Relief, concern over death penalty ruling
WebPosted Thu Feb 15 22:03:00 2001
OTTAWA-- The Supreme Court has extended
the right of life to another country's death row by ruling that virtually no one
should be extradited from Canada if they face possible execution.
In a unanimous decision, the justices said that two Canadian men cannot be
sent to the U.S. to face triple murder charges unless Ottawa gets a guarantee
that the accused won't face the death penalty.
In a strongly worded statement against executions Canada's top court noted,
"… in the Canadian view of fundamental justice, capital punishment is
unjust and should be stopped." Ottawa abolished the death penalty in 1976.
Citing the fallibility of all justice systems, including some recent examples
of Canadians wrongfully convicted of murder, the judges said that "the
unique feature of capital punishment is that it puts beyond recall the
possibility of correction."
Critics, including Canadian Alliance MPs, suggested the conditional
extradition could turn Canada into a haven for fugitives trying to avoid the
death penalty.
But federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan downplayed the risk, even though
the government's own lawyers had used the argument in the Supreme Court.
Defence lawyer Clayton Ruby said his client, Atif Rafay, was overcome with
emotion when he heard the ruling.
"He sobbed when we told him the news, he was extremely relieved,"
Ruby said. "He hoped that something had been accomplished in this case that
would assist not only him but others."
If the U.S. government doesn't agree to waive the death penalty the two men
will be released, according to Ruby.
Officials predicted that the U.S. would offer assurances of no death penalty
in order to prosecute the suspects. "I don't expect they'll say no,"
McLellan told reporters.
Rafay and a friend, Sebastian Burns, are accused of killing of Rafay's
father, mother and sister.
The family was found bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat in their
Bellevue, Washington home five years ago.
Police say the victims were killed so that the accused could collect about
$400,000 in insurance money.
Rafay and Burns were arrested a year later in West Vancouver, where they went
to high school together. They allegedly confessed to the RCMP in statements that
are now being challenged.
Canada's extradition treaty with the U.S. allows Ottawa to ask for assurances
that Canadians being sent to the States won't face the death penalty.
But then-Justice Minister Allan Rock didn't ask for that protection when he
ordered their extradition in 1996.
He said the men would get a fair trial and saw no reason for special
protection.
The B.C. Supreme Court overruled him in 1997, concluding that the extradition
order violated the men's rights.
In Thursday's ruling the high court said Ottawa can extradite citizens
unconditionally only under exceptional circumstances.
The government failed to prove that this case fell into that category,
according to the nine justices. They declined to specify what might represent a
valid exception down the road.
Atif Rafay
Read
the judgment here
Sebastian Burns
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