August 26
RWANDA:
Rwanda Willing to Replace Death Penalty for Transferred Cases
Rwanda's ambassador to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda(ICTR) said his country is "very much willing to negotiate about
the death penalty for the cases to be transferred in order to conform with
the UN standards.
The ambassador, Alloys Mutabingwa told Hirondelle News Agency during an
interview Monday evening that one of the UN requirements for cases to be
transferred to national jurisdictions is that, "the countries do not apply
the death penalty in the cases of those transferred to them."
He said, "Rwanda has the death sentence which is seen as the highest
sentence today but we are willing to negotiate it for the cases which will
be transferred from ICTR."
He stated that Rwanda was willing to replace the death penalty with "life
imprisonment" as the maximum sentence for the 45 cases which will be
transferred to Rwanda if they are found guilty.
The representative continued to say that the genocide suspects of the
tribunal "will be treated equally with other detained persons in Rwanda
whom he said were always talking to the media about how well they are
being treated." He expressed that "the tribunal's suspects were lucky
because they came with blessings of the UN standards."
The ambassador further informed Hirondelle that a memorandum of
understanding will be signed between the tribunal and his country at the
end of this year to allow Rwanda to have some trials transferred as well
as convicts serving sentences there.
Regarding the convicts, Mutabingwa mentioned that a UN delegation went to
Mpanga prison in Nyanza Butare province in South Rwanda on May 24, 2004
and found that "Rwanda conformed to 17 out of 20 requirements set out by
the tribunal. The delegation went to investigate whether they would
conform to the set standards."
He said out of the 20 requirements outlined by the tribunal, Rwanda "will
probably need support in capacity building of the justice system so as to
enable the country to take up more cases and assistance with the upkeep
and maintenance of ICTR prisoners". He mentioned that "We will need a
boost to clothe them, give them food and so on"
At the moment UNICTR detainees living at the United Nations Detention
Facility(UNDF)in Arusha occupy a cubicle each to themselves, "they are
given one suit a month including a pair of shoes, medication and quality
diet" He disclosed.
The Rwandan envoy said his country "can provide uniforms, and normal
hygiene for them but we wouldn't mind if this is funded for the ICTR
convicts who will serve sentence in Rwanda."
Some of the international standards minimum rules for the treatment of
prisoners to be met by potential states of enforcement of ICTR sentences
state that "there should be one living room for all prisoners with a TV
and that, "there shall be a kitchen, which is provided with a fridge,
cooker, basin and cup board"
(source: Hirnodelle News Agency)
EUROPEAN UNION/PHILIPPINES:
EU office shocked at murder of Philippines anti-death penalty campaigner
The European Union on Thursday denounced the killing in the southern
Philippines of a Filipino activist who had mounted a campaign against
capital punishment.
"We are shocked by the cold-blooded murder" of Rashid Manahan, executive
director of the non-government advocacy group Community Resource
Development Center, the EU office here said.
Police in Davao confirmed Manahan's killing, but gave no other details.
Manahan was the Davao coordinator of "People Against the Death Penalty", a
campaign against capital punishment that is funded by a 300,000-euro
(362,460-dollar) EU grant, the European Union said.
Since January, President Gloria Arroyo has granted 90-day reprieves to 8
death row inmates set for judicial execution.
In December she had declared the end of a 4-year moratorium on the death
penalty in order to curtail violence and crime.
(source: EU Business)
SENEGAL:
President Takes On Islamic Groups in Death Penalty Debate
A move to outlaw the death penalty in Senegal has ignited a debate about
capital punishment in the country.
"It is my point of view and my opinion that only God has the right to take
someone's life," said President Abdoulaye Wade during his Jul. 15
announcement of a bill to ban the death penalty.
"An abolitionist current exists throughout the world today and since I've
been at Senegal's helm, I've been asked by NGOs (non-governmental
organisations)...and even other countries to get rid of the death
penalty," he noted. The bill will soon be submitted to the legislature.
The Coalition of Islamic Associations (Collectif des associations
islamiques, CAI) has voiced its opposition to the move.
"It's inconceivable to try to abolish the death penalty in a country that
is 95 percent Muslim," says Assane Sylla, a member of CAI - a 30-year-old
organisation that includes about 17 Islamic groups - and vice-president of
the Islamic Research and Study Circle of Senegal.
"The Koran does not rule out the death penalty. Therefore, we cannot
approve abolishing it in Senegal, because it serves as an excellent
deterrent," he adds.
Sylla says that according to the Koran, the death penalty ultimately works
in favor of life because it prevents a murderer from killing again: "In
Islam, the death penalty is only applied when the killer commits a
cold-blooded, premeditated act of murder."
CAI fears that abolition of the death penalty will lead to an increase in
robberies and murders in Senegal, and it has called on legislators, civil
society representatives and other Muslims not to champion the bill.
However, violent crime already appears to have become more common in
Senegal over recent years, the existence of capital punishment
notwithstanding. Unemployment amongst the youth and poverty also may
explain this trend, say analysts.
Human rights organisations and much of civil society have thrown their
support behind the bill.
The African Encounter for Human Rights (Rencontre africaine pour la dfense
des droits de l'Homme, RADDHO) has asked parliamentarians to vote with
"one voice" to pass the proposed law.
RADDHO Executive Secretary Alioune Tine applauded the president's decision
to put forward the bill, saying it "reconciles Article seven of the
constitution with abolitionist practice and culture in Senegal."
"Article seven was approved by the voters in the February 2001 referendum
and establishes the sacredness of human life," Tine observed.
These words were echoed by attorney Mbaye Jacques Ndiaye. "The death
penalty no longer serves any purpose in our legal repertoire," he said.
"With the constitution adopted by the referendum of January 7, 2001, the
Senegalese have implicitly accepted abolition of the death penalty."
The Senegalese Committee for Human Rights (Comit sngalais des droits de
l'Homme, CSDH) has also expressed satisfaction over the bill, saying it
brings Senegal in line with the international movement to ban the death
penalty.
"The death penalty is an irreparable source of errors which undermine a
country's democratic foundations," notes the CSDH, which further describes
the application of capital punishment as a "serious blow to the right to
life".
According to statistics from the British-based NGO Amnesty International,
118 of the world's countries and territories have, either by de jure or de
facto means, outlawed the death penalty. African countries to do so
include South Africa, Angola, the Ivory Coast, Mauritius and Mozambique.
Since independence in 1960, only 2 executions have taken place in Senegal.
One was in 1967, when the killer of a parliamentarian and former minister
for youth and sports was put to death.
The same year, a 2nd execution took place after an assassination attempt
on former President Leopold Sedar Senghor - this during prayers at Dakar's
Grand Mosque on Mar. 22, 1967. In spite of numerous pleas from both
religious and traditional leaders, Senghor did not grant a pardon to the
would-be assassin.
Presently, 4 people are on death row in Senegal.
(source: Inter Press Service)
