July 26
PHILIPPINES:
Priests and mothers of death-row inmates march against the death penalty
Father Robert Reyes, an active campaigner against the death penalty and
for respecting of life, joined the mothers of some death-row inmates in
demanding that the government show greater consideration for human life
and carry the cross of the Filipino nation and people. A bamboo cross,
symbolising the marchers demand, followed them as they tried to make their
way along their route, which was however blocked by units of the riot
police.
The protest action was organised to coincide with President Arroyos State
of the Nation speech before the 13th Congress and the beginning of joint
US-Filipino exercises involving US Army Special Forces and 200 Filipino
infantrymen and marines in the town of Carmen, on Mindanao Island. The
protesters rallying point was the US Embassy in Manila.
"Today, we run with the Angels of Life and Peace," Father Reyes told
AsiaNews. We thank the President for saving the life of hostage Angelo de
la Cruz, but the executions scheduled for August 7 and 20, and the
military training exercises planned for Mindanao are also threats to human
life.
"Hunger, disease, and ignorance remain the sad lot of the poor, who have
all but lost their trust in empty government rhetoric. Today, as the
President gives her State of the Nation speech, we dare listen to it with
keen and discerning hearts, eager to see whether she truly knows and feels
the weight of the peoples Cross, and more importantly, whether she is now
ready and willing to carry with us its awesome and almost unimaginable
weight."
The US Embassy was deliberately chosen as the rallying point to stress the
importance of protecting human life above all else. Because the US
government harshly criticised the Philippines' decision to withdraw its
contingent from Iraq in exchange for the release of its hostage, for
Father Reyes, this shows how insensitive the US is towards protecting
human life.
Following a rash of kidnappings-for-ransom that shook Filipino public
opinion President Arroyo lifted last year the moratorium on the death
penalty. The country has the unenviable position of being Asias kidnapping
central. On average 1 person is taken every 3 days. In 2003 there were 158
recorded cases.
The Catholic Church immediately expressed its opposition to the measure
stating that, to use the words of Msgr. Fernando Capalla, Bishop of Davao
and President of the Philippines Bishop Conference, its position was still
one of "critical collaboration with the government."
Currently, there are 1,005 inmates on death row. Of these, 17 are
foreigners (many of whom were incarcerated for drug trafficking) and 29
are women (9 of whom are over 60) sentenced on drug-related charges.
(source: AsianNews)
SCOTLAND:
THE Law Society of Scotland has been criticised for failing to join its
English counterpart in signing a court petition supporting Kenny Richey,
the Scot who has been on death row in Ohio for 17 years.
The governing body for Scotland's solicitors believes it has no powers to
back Richey, who was sentenced to death in 1987 after being convicted of
arson and the aggravated murder of a 2-year-old girl.
Richey's supporters are alarmed by the body's stance, however, and the
Scottish Executive has also disputed the society's claim that its hands
are tied.
An executive spokeswoman described the society's claim that fresh
legislation would be required for it to get involved as "ludicrous". She
also pointed out that society president Duncan Murray has previously put
his name to issues outwith his everyday role of representing solicitors'
interests.
Last year Murray, along with colleagues at the Law Society south of the
border, signed a letter expressing concerns at the treatment of non-US
enemy combatants detained at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba by the US government.
Reprieve, the human rights charity, and Amnesty International have
submitted an amicus curiae brief supported by more than 200 MPs and MSPs
to the Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeal in the US, calling for
Richey's case to be re-assessed since doubts were expressed over the
safety of the conviction.
More than 150 MPs have already signed a Westminster early-day motion
urging the government to intervene.
The Law Society of England and Wales, which regulates and represents
116,000 solicitors south of the border, has signed the new brief in a rare
gesture of support for an individual miscarriage of justice claim. Peter
Williamson, the society's president, said: "The Law Society is deeply
concerned for Kenny Richey as he has a strong claim of innocence, the
evidence for which may never be heard by a court."
The Bar Human Rights Committee, the international human rights arm of the
Bar of England and Wales, has also backed the petition.
The Law Society of Scotland, by contrast, maintained that it is barred
from adopting such a stance under the terms of The Solicitors (Scotland)
Act 1980. It believes fresh legislation may be required for it to take up
individual causes.
Duncan Murray moved to give verbal backing for Richey's claim, but
insisted this was on a personal basis. In any case, his support came too
late for the US court submission.
A society spokeswoman said: "The society was asked as an organisation to
support the brief but a decision was taken that the organisation could
not. The president felt so strongly he decided to support it personally.
The society has never got involved in individual cases."
The executive insisted the issue had less to do with the terms of the act
and more to do with the society's interpretation of it.
"The act does not stop them from looking at issues such as this. Indeed,
they have commented on such issues in the past in the name of the
president of the society," said a spokeswoman.
"If the suggestion is that the law should be changed to allow comment,
that is ludicrous."
A human rights campaign source said: "There are a lot of people who just
do not understand why it is the Law Society of Scotland cannot put their
name to this and yet the body in England and Wales can. We are talking
about the possible wrongful execution of a Scot."
Richey's partner Karen, who adopts his surname, from Cambuslang, said: "I
don't think this is right at all and I am very disappointed in the Law
Society of Scotland."
