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George W. Bush is a "murderer," in the
eyes of at least 1 prominent
European cabinet minister.
The U.S. president-elect's record of
152 executions in 5 years as Texas
governor could be an irritant in dealings
with Europe, even if its
governments, which all ban the death
penalty, are unlikely to let
distaste for American penal habits
disrupt more vital diplomatic business.
Bush, branded a killer this year by
a senior French minister, had a
further taste of what he can expect
within hours of his confirmation in
office on Thursday as the head of the
continent's intergovernmental human
rights body, the Council of Europe,
sent him a barbed message of
congratulation.
"The death penalty is a grim shadow
on the United States. I call on
George Bush to show the courage of
a true leader and begin the debate on
abolition -- following the lead of
Europe," the Council's secretary-
general Walter Schwimmer said.
Banning executions is one of the prime
conditions of membership for the
Council's 41 members, from Iceland
to Russia.
Abolition was never an issue under Bush's
predecessor, Bill Clinton. Nor
would it have been under his defeated
opponent, Al Gore, who has also
spoken up in favor of capital punishment.
Yet Bush's championing of executions
-- Texas set a U.S. record of 40 for
one state this year -- has added particular
salt to an issue that has
long been a minor transatlantic irritant.
"This is becoming a clear area of dissent
between the U.S. and Europe. We
have to ask whether our community of
shared values really exists," said
Rudolf Bindig, a human rights expert
for German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder's Social Democrats.
"Does the U.S. really want to remain
in the company of China, Iraq and
Saudi Arabia?"
"Although the states determine their
own policies, his position on this
and behavior in the past clearly affects
the intellectual climate in
which the national debate takes place,"
he told Reuters.
Amnesty Worried
In London, a spokesman for Amnesty International
said: "We fear Governor
Bush's record on the death penalty
-- he has presided over more than 150
executions, including of juvenile offenders,
the mentally impaired and
the inadequately represented -- does
not bode well for efforts to rein
the USA back from its increasing resort
to judicial killing."
"We will be urging President-elect Bush
to adopt a broader awareness of
human rights and international standards
than he has displayed in Texas."
The death penalty is an issue that has
caused widespread outrage in
Europe, most dramatically in Italy
where Pope John Paul has been at the
forefront of criticism of Washington
and demands for an end to the taking
of life by governments.
Yet most Americans are unaware of or bemused by the uproar.
And for all the talk from private activists
and officials in the outer
reaches of the corridors of power in
Europe, those who will have the most
to do with cultivating the transatlantic
partnership in key areas like
defense and trade were silent.
It was Jack Lang, France's Socialist
education minister, who called Bush
a murderer in March when Texas executed
convicted killer Odell Barnes by
lethal injection. Then out of office,
Lang led a campaign for clemency,
arguing Barnes was innocent.
"The execution of Odell Barnes is murder.
How can Governor Bush hope to
aspire to the presidency of the United
States after committing such a
crime?" Lang said 9 months ago, calling
Texas's Huntsville prison a
"production line killing factory."
Since then, however, Lang has returned
to the cabinet and kept his own
counsel on Bush's elevation to the
White House.
Governments Unlikely To Spoil Relations
So, too, have German ministers who went
so far as to take their close
American ally to the International
Court of Justice in the Hague last
month and won their case that the United
States violated international
law by executing two Germans in Arizona
last year without giving them
access to consular help.
German Justice Ministry officials, who
organized protests in that and
other cases, declined to comment on
Bush's election.
That may change in further contacts
over the fate of 3 Germans presently
on death row. But a lawyer for 2 of
them, who also defended the brothers
executed in Arizona, said Bush's election
would not help his case and
doubted whether Berlin would risk ructions
with Washington over it.
"The election to the presidency of a
man who in part owes his success to
his hard line on the death penalty
is absolutely unhelpful to our case,"
Steffen Ufer told Reuters.
"I'm sure the German government will
continue to make its position felt
on this. But I question how far it
will go in exerting pressure --
experience shows that its relations
with its bigger relation take
precedence."
Foreign policy experts agree that this
is an issue that European leaders
will not allow to sour long-term relations.
"When Schroeder meets his counterpart,
I don't think it will play a big
role," said Michaela Hoenicke, an expert
in U.S. affairs at the German
Foreign Policy Society (DGAP).
That is not to say, however, that Bush
will get an easy ride from the
public and media when he visits the
Old World.
She detected a growing anti-American
tone in some quarters, with the
death penalty often cited to justify
such criticism.
"Certainly in terms of how the German
media treat the U.S., (Bush's
record on executions) could have an
impact," she said.
(source: Reuters)
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