PARDON FOR THE MURDERERS OF RAJIV GANDHI
International appeal to the President of India
Mr. K.R. Narayanan
Dear Mr. President,
From the 26 death sentences passed by the Court of First Instance on the accused of the murder of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, only 4 have been confirmed in the sentence pronounced on 11 May, 1999, by the Supreme Court of India.
With this appeal we do not intend at all to put in discussion the merit of the sentence. We only want to underline how this sentence fits into a more vast phenomenon which sees the death sentences and executions issued and carried out each year in India decreasing and a continuous reinforcement of the opposition against the death penalty in the world of politics and in the Indian public opinion.
Similarly, on the international level, the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty de facto or de jure or that have declared a moratorium on executions, increases.
This is a new and positive situation which sets up a potential majority of over 100 United Nations Member States opposed to the death penalty and which now makes the establishment of a universal moratorium on executions by the UN General Assembly possible.
In such a context, we are deeply convinced that every step towards the abolition of the death penalty in Your Country, the world's most populous democracy, could only have enormous significance for the whole international community.
We are sure that the pardon for the four condemned for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi would constitute such a step and could be the introduction to the establishment of a moratorium on executions by India, the last step towards the complete abolition of the death penalty.
We therefore trustfully appeal to You, Mr. President, in Your capacity, to use Your authority to pardon the 4 condemned to death, Ms. Nalini, Mr. T. Suthenthiraja, Mr. Sriharan and Mr. Perarivalan.
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