CANADA FORMALIZES ITS OPPOSITION TO THE DEATH

UNCLAS OTTAWA 003588 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM SOCI CA UNGA SUBJECT: CANADA FORMALIZES ITS OPPOSITION TO THE DEATH PENALTY ¶1. (U) On November 25, Canada ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in support of its long-standing opposition to the death penalty. The treaty requires that parties abolish the death penalty within their respective jurisdictions. The last execution in Canada took place in 1962, and the House of Commons abolished capital punishment on July 14, 1976. Canada voted in favor of the treaty when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, and ratification formalizes the country's policy and practice. ¶2. (U) In addition to this Protocol, Canada is a party to all six major international human rights conventions: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. ¶3. (U) On December 2, Amnesty International organized a peaceful protest to mark the 1000th execution in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. None of the major Canadian press noted either of last week's U.S. executions, although the nationally distributed Globe and Mail ran a front page story with the headline "Should Tookie Be Executed?: The founder of the notorious Crips gang has become the flashpoint for the U.S. debate over capital punishment." The Ottawa Citizen ran its story, "Not Everyone Wants to Save 'Tookie' Williams" on page 15. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa WILKINS