Reprieve and Amnesty's move to lodge the brief, drawn up by the Scottish
lawyer, Mungo Bovey QC, came after judges in the US rejected the latest
appeal on behalf of Richey in early June.
Sara MacNeice, Amnesty International's UK campaigns co-ordinator said:
"The support of a wide cross-section of MPs and MSPs may yet prove crucial
in ensuring that key legal issues in Kenny's case are properly examined."
(source: The Herald)
SINGAPORE/AUSTRALIA:
Death row delay for Melbourne man
A Melbourne man facing the death penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore
must wait another 3 or 4 weeks before a court rules on his appeal.
Singapore's Court of Appeal today reserved judgment in the case of Nguyen
Tuong Van, 23, who has been on death row in Changi prison since March,
when he was found guilty of smuggling nearly 400 grams of heroin.
Nguyen appeared in court wearing a prison uniform of green pants and a
white top, with both his hands and legs shackled.
He remained mostly expressionless throughout the proceedings, except at
the beginning when he saw his mother in court.
Nguyen's Melbourne-based lawyer Lex Lasry, QC, said the court was expected
to make a ruling on his appeal within 3 to 4 weeks.
If his appeal fails he will plead for clemency.
Nguyen was caught in transit at Singapore's Changi airport in December
2002, while on his way from Cambodia to Melbourne.
Singapore police testified that one packet of heroin was strapped to
Nguyen's back and another was found in his hand luggage after he was
stopped for a routine check.
The appeal court said it wanted more time to look at evidence - especially
why the drugs had different weights when tested by police and a lab.
Nguyen's local lawyer, Joseph Theseira, questioned why the two packets of
heroin weighed much less when they were sent to the Health Sciences
Authority for verification compared with the first time, when they were
measured by investigating officers at the airport.
Chief Justice Yong Pung How told the court that the discrepancy in drug
weight "has never happened before" in such a case.
"Admittedly it is only a marginal difference, but we have to be very
careful," Yong said.
Nguyen's lawyers also used his appeal to question the constitutionality of
Singapore's death penalty.
"A mandatory sentence is imposed without any regard to the circumstances,"
Mr Theseira told the court.
Singapore made the death penalty mandatory for drug traffickers and
murderers in 1975. Anyone caught with more than 15 grams of heroin in
Singapore is assumed to be importing or trafficking the drug.
All executions in the city-state are carried out by hanging.
If Nguyen loses his appeal, Mr Lasry will submit a written submission for
clemency with Singapore's president, SR Nathan.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has called for Nguyen's life to be
spared, but Mr Lasry said clemency appeals had had very little success in
the past.
In August 1994, Dutchman Johannes Van Damme became the first Westerner to
hang for drug offences in Singapore - despite pleas for clemency from the
Dutch government and the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix.
Nguyen is the 4th Australian sentenced to death by Asian countries on drug
charges, following the hanging of Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow in
Malaysia in 1986.
In a lesser-known case, Queenslander Michael McAuliffe died by hanging in
Malaysia in June 1993 after serving 8 years in jail.
Last year, an Australian woman condemned to death in Vietnam on drug
trafficking charges had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment in a
presidential amnesty after strong protests from Canberra.
Nguyen's mother fled Vietnam alone in a boat in 1980 and bore her twin
sons in a transit camp in Malaysia before being accepted into Australia
four months later.
Nguyen has said he had the drugs because he was trying to raise money to
clear debts incurred by his twin brother.
(source: The Age)
PAKISTAN:
PCHR demands death sentence for acid throwers
IParliamentarians Commission for Human Rights (PCHR) has taken serious
notice of an incident of throwing acid on the faces of 8 sisters in
Jahanian and demanded death sentence for culprits.
Chief Coordinator PCHR Shafiq Chaudhry said on Monday that MNA and Member
of PCHR Begum Mahnaz Rafi had already demanded death sentence through a
resolution submitted by her in National Assembly against culprits throwing
acid on the face of anybody.
Meanwhile, she has taken serious notice of an incident of throwing acid on
8 daughters of one farmer Anwar of Jahanian on July 25, 2004. Her
resolution may come on the floor of house on (today) Tuesday. She has
demanded death sentence for this heinous crime against humanity.
He said that the incidents of acid throwing are on rise in the country
especially in South Punjab. As many as 56 cases were reported in 2002, 67
were in 2003 and now number by the end of the June was 41 in South Punjab
in year 2004.
These numbers are only a tip of the iceberg, considering that most
incidents go unreported n rural areas, he noted.
(source: Pak Tribune)
VIETNAM:
3 death sentences given to drug traffickers
3 out of 22 offenders charged with drug trafficking were sentenced to
death by the People's Court in the northern port city of Hai Phong on
Monday.
Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Mai Thi Luong and Pham Bich Hoa face death and are
fined 120 million VND each. Meanwhile, seven others will serve life jail
sentences and each of them will be fined between 80 and 100 million VND,
announced the judge after a 10-day trial.
Hoang Thi Mai Phuong, head of the biggest drug trafficking ring discovered
so far in Hai Phong, was not given the death sentence because she is
nursing her baby who is under 3 years old.
12 others will serve sentences ranging from 4 to 20 years, being fined
between 4-50 million VND each.
(source: Vietnam News Agency)
