Amnesty International urged Lebanon's president Tuesday to commute death sentences imposed against 27 people.
| I think they should, too. The people they killed aren't dead anymore, are they? |
Lebanese authorities recently agreed to reactivate capital punishment following a five-year hiatus, opening the way for 27 convicted murderers to be executed by hanging or firing squad. "The finality and cruelty inherent in the death penalty render it incompatible with norms of modern day civilized behavior and an inappropriate and unacceptable response to crime," a statement from the human rights watchdog said.
| To me, the finality and cruelty of murder render a firing squad an appropriately civilized response. |
Most prominent among the Lebanese prisoners facing death are civil servant Ahmed Mansour, convicted of killing eight colleagues in a shooting spree at a government building last year, and Badieh Hamadeh, convicted of fatally shooting three soldiers trying to arrest him in south Lebanon last year.
| Wait a minute... You don't mean their victims are still dead, do you? |
President Emile Lahoud still has to sign the execution orders. Justice Minister Bahij Tabbara said this week that it had not yet been decided whether the execution orders would be implemented. Amnesty, in its statement, urged Lahoud to use his prerogative to immediately commute the death sentences. |