Modern societies can defend human life against convicted killers without resorting to capital punishment, it should restrict itself to those means. Such non-violent measures can give the offender time to repent of his or her crime and allow the possibility of receiving God's grace."
Meanwhile Wisner, Pickering and other former diplomats took another tack, and came out against the execution of mentally retarded people. Their views are set out in a supporting brief filed with the Supreme Court in the case of Ernest P McCarver, who is on death row in North Carolina.
Going ahead with the execution of McCarver, who has an IQ of 67, "will strain diplomatic relations with close American allies, provide diplomatic ammunition to countries with demonstrably worse human rights records, increase U.S. diplomatic isolation, and impair other United States foreign policy interests," the diplomats told the court.
"The persistence of this practice has caused our allies and adversaries alike to challenge our claim of moral leadership in international human rights," the brief reads, in part.
Harsh words those -- almost un-diplomatic. And that is what is drawing notice -- it is very unusual for diplomants of such seniority to take a public stance that is quite so vocal. And it is Pickering's presence in the vanguard that is raising eyebrows -- the uncrowned and informal dean of the US diplomatic corps has held more ambassadorial posts than anyone else, and has served in India, Russia, El Salvador, Israel, Jordan and the United Nations among others. Pickering retired in 2000, from the post of under secretary of state for political affairs.
The build up of opposition comes at a time when President Bush is due in Europe for an official tour. No European country permits the death penalty, and protests are therefore inevitable when Bush arrives.
The depth of feeling is best summed up by Felix G Rohatyn, US ambassador to France from 1997 to 2000.
One of the signatories of the brief, along with Pickering, Rohatyn is quoted in the New York Times as saying: "For practically the full four years I was in Paris, there was not a single speech I made where the first or second question was not: `How can you people do this? Why do you execute the mentally retarded? Why do you execute minors? Why are there so many minorities on death row?'"
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
