wfn.org | WCC Appeals for Halt to Execution

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
3 February 1998

WCC APPEALS FOR HALT TO WOMAN'S EXECUTION

The Acting General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC),
Ms Mary Ann Lundy, has sent an urgent appeal to the United States to
stop the planned execution later today of Karla Faye Tucker.

The plea has been made to John Shattuck, Assistant Secretary of State
in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.  The text of the
letter follows:

"In light of the 23 January Interim Report of the Advisory Committee on
Religious Freedom Abroad, which we have read with care and
considerable appreciation, I write to you, seeking your urgent
intervention with President Clinton or with the other appropriate authority
with respect to the tragic case of Karla Faye Tucker who faces
execution tonight in the State of Texas.

Your responsibilities, I very much understand, are for United States
foreign policy in the field of human rights.  I address you in light of the
widespread international attention focused on the internal human rights
practices of the United States by this case.  The credibility of United
States Government efforts to deal responsibly and energetically with
human rights abuses abroad, including threats to religious freedom,
depends substantially on its internal practices.

I do not need to emphasize to you the fact that the United States is the
only major Western nation which still applies the death penalty, or that
this practice is widely considered to be a violation of fundamental human
rights.  The World Council of Churches long ago called for the universal
abolition of the death penalty, based on both international human rights
considerations and on our deep theological concern for the sanctity of
human life.

The case of Karla Faye Tucker is a poignant example of all that is wrong
with this irreversible penalty.  For Christians, it is difficult not to recall in
this connection Jesus s loving forgiveness of the Samaritan woman, a
prostitute, to whom Jesus chooses to reveal himself as the Messiah, the
well-spring of eternal life.  For advocates of victims  rights, the appeals
for clemency on Ms Tucker s behalf by close relatives of her confessed
victims should suffice to show that her execution would only serve to
heap pain upon pain, injustice upon injustice.  For those who see in the
death penalty a deterrent, the clear evidence of Ms Tucker s sincere
repentance and change of life should demonstrate that her execution
would defy reason.

Trusting that you, more than perhaps any other United States
Government official will see the broad international implications of
allowing this execution to proceed, I urge you to intervene with the
President, pleading with him on behalf of many around the world to use
his position to stay this execution.  

We are convinced that hearts of stone can be replaced with hearts of
flesh, and hold out the sincere hope that the deep-seated American
values of justice will prevail in an appeal to the Supreme Court to revisit
this case, and to set aside the death penalty in this case.  It would be a
great tragedy if the possibility of true justice were to be rendered
impossible by the execution of this woman.

It is with deep respect for your own sense of justice, and in view of
your commitment to international respect for human rights that I address
this urgent appeal to you.  I pray that you will spare no effort to make
your voice heard now when it counts so much.  Your recent report
states well, "Concretely helping the victims of persecution must be the
focal point of all policy."  Here is an opportunity to show the coherence
of US human rights policy in both domestic and international affairs."

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Press and Information Office
Tel:  (41.22) 791.61.52/51
Fax:  (41.22) 798 13 46
E-Mail: jwn@wcc-coe.org
http://www.wcc-coe.org

P.O. Box 2100
CH-1211 Geneva 2