Council of Esquarium [IC, Closed]

[Pavonistade]

Yea

[Masseau]

Aye

[Lyonsland]

Aye.

[Montecara]

YEA

[FreYhill]

YEA.

[North Daecon]

Yea.

[Arkiasis]

YEA

[Bormeatri]

Nay

[Montecara]

Nay

"The delegation of Montecara rises to a point of order: this vote appears to be invalid, as it has not been cast by a Member State."

[Ainin]

Rémi takes an IGNORE cannon out of his suit pocket and zaps the delegate of Bormeatri out of existence.

[Geadland]

Yes

[Bormeatri]

Nay

"The delegation of Montecara rises to a point of order: this vote appears to be invalid, as it has not been cast by a Member State."

Wait so how do I become a member state, I'm already in Esquarium and have been for over a year and a half now?

[Flaming Soul Forces]

Yea

[Montecara]

"The delegation of Montecara rises to a point of order: this vote appears to be invalid, as it has not been cast by a Member State."

Wait so how do I become a member state, I'm already in Esquarium and have been for over a year and a half now?

Apply for admission here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=260596

[Ainin]

"Order, the question carries with thirteeen yeas, null nays and null abstaining. The Council of Esquarium has passed the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights as presently constituted, and the Esquarian Parliament shall now take up the issue. The floor is now open."

[Montecara]

"The delegation of Montecara wishes to congratulate our colleagues on the adoption of the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights. This important legal instrument will no doubt enhance respect for human rights throughout the Esquarian Community.

We now wish to take a step further. While the Charter protects citizens' basic right to life and respect for their bodily integrity, it does not, for political reasons, address states' use of the death penalty. Montecara has taken a firm and consistent stand against the use of this inhumane punishment and has been an abolitionist state for its entire existence. Moreover, we feel that it is important to cooperate with our Esquarian brother and sister nations in, at minimum, regulating use of the death penalty to ensure that the worst forms of capital punishment are banished from the Esquarian Community. We therefore present for the consideration of the Council a draft Optional Protocol to the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights on the Regulation and Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty.

It is important to note from the outset that this Optional Protocol does not require states to abolish the death penalty. Its purpose is to guarantee to Esquarians basic protections when they face capital punishment and to provide states with a legal framework in which their justice systems can operate. Of course, as an Optional Protocol, no state will have any of the conditions in this document imposed upon them unilaterally -- this is a voluntary legal instrument which is intended primarily to strengthen the rule of law and respect for human rights in states parties.

We therefore present the following for debate:"

Optional Protocol to the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights on the Regulation and Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty

Preamble
Whereas the death penalty presents grave and unique risks to human rights,
Whereas the Esquarian Community, through the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights, is committed to upholding and defending the human rights of its peoples,
Whereas the need for justice must be tempered with respect for human dignity,

Therefore,
The states ratifying this Protocol agree as follows:

Conditions for application

1. The death penalty may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, namely those which result in grave and irreparable harm to the physical integrity of another person or persons and which are of an exceptionally aggravated character. It is specifically prohibited as a punishment for crimes which are:
   
   1. Minor or common;
   2. Economic, for instance embezzlement or tax evasion;
   3. Political, for instance espionage, treason, and lese-majeste;
   4. Religious, for instance apostasy and blasphemy;
   5. Drug-related;
   6. Moral, for instance prostitution and offenses related to sexual orientation.
2. The death penalty may not be imposed retroactively.
3. The scope of offenses punishable by the death penalty may not be expanded.
4. The death penalty may not be an automatic, mandatory, or minimum sentence.
5. Persons are not subject to the death penalty if they are:
   
   1. Under the age of majority at the time of the alleged capital offense or at the time of execution;
   2. Elderly, the definition of which shall be an age not older than seventy;
   3. Pregnant or have a dependent infant;
   4. Permanently mentally incapacitated at the time of the alleged capital offense or thereafter, or temporarily mentally incapacitated at the time of the alleged capital offense or execution.
6. The death penalty may not be carried out in cases where the rights of the accused under the Esquarian Convention on Human Rights, this Protocol, or national law were found to have been violated.
7. In cases where the accused is a citizen of a state different from the one conducting the trial, the accused must have access to the consular assistance of his or her state of citizenship before, during, and if convicted of the capital offense, after the trial, as well as during all appeals.
8. States ratifying this Protocol may refuse extradition of an accused criminal in cases where he or she would, after extradition, be subject to the death penalty.
   
