Oct. 14
CANADA:
Signing On to the Second Protocol
Human rights activists are praising Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre
Pettigrew for sending a strong signal that this government intends to sign
an international protocol against the death penalty. Speaking at the
closing ceremonies of the Second Annual World Congress Against the Death
Penalty in Montreal on Oct. 8, he said it was absurd that Canada banned
capital punishment in 1976, but has not yet ratified an international law
that outlaws the same practice. "Canada is not yet a party to the Second
Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, despite our de jure abolition of the death penalty. We are aware
of this incongruous situation, and today I can state that our government
is seriously examining this issue," Mr. Pettigrew told the Congress during
its closing plenary.
Amnesty International's Canadian branch was declaring the statement as a
major step forward. "What is important here is that the death penalty is
now being regarded throughout the world, and in Canada, as a human rights
issue. It is not just a judicial issue that is only regarded as an
internal matter for a country," says Margaret John, national coordinator
for Singapore and Malaysia, Amnesty International Canada.
The Minister's spokesperson said further exploration of the protocol has
been directed to departmental officials. But a timeline to join 41 other
nations in ratifying the accord is not yet available. Canada signed the
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights in 1966. In 1989, a
Second Optional Protocol that outlawed the death penalty was added to the
convention, but Canada didn't ratify it at the time.
Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, urged abolitionist
countries such as Canada to demonstrate clear conviction that the death
penalty will no longer be accepted as a form of judicial punishment.
"[Ratifying international treaties] not only solidifies their own
position, it is also an act of international solidarity which encourages
others," she said.
In this Parliamentary session, Opposition parties are demanding that
international treaties go to vote in the House of Commons, rather than
being considered at the sole discretion of the government. The
Conservative election platform did not propose the death penalty, but some
of the party's MPs are vocal about their support for its reinstatement in
Canada.
Ms. John says the Canadian government should sign the protocol without
worrying if it will be a slap in the face to governments who still execute
criminals. "Are we going to be unpopular with other countries? Certainly
other countries might not agree, but with human rights you have to do the
right thing, not the popular thing," she says.
China, Iran, the U.S. and Vietnam carried out 84 % of the executions in
2003. Ms. John adds Singapore has one of the highest execution rates per
capita of the 66 countries that still use execution as a judicial
punishment. According to Amnesty International, in 2003 at least 1,146
people were executed in 28 countries. In addition, 2,756 people were
sentenced to death in 63 countries.
Antoine Bernard, executive director of the International Federation of
Human Rights, an umbrella group for 141 global human rights organizations,
based in Paris, France, says Montreal was the chosen location because
Canada encourages free and open debate, and is strategically located next
to the United States. "Fighting terrorism for many governments means that
all methods are justified," he says. "And this Congress very strongly
stands against this analysis." He says governments are wrongly justifying
acts of torture and capital punishment as necessary weapons in the war on
terror. "In Morocco, for instance, the law was amended in 2003 after a
terrorist attack in Casablanca. It widened the scope of the implementation
of the death penalty in very questionable conditions, and it has already
allowed 16 people to be condemned to death.
On the other hand, the Canadian government was a major actor in getting
the International Criminal Court off the ground, where punishment excludes
the death penalty. "[It] has had a direct impact on international law, and
countries around the world. It has brought about a lot of progress", says
Elise Groulx, president of the International Criminal Defence Attorneys
Association.
Canada could do more by linking trade incentives, or conversely,
sanctions, to encourage countries to abolish capital punishment, says Mr.
Bernard.
Ms. John adds individuals around the world could use letter-writing
campaigns, hold vigils and attend conferences to put pressure on leaders
to ban executions.
(source: Embassymag)
CHINA:
Supreme court to review death penalty cases
China will amend its criminal procedural law, including the procedure for
the review of death sentences and the custody system, in accordance with
the spirit of the revised Constitution and some recently signed
international conventions.
The information was released by Huang Songyou, vice president of the
Supreme Peoples Court, at the 2004 annual conference of the China Law
Society in Guangzhou. He said the amendment of the law had been listed in
the legislature plan of the 10th National Peoples Congress (NPC).
According to the existing law, death sentences are submitted to the
Supreme Peoples Court for review and approval. However, in most cases, the
court reviews the death penalties merely by reading written reports, but
is not involved in trying the case.
Huang said the law would be revised to reform the death penalty review
procedure. In future, the Supreme court will review death penalties by
trying the accused.
Revision will also be made to rule out the possibility of
illegally-prolonged custody detention, Huang said.
A system should be established in which bail plays a major role with
detention as a supplementary measure, he said.
The civil and administrative procedural laws are also likely to undergo
revisions, in which the principle of importance is to "ensure human
rights."
(source: Xinhua News)
*********************
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
AI Index: ASA 17/053/2004 13 October 2004 China: Move to reduce
executions?
The Supreme People's Court will in future review all death sentences
passed in China, according to the Court's vice-president, Huang Songyou,
quoted in the official Chinese media. Amnesty International welcomes this
announcement as it could mean a fall in the huge number of people
executed.
"This is a step in the right direction," said Amnesty International. "We
hope that extra scrutiny by better qualified judges will bring about a
significant reduction in the numbers of people executed in China."
"We will be watching closely to see if the reform translates into any
concrete improvement," continued the organization. "Of course it will be
hard even to tell if there has been a drop, as China refuses to publish
full national statistics on the death penalty."
A senior Chinese legislator estimated earlier this year that China
executes "nearly 10,000" people a year.
