UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon started his first day on the job on Tuesday by departing from the traditional UN opposition to the death penalty, saying nations can make their own decision.Asked about the weekend execution of Saddam Hussein, Ban, 62, said the former Iraqi leader committed “heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against the Iraqi people and we should never forget the victims of these crimes.”
But he said, “The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide” and in conformity with international law. South Korea is among the 68 nations that retain the death penalty although Seoul is considering abolishing it.
| He's headed for the re-education camp inside Turtle Bay. |
The UN special representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, released a statement on Sunday saying that the world body ”remains opposed to capital punishment, even in the case of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”
Ban’s new spokeswoman, Michele Montas of Haiti, said, ”The UN policy still remains that the organization is not for capital punishment.” She said Ban’s comments were nuanced but would not say whether he agreed with Qazi.