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Matthew Vella
It’s the executioner’s worst day yet. The Maltese government has outlawed the trade of guillotines, gallows, electric chairs and all modern contraptions of capital punishment and torture.
In what reads like an outdated piece of law, the government has outlawed the import and export of such goods unless authorised by the director responsible for trade where it is proven such goods will used for public display in a museum in view of their historic significance.
Included in the list of banned torture items are air-tight vaults for the purpose of administrating lethal gases or substances, automatic drug injection systems for the purpose of execution, and electric-shock belts designed for restraining human beings with electric shocks exceeding 10,000 volts. Any such technical assistance on the use of the goods is also prohibited under the new law, provided that this serves for their public display in museums.
The same law provided that other items used for restraining human beings can be authorised by the director of trade. These include restraint chairs, shackle boards, gang-chains, thumb-screws, portable shock devices not exceeding 10,000 volts, and chemical substances used for the purpose of riot control.
Both the Council of Europe and the European Union strictly require members to abolish capital punishment. Malta’s last execution was in 1943, however it only abolished capital punishment in 2000.
Protocol 13 of the European Convention of Human Rights provides for the total abolition of the death penalty.
Countries such as Belarus still use capital punishment for a variety of serious and aggravated crimes, which include the murder of a representative of a foreign state or international organisation with the intention to provoke international tension or war; terrorism and the use of WMDs, genocide, crimes against humanity, but also conspiracy to seize power, sabotage, and the murder of a police officer.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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