Jan. 8
TANZANIA:
Ukonga death row prisoners on hunger strike
Death row prisoners in Ukonga maximum-security prison in Dar es Salaam
have entered the 5th day of a hunger strike saying their human rights are
being violated.
The over 15 inmates complain of a poor diet and severe beatings in
overcrowded cells.
The prison authorities reject the prisoners claims.
The Ministry of Home Affairs recently announced that conditions in the
countrys prisons had improved.
Prison official Augustine Nanyaro said the prisoners were lying and the
government had improved their diet.
"They get the diet that has been prescribed in the prisons dietary scale.
I think that those are just a few people who would like to smear some bad
things on us," he said.
The Ukonga prison, on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam is home to more than
3,000 inmates.
Of these, 90 have been waiting for more than 20 years to be hanged, after
the courts found them guilty of murder.
They say their appeals have not been heard and that some of them do not
get any visits from their loved ones because their relatives think that
they have been executed.
The authorities admit they have a problem but say it is the attorney
general who makes the decisions.
"Death sentences for some time now have not been executed," said Nanyaro.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, efforts are being made to
improve conditions in the cells in line with human rights demands.
However, even Ukonga prisoners with shorter sentences allege severe
beatings.
They also say that when searches for cigarettes and drugs are made, they
are given rectal examinations.
Next week the government will distribute new yellow uniforms to all
prisoners in the country, replacing their current white outfits.
A rehabilitation process is due to come on stream that includes vocational
training.
(source: IPP Media)
TAIWAN:
Death penalty changes lauded----GRADUAL PHASE-OUT: Activists said changes
to the Criminal Code that rule out capital punishment for those under 18
or over 80 are a step in the right direction
A group opposed to the death penalty commended yesterday's overhaul of the
Criminal Code through a law amendment aimed at gradually abolishing the
death penalty. The groups also urged for the strengthening of correctional
counseling to inmates.
Yesterday's final reading of the Criminal Code amendment abolished the
death penalty for individuals under the age of 18 or over the age of 80.
"This amendment is on the right track to abolish the death penalty. We
think the time to gradually abolish more crimes leading to death penalties
in the Code has arrived," said Wu Chi-kwang, an assistant professor of law
at Fu Jen Catholic University, a leading member of the Taiwan Alliance to
End the Death Penalty.
The alliance suggested that crimes that do not directly inflict harm on
human life should be the first to have the death penalty abolished.
Wu stated that the death penalty for crimes such as drug trafficking and
kidnappings where victims remain alive should be the first to be
abolished.
"Removing the death penalty from all the crimes at once may be a little
too much for the public; therefore, gradual changes could be made," Wu
said.
In order to ensure the public that the death penalty would not result in
increased recidivism of released offenders, Wu emphasized that
correctional and counseling services on the part of the prison
administration must be strengthened.
In addition, penalties for those who turn themselves in are also eased.
According to the amendment, those who turn themselves will receive a
lesser penalty than in the current Code.
Currently, Article 56 of the Criminal Code stipulates that if several
successive acts constitute similar offenses, such successive acts may be
considered to be one offense, but the punishment prescribed for the
offense may be increased by up to 1/2.
An amendment was made to this article that all crimes will be classified
through "crime type" and penalties will be handled independently.
The new change is intended to curb recidivism.
This major amendment, which was the 1st in the past 50 years, will take
effect on July 1, 2006.
(source: Taipei Times)
