To All Living Things
Last Week's Column

Amnesty Action:
Death Penalty in the Chechen Republic, Russian Federation

by Kathy Gay

his week’s action from Amnesty International concerns a pregnant 36-year-old mother of three children who is scheduled to be shot after her baby is born. She and two other defendants were sentenced to death by the Chechen Supreme Shari’a Court in 1997 for the murder of her husband.

According to her relatives, this woman was beaten by her husband repeatedly during their marriage. She left home and hid in relatives’ homes numerous times in order to escape the ill-treatment. However, in spite of the abuse she endured at the hands of her husband, she has always maintained her innocence regarding his death. Reportedly she was not given access to a defense lawyer before or during her trial.

This woman’s two co-defendants were publicly executed by firing squad in September. Her own execution has been postponed due to her pregnancy. According to Chechen Shari’a law, she will be killed as soon as she stops breast-feeding her new baby. However, under Shari’a law, if the parents of her husband forgive her the court may reconsider its verdict and reduce her sentence to life imprisonment. She could also be granted clemency if 100 cows or the equivalent amount in money are given to her husband’s family as compensation, but she does not have the means to pay this amount.

Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all cases and without reservation on the grounds that it is a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The organization is urging Chechen authorities to abolish the death penalty and grant clemency to this woman.

Background Information

In August 1996 a peace agreement between the Chechen Republic and the Russian Federation ended hostilities that began in 1991 when Chechnya claimed its independence from the Russian Federation. Under this peace agreement the region's final political status was deferred for five years.

The Chechen leadership has always insisted upon Chechnya's independence from Russian legal and governmental institutions, including the laws of the Russian Federation. A new criminal code was developed in 1996 introducing the rules and regulations of the Islamic religious tradition, the Shari'a law, into the Republic's judicial practices. However, under the 1996 peace agreement, the Chechen Republic remains bound by the international human rights obligations of the Russian Federation until 2001. These obligations include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture.

Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty in all cases and without reservation on the grounds that it is a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The organization is urging Chechen authorities to replace all articles that provide for the death penalty in the Chechen Republic’s criminal code with punishments that do not violate international human rights standards.

How you can help

Please send a letter to the President of the Chechen Republic as soon as possible, but no later than February 17, 1998. You may use the sample letter linked below or use it as a model to write your own letter. If you choose to use the sample letter, please cut off or delete all website information at the very top of the letter. If you prefer to write your own letter, please keep in mind that its intent is to improve the human rights situation in the Chechen Republic. Make sure the letter is politely worded, non-partisan (i.e., not used as a vehicle for political expression) and written with respect for the recipient. Be sure to include both your name and address, as well as the date, on your letter.

U.S. airmail postage to the Chechen Republic is 60 cents.

Questions?

If you have any questions, just post a message to me (Kathy SF) in the Pub, and I will respond as soon as I can. I greatly appreciate your interest and support.

To see the sample letter for this action, please click here.

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Kathy Gay is a vegan, and has been a member of Amnesty International since 1987, where she has worked on numerous campaigns. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a business analyst for a leading California bank.

Kathy's column, To All Living Things, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.