Georgia: Time to abolish the death penalty

On 10 December 1996, International Human Rights Day, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze sent a letter to members of the country's parliament. He wrote, among other things: 'The protection of human rights in Georgia is based on the humane traditions of our people and is guaranteed by the new Georgian Constitution. The supreme human right is the right to life. This is given to humans by God but it should be protected by the state.' In this spirit President Shevardnadze went on to declare an official moratorium on executions in Georgia. The following day parliament voted to abolish the death penalty for six offences in the Criminal Code, to take effect as of 1 February 1997, thereby reducing the number of crimes carrying a possible death sentence to seven. Amnesty International, believing that the death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, greatly welcomes these steps, hoping they will provide an example and encouragement to other states of the former Soviet Union which retain, and use, the death penalty. Amnesty International further hopes that Georgia will in turn heed the example of over half the countries in the world today which have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Amnesty International remains concerned, however, about a number of recent reports that law enforcement officials have used physical and other means of duress in seeking to obtain confessions in cases where the offence carries a possible death sentence, and that death sentences continue to be passed although there is a moratorium on executions. This paper reviews the use of the death penalty in Georgia, and ends with recommendations urging moves to abolish this punishment totally and permanently.