Cheers to the United Kingdom which has announced that it will boycott the trial of Saddam Hussein if the death penalty is sought.

Government policy and the European Convention on Human Rights lay down that the British cannot hand the prisoners over if there is any risk of them being executed. The death penalty has been suspended in Iraq, on British insistence, but is expected to be reintroduced.

....Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty International, said: "The death penalty is arbitrary, cruel and wrong... The UK authorities must obtain assurances that prisoners will not face the death penalty before handing them over to another authority."

....Bill Rammell, a Foreign Office minister, said last week, in a written answer to a question from the Tory MP Andrew Robathan, who wants the death penalty re-introduced in the UK, that the British authorities will have to refuse to supply any evidence that might help send the former president to his death.

[Ed. A few people emailed us they were getting error messages trying to comment on this post. It happened to us as well, so we're closing the comments so we don't frustrate any more readers. We have no idea why it's happening, but rest assured we haven't done anything to keep anyone from commenting.]