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Groups vow full death penalty ban

Campaigners want permanent ban, celebrate 5,000 days since last execution
Groups vow full death penalty ban
Published: September 08, 2011 10:17 AM GMT
Updated: September 08, 2011 10:18 AM GMT

Celebrating 5,000 days since the country’s last execution, anti-death penalty campaigners today vowed to ensure that capital punishment is legally abolished once and for all. South Korea was classified as a state that’s “abolitionist in practice” by rights group Amnesty International 10 years after the last executions on December 31, 1997, but the death penalty still remains on the statute books. The last death sentence handed down was in April 2009 when Kang Ho-sun was convicted of killing 10 people. In February last year the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in a 5-4 decision. However, at today’s milestone celebration at the national assembly building, lawmakers, as well as diplomats and representatives from religious and rights organizations said South Korea must take the final step and end capital punishment for good. Lawmakers Kim Boo-Kyum and Theresa Park Sun-young lamented the fact that “the death penalty is still stipulated in law.” They pledged to do everything they can to pass a bill to abolish the capital punishment as soon as possible. Tomasz Kozlowski, the European Union’s ambassador to Korea, said the halt in executions has contributed to “the international perception that Korea is protecting human rights.” Kozlowski then urged Korean lawmakers to “now consider moving towards final legal abolition of the death penalty.” Reverend Kim Young-ju, secretary general of the National Council of Churches in Korea, said the public are divided on the issue but the decision to abolish should not be based on “public opinion” but through the “conviction and philosophy of state leaders.” Currently, three lawmakers have submitted bills to abolish the death penalty to the National Assembly and another is preparing a new bill. Related reports: Rights groups to collect petition

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