It's Murder, Not Mercy, On or Off Battlefield

For more information: Stephen Drake, research analyst
Diane Coleman, President
(708)209-1500 (phone); (708)877-3113 (pager)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 17, 2004 -- A national anti-euthanasia group is concerned that "mercy killing" is becoming as popular and successful a defense against murder charges in military courts as it is in civilian courts.

Capt. Rogelio Maynulet, of Chicago, is now the second U.S. soldier charged in connection with the murder of an Iraqi in which claims of a "mercy killing" have been made. Maynulet is facing charges that fall far short of murder -- he is charged with dereliction of duty and assault with intent to kill for allegedly shooting a wounded Iraqi in the back of the head, killing him.

Just last week, Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne, Jr. entered into a plea bargain and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned these murders as war crimes.

Neither Human Rights Watch nor Amnesty International have ever spoken out about the light sentencing given to confessed killers of people with disabilities in the U.S. and other countries -- killers who have appealed to the press and the public that their acts were motivated by "mercy." If such killers receive prison sentences at all, they often resemble the sentence meted out to Staff Sgt. Horne -- two or three years.

"Mercy killing defenses generally break down under close examination," says Stephen Drake, research analyst for Not Dead Yet. "In the case of Maynulet, the most likely interpretation is not good. There was a medic on the scene. Conceivably, the injured Iraqi could have been given high doses of pain killers or sedatives. It's possible they didn't want to 'waste a resource' on an insurgent. If that's what happened, that's not mercy -- that's expediency, with a possible dash of contempt."

Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group, agrees with human rights groups that have called these killings "violations of international humanitarian rights."

They just wish that groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International would voice the same outrage over the killings of old, ill and disabled people in the U.S. and other countries. When the killings are done by caregivers, prosecution is weak and sentences are light or nonexistent. According to Not Dead Yet, the systemic treatment of alleged "mercy killings" off the battlefield represents a very large pattern of human rights violations.