death penalty news July 23, 2004
RWANDA: Rebel is accused of killing city man in jungle A Rwandan rebel has been charged with hacking an Edinburgh backpacker to death in a massacre during a gorilla-watching safari five years ago. Rebel fighter Jean-Paul Bizimana, who also uses the alias Xavier Van Dame, 30, has been accused of killing eight tourists in the massacre in a remote Ugandan rainforest in 1999. He could face the death penalty if convicted of the murders. Among those killed was store manager Steven Robert, 27, who lived in the Fountainbridge area of city. Mr Robert, an amateur pilot, had embarked on a dream round-the-world tour and travelled to Rwanda, despite his family's concerns for his safety. While in the strife-torn African nation, he met friend Fiona Morley, who previously managed a restaurant in BHS's Livingston store, West Lothian. Ms Morley, now 36, who escaped the rebels by hiding in bushes, later performed the harrowing task of identifying her friend's body. Following his death, Mr Robert's parents, David and Laura, travelled from their home in Melbourne, Australia, to be comforted by family in Bo'ness, West Lothian. At the time, they told how their son died after helping his fellow holidaymakers, who had struggled as they were forced to march into the rainforest. Steven had broken off from the front of the group to join others who were eventually separated and murdered. Victims of the massacre included four Britons, a Ugandan tour guide, two Americans and two New Zealanders. The eight foreigners were hacked and bludgeoned to death by Rwanda rebels while on a trip to see gorillas near the Uganda's borders with Congo and Rwanda. The rebels specifically targeted English-speaking people in a bid to weaken US and British support for the new Rwandan government. Bizimana, a member of the former Rwandan army that played a key role in the genocide, was arrested on July 16 near Uganda's border with Rwanda and transferred to Uganda's capital city of Kampala for trial. He who was not required to enter a plea when he appeared in court. Three other Rwandan rebels were arrested last year, with the help of the Rwandan government. They were flown to the US Caribbean territory of Puerto Rico for initial court appearances, with trials to be held later in Washington. The charges also carry a possible death penalty. The men were members of the Liberation Army of Rwanda, formed in 1996 in refugee camps in neighbouring Zaire, which is now Congo, by members of the former Rwandan army and the extremist militia known as Interahamwe. The rebels first attracted notice in late 1996 when they issued a statement putting a bounty on Americans. The murdered Britons included Martin Friend, 24, Mark Lindgren, 23, and Joanne Cotton, a driver for Acacia Expeditions, the London-based company that organised trips to Africa. They had been in a group of about 30 tourists visiting Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The rebels invaded the tourist campground on March 1, 1999, and forced 17 tourists who spoke English to remove shoes and begin marching, according to the indictment. They killed a park guide, it says, by pushing him under a truck and setting it on fire. During the march, eight people were killed with machetes and axes. One of the victims was also allegedly raped by a suspect, the indictment says. Nine people survived, including one who was given a note by the rebels warning the US and Britain not to interfere in Rwanda. (source: Edinburgh Evening News, UK) ============================= BARBADOS: My views on capital punishment How was your week? A facetious reader whom I adore called to ask my views on capital punishment. "Betty being a pacifist, I know you are against killing of any sort, lawful or otherwise," he contended, "but I bet if anyone you loved was maliciously cut down you would be willing to tie the knot in the hangman's noose." We all need provocateurs like my friend to keep our wits sharp, and I wondered for a brief moment if there might be some verity in his accusation. The truth is, while I do not condone violence in any form, whether it be rape, domestic violence, murder, or organised violence such as hangings or war, I am also forced to accept the reality that until individual human beings learn to regulate their behaviour society will have to keep measures in place to prevent the reign of total anarchy and annihilation. As the elders would say, some criminals deserve to be locked up in jail and the keys thrown to the bottom of the ocean. "Holford, you are speaking with a forked tongue," my alter-ago insisted, "for your information, opponents of capital punishment push the idea of rehabilitation, no matter how heinous the crime. They believe that no one is beyond redemption. What you are advocating might be constituted as cruel and degrading punishment. Clearly revenge is still a part of your psyche." I will not debate the pros and cons of capital punishment because it was thoroughly ventilated in the media recently by some of our brilliant legal minds alongside insightful and oftentimes emotional contributions to the call-in programmes by erudite social commentators. I read with interest the notion by human rights lawyers and activists in the international arena that the Caribbean Court of Justice, which will replace the British Privy Council, is intended to be a "hanging court". This charge has been stoutly denied by our region's senior politicians and it goes without saying that at this juncture in our history we have no need to apologise for casting off one of our last vestige of colonialism, although some would rightly point out that globalisation is colonialism in another form. But, let us get philosophical. I still marvel that with all the innovative advances in science and technology that mankind has not yet conceived a peaceful way of settling conflicts or honouring each other's right to life and livelihood. Most of us seem content to exist in a world where our differences are paraded as a legitimate excuse for discord and battle and our similarities are forgotten or conveniently ignored. Might is right is an ideology that to a large extent permeates our words and actions and intolerance is endemic in our culture. The horrific humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan's western region of Darfur is a graphic case in point. Through coverage from the British Broadcasting Corporation world service, we looked on in pain and shock this week as refugees, cowering for shelter in makeshift tents were battered by torrential rains. The conditions were overcrowded and inhumane with a lack of proper sanitation and water. One report stated that the rains had not only mired the roads in mud making it difficult for food aid to get through but had also brought disease to the camp by flushing sewerage into the drinking water. As you would recall, Arab militias, supported by the Sudanese government, have been pillaging villages after a rebellion that was mounted last year by fighters who protested that the local black African population was being oppressed. Historically, tension has been rife between the two groups over land and grazing rights. Several human rights groups have issued indictments against the militias for ethnic cleansing and even genocide against non-Arab residents of Darfur. So far about one million people have fled their homes and at least 10 000 have been killed. Will we ever evolve into "humane" beings, treating others with same love and respect that we desire for ourselves? The answer is along time in coming! Betty Holford (source: Opinion, Barbados Advocate)
