The subject of reinstating the death penalty has been discussed recently in Poland. Paying no heed to the position of the European Commission and the Council of Europe or to Poland’s international obligations in this matter, governing coalition parties are calling for its reinstatement. (04-AUG-06)
Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw
Source: Polska Agencja Prasowa
Photo: Nick Danziger
The League of Polish Families (LPF) has begun collecting signatures in support of a referendum to reinstate the death penalty and amend attendant provisions of the penal code. The proposed changes would introduce the death penalty for murder of children with sex abuse. Furthermore, the LPF will seek to reinstate the death penalty for similar crimes in Europe. The LPF announced it would attempt to have the Sejm [Polish Lower House] adopt a resolution calling on the government to renegotiate the position on the death penalty in the Council of Europe.
Politicians from other coalition parties have expressed their support for LPF’s initiatives. On Friday, July 28, 2006, Lech Kaczynski, President of the Republic of Poland, stated in an interview on Polskie Radio, that he supports the death penalty and that Poland, through discourse, should initiate the direction of changes in this realm in the European Union and the Council of Europe. Andrzej Lepper, the Vice Premier of the government and head of the Self–Defense Party also feels the death penalty should be reinstated in the penal code of Poland and other states of the European Union.
Poland ratified Protocol No. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights abolishing the death penalty in times of peace and the penal code in force since 1997 does not provide for the death penalty for even the most egregious of crimes.
The statements of Polish politicians have given rise to reactions from the European Union and Council of Europe. Stefaan de Rynck, European Commission spokesman, noted the death penalty is contrary to the values represented by the European Union. Moreover, Rene van der Linden, President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, expressed his deep concern regarding the proposed reinstatement of the death penalty. His letter sent to President Lech Kaczyñski reads, “In our view, the death penalty has no place in the criminal justice system of any modern, civilised country. To suggest that its reintroduction could in any sense represent a positive development would be a direct attack on our common values, which are founded on respect for the basic human dignity of every person. Indeed, reintroduction of the death penalty would represent a serious retrograde step in the development of a pan-European space of respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
The Helsinki Committee in Poland and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights have spoken out against reinstatement of the death penalty on numerous occasions, arguing that it destroys belief in the absolute inviolable value of human life that is the foundation of public morality and that prohibition of the death penalty constitutes one of the fundamental principles of European law and one of the most important touchstones of democracy.