   Methods of execution
9. The method of execution may not inflict gratuitous pain or indignity on the person to be executed. Specifically prohibited methods include, but are not limited to:
   
   1. Beating;
   2. Burning;
   3. Crushing;
   4. Cutting;
   5. Dismemberment;
   6. Drowning;
   7. Electrocution;
   8. Poisoning, whether by gas or other means;
   9. Stoning;
   10. Strangulation;
   11. Suffocation.
10. The person to be executed may not be compelled to assist in his or her own execution.
11. Executions of more than one person at a time are prohibited.
12. Executions may not be public.
    
    Right to appeal and petition
13. Persons sentenced to the death penalty must be allowed to appeal their sentence to a higher domestic court or to the Esquarian Court of Human Rights. They must be allowed to seek clemency, pardon, or commutation of their sentence.
14. Adequate time must elapse between sentencing and the carrying out of the death penalty. The time must, at minimum, allow for the person sentenced to exhaust all appeals and petitions for clemency, pardon, or commutation.
15. Officials responsible for carrying out executions must be kept informed of the status of appeals and petitions made by persons awaiting execution who are under their jurisdiction to ensure that no execution is carried out prematurely.
16. Persons awaiting execution, their legal counsel, and their families must be informed in advance of the scheduled date of execution.
17. Persons awaiting execution may not be held in conditions which are materially harsher than those in which other prisoners at a similar degree of security are held and may not be denied regular access to their legal counsel.
    
    Abolition
18. Once abolished, the death penalty may not be reintroduced. States ratifying this Protocol which do not apply the death penalty may not introduce it.
19. A state which abolishes the death penalty may not execute those who had previously been sentenced to death.
20. States which have abolished the death penalty may not export instruments of execution to states which retain its use, including but not limited to drugs used in lethal injection.
    
    Rapporteur on the Death Penalty
21. The position of Rapporteur on the Death Penalty is hereby created.
22. The Rapporteur on the Death Penalty will be within the Esquarian Secretariat for administrative purposes. He or she will be impartial with respect to nationality in carrying out the duties of the office.
23. The Rapporteur on the Death Penalty will report to the Council of Esquarium at least annually on the status and application of laws regarding torture and the death penalty within Member States and on the status and application of this Protocol.
24. All Member States of the Esquarian Community are requested to inform the Rapporteur on the Death Penalty whenever they sentence a person to the death penalty or carry out an execution.
    
    Jurisdiction, ratification, and denunciation
25. The Esquarian Court of Human Rights has jurisdiction to hear cases arising from the application of this Protocol.
26. No state may make any derogation or reservation with respect to this Protocol.
27. This Protocol will remain permanently open for ratification by any Member State of the Esquarian Community.
28. States ratifying this Protocol may denounce it by notifying the Council of Esquarium to that effect. In such cases, the state will cease to be bound by this Protocol one year from such notification. Denunciation will not release a state from any obligation that it had under this Protocol when it was in effect in that state.

[Bormeatri]

Abstain

[Sardeed]

Aye

[Francilie]

Aye

[Pavonistade]

Aye

[Qianrong]

Abstain.

[Ainin]

"Order, order. We are not voting. The chair sets 72 hours open debate to close debate on the resolution."

[Ultima Borealia]

The Borealian delegate rose from his seat in the room, pulling out a prepared statement on the resolution:

"The Borealian government wishes to state its support for this Optional Protocal. Although the Borealian Constitution prohibits the death penalty, the Borealian government recognizes the need to recognize various human rights in nations that still apply the death penalty, and views this Optional Protocol as an appropriate regulation of the death penalty in nations that see it fit to still apply it, finding an appropriate midway between respecting the national sovereignty of the members of this august body and ensuring that the unique concerns related to the death penalty are appropriately addressed."

[Ainin]

"Order, order, this House will come to order. We are now moving into voting. The question is to approve the Optional Protocol to the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights on the Regulation and Progressive Abolition of the Death Penalty as currently presented. All members in favour, say yea. All those opposed, say nay. Those wishing to abstain, say present."

[Ainin]

Present.