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This appeared in APN, the Anglo-Portuguese News, a weekly English-language newpaper for the expatriate community in Portugal

I have a modest proposal, inspired by Charles Tannock's attack on the EU Charter in the Dec. 7 issue of APN. He is concerned "with the preposterous implications that European penal systems can become sanctuaries for American murderers" if we stop extraditing criminals to countries that may execute them. Certainly the Charter should contain an exemption for Americans - it is one thing to release German skinheads who burn foreign women and children to death with a slap on the wrist, but the idea of an American finding sanctuary from death in our comfortable prisons is unacceptable. But we can go beyond this to consider several attractive alternatives which would enrich the European cultural experience and recall the rich experiences of the past.

One is to execute Americans here in Europe. Many European countries have a long tradition of public executions for general entertainment, and I am sure that many would welcome the return of this practice. It might even replace killing bulls! Of course, this might discourage American murderers from seeking sanctuary here, which would raise hackles in the tourism industry, but we could maintain the program by instructing immigration officials to insert death warrants randomly in the passports of arriving Americans, perhaps just one in ten.

An alternative might be to enter into a business arrangement with the United States to handle the executions of Americans, and perhaps of other undesirable foreigners, at a fee which they would find profitable but which would save us the vast cost of maintaining these scoundrels in our prisons for life. If the US Supreme Court agrees to let George W. Bush return to the Governor's mansion, I am sure that he would welcome such a move. There could be a Houston Execution Center for Killers, and we could send the people we wanted to get rid of to H.E.C.K., which would satisfy both our own desire to remain untainted and the American passion for euphemism.

William Silvert
Paço de Arcos

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