Coincidance - Principia Discordia

180 COINCIDANCE
You recently testified at an extradition hearing in New York involving a man from
Northern Ireland. You opposed extradition on the grounds, more or less, that a Catholic cannot
get a fair trial there.
I did not say that; I said that the ordinary provisions of the rule of law are
not complied with there. Firstly, there are trials without juries, which is
always dangerous and particularly nefarious in political cases. Then there is
the fact that judges regularly admit as evidence the sort of thing that is
specifically forbidden by normal legal standards in democratic states. Finally,
there is the notorious "supergrass" system. "Supergrasses" are known
criminals themselves and testify against scores and scores of persons in
return for immunity from prosecution.
A few years ago, Amnesty International took a blanket position of opposition to capital
punishment in all cases, and one American member, William ¥. Buckeley, Jr., resigned in
protest, saying the issue of capital punishment was no part of Amnesty's original purpose. How
do you feel about that controversy?
I supported the position that Amnesty should oppose capital punishment
in all cases. I have many reasons for this. First of all, I think that if the State
takes upon itself the right to kill, then inevitably those who oppose the State
will arrogate to themselves the same right. Revolutionaries and terrorists
do, in fact, use exactly that argument, with some sincerity: "If the State can
take life, then we can also take life." After all, they generally claim that they
represent the people and that the State doesn't. I am opposed to the
cheapening of human life created by that rhetoric on both sides. Secondly, I
don't believe that any human institution has the right to take life as
punishment or retribution; you may have to take life in self-defense or in
armed conflict against injustice where there are no alternatives—no legal
means of struggle—but taking life as revenge is never justified. Thirdly, as a
lawyer I have seen too many errors made by judges to believe in the infallibility
of courts. I have had personal experience of at least three cases where to my
certain knowledge an innocent person was condemned to death. You
cannot believe in capital punishment after seeing that happen.
In your work with Amnesty International since 1961 .which countries have you found to be
the worst offenders against human rights?
It varies, and it varies both in quantity and quality—in the number of
victims and in the degree of atrocity. In the Soviet bloc, conditions have
improved since Amnesty was founded. Probably at the moment the worst
offenders are the governments in Central and Latin America, especially
Chile, Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala. 1 think that is the area where
human rights are more viciously and extensively violated than anvwhere
else. The assassination squads in those nations are the worst kind of