At a conference organized by the Université Saint Joseph...

At a conference organized by the Université Saint Joseph Law School to discuss the death penalty in Europe, Italian Ambassador Guiseppe Cassini cited Cesare Beccaria's essay, "On Crimes and Punishments" (1764) questioning whether the death penalty is useful in a well-governed state. Cassini argued that history has given sufficient proof that even the threat of death is never enough to deter those bent on harming society."The execution of a criminal is to the multitude a spectacle that excites compassion mixed with indignation," he said.
Cassini said his embassy was nonetheless making substantial economic efforts to encourage the government in Lebanon to abolish capital punishment.Cassini noted that he first arrived in the country in 1997, only four months after a public execution had taken place in Tabarja."I can tell you, that since 1997 not one Italian tourist has visited Tabarja," he said.Also addressing the conference was Swedish Ambassador Ann Dismorr, who spoke about the European Union's efforts to launch an international campaign against the death penalty. "The EU is playing a very active role, and has organized seminars and started dialogue in many parts of the world such as Cuba, Russia and China," she said.
Dismorr added that the EU is urging authorities here to tackle the issue, and encouraged President Emile Lahoud to exercise his right to grant clemency.
One notable opponent of the death penalty is Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt, who spoke at the conference and invited his fellow MPs to propose and promote a project calling for the abolition of capital punishment.
Participants at the conference said the goal would be a difficult one to reach, but that a necessary first step is the abolition of Article 302 of the penal code, which currently limits the right of judges to issue lighter sentences in murder cases.
Minister of State Bahij Tabbara, who served as justice minister at the time of Article 302's introduction, proposed the issue be debated extensively before any final decisions are made."It might be fashionable to abolish capital punishment, but I think there should be no rush to a hasty decision because we need to know first if our society is ready for this step," he said.Tabbara cited the special circumstances under which Article 302 was implemented: a "terrible accident" which took place in the Bekaa in 1994, where a woman was murdered and the families of both the victim and the murderer decided to execute the killer in order to prevent further vengeance between the families.
Both Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have cited the need to stamp out revenge killings as a reason for retaining the death penalty, and their signatures are required for an execution to go through. None, however, have been authorized since Hariri succeeded the staunchly anti-death penalty Salim Hoss as premier.
Tabbara said the 1994 case served as the main reason behind the law's introduction, because the state - which was not very strong at that time - had to take matters into its own hands.
"We could not leave it to people to bring justice into their own hands. We had not only to accept but also to reinforce the death penalty," he said, saying that at the time, the situation in the country was still "shaky."
Tabbara also said the article was adopted to help protect the country's judges - who would be less likely to face threats after issuing the death penalty if they have no choice but to do so.Tabbara pointed out that in spite of the EU's objections, much of the world has yet to agree and ban the death penalty.
"China and the United States - in addition to the African continent - all use capital punishment," he said, referring to Europe as a "minority of humanity" in that regard.