Jan. 19
NEW ZEALAND:
Death penalty emotionally satisfying but wrong choice for New Zealand
Who wasnt shocked at the horrific stabbing murder of Mona Morriss? The
person who did this is a monster. Rangitikei Mayor Bob Buchanan knows the
solution. He wants the death penalty.
He even suggested that the execution need not be a humane one. I can
relate. My gut reaction to such crimes is a desire to see perpetrators
roasted on a spit slowly.
When I saw the video of that woman stealing funds for the victims of the
tsunami I desired to see her publicly flogged. But I recognise these are
my emotions speaking. This is inspired by a sense of justice, by a genuine
heart-felt hope to see every person treated justly.
Murderers are monsters. Someone who would steal from those who have lost
everything is a terrible person. I have no sympathy for them.
But the desire that inspires me to want awful punishments for bad people
also tells me that I have to temper my emotion with reason and common
sense. Thats why I oppose the death penalty.
Its not that I dont desire punishment for the perpetrator of this murder.
My fear is a relatively simple one. I dont believe in omniscient
government. I recognise that the justice system makes mistakes. Innocent
people get convicted. And thats more likely to happen in very emotional
cases like this one.
We have a justice system to remove the emotional. It uses the cold forces
of reason alone to judge the case, weigh the evidence and punish the
criminal. But even still it makes mistakes. Thats why I oppose a
punishment which cant be reversed. A falsely incarcerated man can be
freed, apologies issued, compensation paid. But a dead man is dead. He can
not be revived, no apology can be heard by him, and no compensation is
sufficient to undo the wrong he suffered.
Kiwis are incensed at senseless murders. A nana stabbed brutally in her
own home, infants left to die in the bushes, a young woman killed before
she could even go home to blow out her birthday candles. All these things
sadden us, anger us and inspire us to demand justice.
But will the death penalty give us these things? It will give us erroneous
convictions and some innocents will be executed. I thought it awful that
Mrs Morriss was killed. She was innocent. But a penalty that makes the
state a perpetrator of the very same crime is the wrong way to go. We need
to avoid taking innocent lives and that means, until infallible government
is invented, no death penalty.
This is not to say there should be no penalty. We do need to send a
message to criminals that is sufficient to make them think twice. What is
needed for that to happen? First, there must be a fairly decent arrest and
conviction rate for crimes. Second, there must be a sufficient punishment
to discourage criminals.
New Zealand doesnt do too badly on the first count. But on the second we
fall woefully short. Unfortunately this government has been very lax when
it comes to criminals. They tend to see criminals as "victims" in need of
Nannys help, not as individuals deserving punishment.
A life sentence in New Zealand is not a life sentence. Even the terrible
murder of 6-year-old Coral Ellen Burrows resulted in a minimum punishment
of 17 years.
The killer himself noted: "Ill get to see daylight again at some stage.
Coral wont."
Phillip Edwards murdered TV personality David McNee. For that Judge
Justice Marion Frater said he should serve a minimum of 4 1/2 years.
Murderers in New Zealand can spend less time in prison than some students
on state aid spend in Univeristy.
Criminals deserve punishment but so far the legislative agenda for Labour
has included wiping some criminals records clean and making it illegal to
reveal their criminal past. We should get serious about real crimeswhere
there are victims. And that means if someone viciously kills another
person they deserve life in prison and that ought to end, not with parole,
but with their demise.
That would send a message to criminals that New Zealand wont tolerate
murderers. But it also leaves us with the ability to rectify the erroneous
convictions that are, unfortunately, bound to happen.
(source: Opinion, Jim Peron is the executive director of the Institute for
Liberal Values; Scoop.co.nz)
THAILAND:
Thai death-row reality show axed
A plan by Thailand's prison service to broadcast the lives of death-row
inmates on its website right up until the moment before execution has been
axed, local media reported on Tuesday.
The country's justice ministry pulled the plug on the broadcasts planned
by the Corrections Department after the idea sparked protests from human
rights groups, the Nation newspaper reported.
The broadcasts would violate the constitutional rights of prisoners and
degrade the 60 men and five women, whose last days would be scrutinised by
webcams, said Thai Justice Ministry deputy permanent secretary Kitti
Limchaikij.
"Inmates would surely not be happy to be subject to minute-to-minute
scrutiny and humiliation through the website. Although they have committed
crimes, they are still human beings," he said.
However, he said broadcasts of death-row inmates meeting with their
relatives would be allowed.
Corrections Department director general Natthee Jitsawang unveiled the
plan on Sunday, saying it would deter would-be murderers, according to the
daily.
But it drew swift condemnation from rights groups, including Amnesty
International's Thailand office.
"Thai society already has suffered enough violence and death. It does not
need more killing," the rights watchdog said in a statement.
Amnesty said that if the government wanted to deter would-be criminals,
inmates could discuss their ordeals in prisons with the media, without
having their lives filmed.
(sources: SAPA & Agence France Presse)
IRAN:
Iran hijackers escape execution
The head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, has
intervened to prevent four convicted hijackers from being put to death.
The 4 men, who were due to be hanged on Wednesday, included two brothers
who were under 18 at the time of the attempted hijacking.
A government spokesman told the state IRNA news agency that Iranian law
did not allow minors to be executed.
The men were arrested in 2001 after trying to hijack a domestic flight.
Three crew members, including 2 security guards, were injured during the
incident. The aircraft, flying from Ahvaz to Bandar Abbas, landed safely.
Iranian airlines placed security guards onto their passenger planes after
a series of hijackings in the 1980s.
Iran has come under growing pressure from international organisations,
including Amnesty International, over reports that it executes minors.
Amnesty says Iran is 1 of only 5 countries in the world that continues to
execute children.
(source: BBC)
