June 14
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY:
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
AI Index: MDE 21/005/2005 13 June 2005
Palestinian Authority: Amnesty International calls for halt to death
penalty as 4 executed in Gaza
As the Palestinian Authority (PA) carried out its first executions since
August 2002, Amnesty International today condemned the use of the death
penalty by the PA, saying that it will in no way solve the problem of
increasing crime and lawlessness in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
and represents a step backwards for human rights in the Palestinian
territories.
"The PA has the right and responsibility to bring to justice those
suspected of criminal offences, but the death penalty is no solution,"
said Abdelsalam Sidahmed, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East
Program. "There is no evidence to suggest that it effectively deters crime
-- rather, it simply brutalizes society, causes anguish for the relatives
of those who are executed, and reinforces a cycle of violence."
4 men were executed yesterday, 3 by hanging and 1 by firing squad. Three
-- Wa'el Sha'ban al-Shoubaki, Salah Khalil Musallam, and 'Oda Muhammad Abu
'Azab -- were sentenced to death for murder in 1995 and 1996. The fourth,
Muhammad Daoud al-Khawaja, was convicted of murder in 2000 after a trial
before the notoriously unfair State Security Court, which has since been
abolished.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly ordered the resumption of executions
as a response to increased crime and lawlessness in areas of the Occupied
Territories which fall under PA jurisdiction.
"To suggest that executions are a solution to increased lawlessness is a
dangerous misconception," said Abdelsalam Sidahmed. "In order to fight
crime effectively the PA must take concrete measures to ensure that its
institutions, notably the security forces and the justice system, attain
the requisite levels of competence and independence so that there is no
need to resort to such a cruel and inhuman punishment, which constitutes
the ultimate violation of the right to life."
Amnesty International called on President Abbas to impose a moratorium on
executions. All prisoners sentenced to death by the State Security Court
or by other courts in unfair trials should receive new trials that conform
to international standards.
Since the establishment of the PA in 1994, Amnesty International has
frequently expressed concern about trial proceedings that did not comply
with international fair trial standards, arbitrary detentions and torture
by PA security forces, and other abuses. The PA has also systematically
afforded impunity to those responsible for killing Palestinians accused of
collaborating with both Israeli intelligence services and security forces
to assassinate other Palestinians.
"There is much that the PA can and should do to establish the rule of law
and to end impunity for those responsible for killings and other abuses.
Executions, including of people who were not granted a fair trial, is not
the answer," said Abdelsalam Sidahmed.
View all AI documents on the Death Penalty:
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maadCZQabhOjFbb0havb/
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(source: Amnesty International)
CHINA:
Hong Kong media urges China to treat detained reporter fairly
More than 1,000 journalists and university alumni in Hong Kong urged the
Chinese government on Tuesday for fair and open treatment of Ching Cheong,
a reporter detained by Beijing and accused of spying.
In 2 full-page advertisements in the Ming Pao newspaper, the Hong Kong
Journalists Association (HKJA) and alumni of the University of Hong Kong
urged Beijing to treat him fairly.
Ching, a Hong Kong-based reporter for Singapore's Straits Times, was
detained by Chinese security agents in the southern city of Guangzhou on
April 22 and is being held under house arrest in Beijing. But his plight
only came to light after his wife informed the media last month.
After accusing Ching of spying for unnamed foreign intelligence agencies
on June 1, Chinese authorities have given no other official word on his
case.
His detention on the mainland has sparked fears that Beijing is tightening
its noose over press freedom in this former British colony, which returned
to Chinese rule in 1997.
Supported by signatures of over 700 present and former members of the
media, the HKJA said it found it difficult to accept how such accusations
could be levelled against Ching without authorities showing any evidence.
"There are many grey areas in the country's security laws. Reporters could
easily step on landmines by mistake and (these grey areas) could be easily
abused by authorities," the HKJA said.
It also urged Chinese authorities to allow Ching, 55, to exercise his
right to legal aid.
About 300 alumni of the University of Hong Kong, where Ching studied,
appealed to Chinese President Hu Jintao in a separate full-page
advertisement to take into consideration Ching's patriotism when handling
his case.
If charged and convicted, Ching could face the death penalty.
His wife said earlier that her husband had worked with an academic at a
Chinese government think-tank who is now being held on suspicion of
leaking state secrets, but was adamant that her husband had done nothing
wrong.
Ching's detention has drawn heavy criticism from the United States and
media groups around the world.
(source: Reuters)
UGANDA:
Partial victory in prisoners' bid to end death penalty
Uganda's constitutional court on Friday rejected an appeal by hundreds of
death row prisoners to outlaw capital punishment, but ruled in favour of
putting an end to laws prescribing death as a mandatory sentence for
certain crimes.
"The death penalty is not unconstitutional because it is given by the laws
as punishment after due process," Galdino Okello, who headed the team of
constitutional court judges, said.
However, the judges said that while parliament should have the authority
to define the maximum sentence for a crime, the courts should decide
whether or not to apply the maximum penalty.
"Courts are compelled to pass the death sentence because the law orders
them to do so, [but] not all the offences can be the same," Okello said.
In January, the country's second highest court began hearing the
unprecedented legal challenge to capital punishment by the country's 417
death row inmates.
The prisoners contended that the death penalty - carried out by hanging -
amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, which is prohibited by
the Ugandan constitution.
Human rights activists who sponsored the petition said the ruling was a
big step forward.
"We have made significant achievements on the mandatory death sentence
because it has been outlawed by the court. Death row prisoners can now
seek redress in court to reconsider their case, which was not possible
before," Livingstone Ssewanyana, an official of the Uganda Human Rights
Initiative, said.
According to prison records, at least 377 people, including one woman,
have been legally executed in Uganda since 1938.
President Yoweri Museveni's government has hanged 51 people, but none
since 1999, when it executed 28 prisoners in 1 day.
(source: IRIN News)