Amnesty International warned that this measure must be seen as the
beginning of a process towards full abolition of the death penalty. There
are still a host of failings in the Chinese legal system which jeopardize
the lives of people suspected of capital crimes. There is no presumption
of innocence; political pressure to pass heavy sentences intrudes into the
judicial process; 'confessions' extracted under torture can be used as
evidence in court; and lawyers need not be present at the initial police
interrogation.
"Under such circumstances, the Chinese criminal justice system is in no
position to offer fair trials to those facing the death penalty," said
Amnesty International.
Extra scrutiny by the Supreme People's Court would not necessarily
guarantee a fair trial. For example in December last year the Court
retried a high-profile case where a gangster's death sentence had been
overturned on appeal by a provincial court. It ruled that Liu Yong's death
sentence was still valid despite evidence of his confession being extorted
through torture, and ordered an immediate execution.
The present system of reviewing most death sentences in China allows for
judges in a provincial high court to approve a death sentence that they
themselves have passed. The move to re-centralise the system back to the
Supreme People's Court in Beijing is expected to be enacted during the
current legislative session, which ends in 2008, the year that Beijing
hosts the Summer Olympics.
"Such reforms will help to protect the rights of detainees," said Amnesty
International. "But they must not be seen as a substitute for full
abolition of the death penalty in China, starting with a halt to all
executions."
China applies the death sentence for the "most serious" crimes, which
under Chinese law include corruption and many other non-violent crimes,
despite an international standard which states the death penalty should be
"a quite exceptional measure". Amnesty International opposes the death
penalty in all cases on the grounds that it is the ultimate cruel and
inhuman punishment and violates the right to life.
Take action! Protect Uighur refugees from forcible return, visit
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacKBgabaNLibb0havb/
China in the AI Report 2004:
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacKBgabaNLjbb0havb/
The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
It violates the right to life. Visit Amnesty International's dedicated
Death Penalty pages at
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacKBgabaNLkbb0havb/
*****************************************************************
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(source: Amnesty International)
ZIMBABWE:
Tsvangirai awaits treason trial verdict
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday awaits a verdict
on treason charges, which could carry the death sentence, a penalty
President Robert Mugabe had vowed to abolish at the time of independence
in 1980.
The last executions in Zimbabwe were carried out in June last year when 4
convicted murderers were hanged.
In the same month the previous year, 3 others were executed.
However, nobody convicted of treason has been sentenced to death since
1980 when President Mugabe took over the reins of the southern African
country from British colonisers.
Mugabe had then vowed to outlaw capital punishment.
3 politicians charged with treason
Over the last 2 decades 3 politicians have been charged with treason.
In 1997, opposition leader Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole was convicted of
conspiring to kill Mugabe and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail.
He was granted the right to appeal but it was never heard and Sithole died
of ill health 3 years later.
2 other political rivals of Mugabe were charged but later acquitted and
then joined the president's party.
Charges against Tsvangirai, leader of the five-year-old opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), arose from a secretly taped meeting
he held with a Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben Menashe in
2001.
'Organised Mugabe's elimination'
Tsvangirai allegedly sought help to organise Mugabe's "elimination" and a
military coup.
The MDC leader denied the charges saying his party had engaged Menashe to
carry out an international public relations campaign and help raise funds
for the party in the United States.
But Tsvangirai's defence claimed that Menashe was hired by the government
to frame the opposition ahead of the 2002 presidential polls.
According to London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International, half the
countries in Africa have outlawed the death sentence.
In the last 14 years, 5 countries in the 14-member Southern Africa
Development Community of which Zimbabwe is a member have abolished the
death penalty.
The 5 countries are Angola, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and South
Africa.
Rights activist John Dzvinamurungu, citing Zimbabwe Prisons Service
figures, said of the total 244 people sentenced to death by the country's
High Court between 1980 and 2001, 76 were executed.
The rest had their sentences either commuted to life terms or quashed by
the Supreme Court.
In a paper he presented at a recent anti-death penalty campaign,
Dzvinamurungu said in some countries capital punishment was used to
"eliminate" opposition members.
"The death penalty has been used in some instances to suppress political
dissent and to consolidate power especially after coups and
counter-coups," he said.
Originated in colonial era
A lawyer, Obert Gutu said, "During the colonial era, the death penalty was
deliberately provided for to curtail the activities of nationalist
movements that were advocating and fighting for black majority rule."
"The colonial system was brutally vicious and the death penalty was
unashamedly resorted to with impunity," he said.
"But, 24 years down the line, Zimbabwe remains retentionist, a sad
reflection that has cast a dark shadow over our human rights record," said
Dzvinamurungu.
In a statement, the MDC said it was democracy in Zimbabwe, and not their
leader, which was on trial.
"The president of the MDC is being persecuted for leading the fight of the
people who need jobs and food," the MDC said.
(source: South African Press Agency)
JAPAN:
Death sentence upheld for man who killed rape victim after prison term
The Supreme Court upheld a death sentence on a man Wednesday for killing a
woman who had told police he had raped her. Takashi Mochida, 62, fatally
stabbed the woman, then 44, in the hallway of her apartment building in
Koto Ward on April 18, 1997.
Mochida had been jailed for seven years from 1990 for raping and
attempting to extort money from her. He killed her 2 months after being
released from prison, saying he had been arrested because she called the
police even though he told her not to do so, according to the ruling.
(source: Kyodo News)
