Iran executes another child

Horrible!!

Kathleen and all:

"Napoleon Beazley was executed in Texas on 28 May 2002 for a crime committed eight years earlier -- when he was just 17 years old. Napoleon Beazley had no criminal record and no record of violent behaviour. But at his trial, the white prosecutor described him as an "animal" in front of the all-white jury. Witnesses at the trial cited his potential for rehabilitation. He was a model prisoner. (1)

Napoleon Beazley's trial took place in 1995, the year that the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that monitors countries' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), "deplored" the USA's continued use of the death penalty against people under 18 at the time of the crime. In addition, that year the USA signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, signifying its intention to ratify that Convention at a later date. Like the ICCPR, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, now ratified by all states except Somalia and the USA, prohibits the use of the death penalty against child offenders - people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 years old."
- Amnesty International -

Who are the "crazed people who do that type of thing" that you wish more people would be aware of?

Oh, BTW - the Supreme Court finally did rule against juvenile execution on March 1, 2005. Prior to the decision, the United States was one of only six countries in the world in which the juvenile death penalty was lawful.

The United States has been responsible for four out of the six juvenile executions worldwide since 2002. I guess Iran is just trying to catch up with us superpowers.

This just shows you how sick these people are ........... and I'm not talking about the Iranians this time. I'm talking about people like Sheryl O.

Yesterday, someone executed a young mother and her three small children in Texas. I think our energy would be better spent on resolving our own domestic violence problems. I don't mean to imply in any way that I condone the politics of Iran, but America has its own.

I've got to agree with Ron on this one. We need to fix our own problems first.

Kathleen - of course I don't condone this abhorrent action by Iran. But your comment implied that you were unaware of our own country's practices in this area. We must fight this kind of inhumane activity whereever it occurs. Ron is absolutely correct. though. We have to look to the injustices that are happening within our own country and put our efforts into righting those. We are so concerned with other nations' lack of democracy....what about the rights that have been taken away in our own country over the past years? We go around the world monitoring other nations' voting practices.....what about the fraud and illegal practices that have occurred here in recent years? We provide money to starving nations and then don't provide any effective controls on the funds....what about the children who are starving in our country?

Lera - your comment does not even deserve a response.

This is a horrible situation that deserves our attention, but I agree with Sheryl O. that we need to clean up our own back yard as well. Our nation is far too civilized to condone the government-sanctioned killing of another human being

Ron & Sheryl, thanks for the information. I agree with you.