can something good come of this act of barbarity?

Whilst I am reeling from the poll result that 47% of a current Morgan Poll support what is happening in Singapore, I take heart from the 46% who oppose this barbarity.

I suppose I should not have been shocked by the large percentage of support for the death penalty; presumably many of those pollled think the Howard government's inhumane treatment of asylum seekers is also the right thing to do. The Coalition has tapped into a dark tendency in Australia that was always threatening to surface and has found full voice under Howard's brand of neocon extremism. It is ugly and brings our country into disrepute, and it needs to be challenged at every opportunity. If you devalue any area of human rights it is a small step to devaluing all human rights and supporting a horror such as mandatory execution.

It is important that we realise that the freedoms and civil liberties fought for and won by previous generations can be easily swept away by a generation characterised by rampant individualism and obsessed with irrational economic and security fears. We are currently being conned by a group of self-serving politicians into trashing key elements of our democracy, including the primacy of human rights considerations in the making of public policy. No wonder Singapore did'nt take Howard seriously.

Those citizens calling for the re-introduction of the death penalty and who are cheering Singapore's hanging culture from the sidelines, might like to think about the kinds of society where state sanctioned murder is rife.

They might also like to think about this: "Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The death penalty is an inherently unjust and arbitrary punishment, however heinous the crime for which it is inflicted. Studies have shown that it is more likely to be imposed on those who are poorer, less educated and more vulnerable than average. The death penalty is irrevocable, yet the risk of error in applying it is inescapable. While Amnesty International recognizes the need to combat drug trafficking, there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty deters would-be traffickers more effectively than other punishments."