June 20
LIBYA:
Libyans insist on death penalty
There must be no compromise about carrying out the death sentence on 5
Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor found guilty of having
deliberately infected hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, families of
the children said in a statement on June 13.
The medics have appealed against the death sentence. The court has
postponed the appeal process until November.
Against a background of several appeals from the European Union, United
States, several Western countries, and human rights and medical bodies
calling for the release of the medics, suggestions have been made of the
medics being freed in exchange for compensation.
In a statement received by the Agence France Presse news agency, the
victims families criticised the stance taken by Bulgaria and the EU,
accusing them of "not respecting the basis of democracy in the world,
including the independence of the judicial system in free and sovereign
nations."
Last year the Libyan government, as well as the association of the
families of the infected children, repeatedly said that they were willing
to re-consider the fate of the medics if Bulgaria agreed to pay
compensation. The Bulgarian Government refused to consider this option,
saying that this would mean acknowledging the guilt of the 5 nurses, who
it has insisted are innocent.
"Faced with the tragedy of our children and the worlds indifference, we
are announcing our commitment to the sentence being carried out on the
condemned... and we reject any negotiations and any compromise or
bargaining in this matter," said the statement, signed by the "families
and close relatives of the child victims of the AIDS crime in Benghazi."
On May 31 the Libyan supreme court postponed until November its ruling on
the appeal of the death sentences.
On June 7, a Libyan court acquitted the 9 Libyan police officers and one
medic accused of having used torture to extract confessions from the six
condemned medics.
The EU said it was "seriously concerned" by the acquittal of the alleged
torturers.
(source: Sofia Echo)
UNITED KINGDOM/UGANDA:
UK lawyers aid Ugandan U-turn on death penalty
Simons Muirhead & Burton and a silk from Doughty Street Chambers have been
instrumental in overturning the mandatory death penalty in Uganda and
saving the lives of more than 400 people.
Simons Muirhead partners Saul Lehrfreund and Parvais Jabbar, alongside
Doughty's Keir Starmer QC, acted pro bono in assisting Ugandan firm
Katende Ssempebwa & Co on the mammoth class action case.
Last week the Ugandan Constitutional Court handed down a judgment ruling
that the death penalty for murder and other offences was unconstitutional.
The ruling sets aside the sentence of 417 prisoners currently on death row
in Uganda. Those who have been on death row for more than 3 years will
have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, while prisoners who
have served less than 3 years will be resentenced.
Katende Ssempebwa asked Simons Muirhead for help following similar work
the UK firm had undertaken in the Caribbean, where the mandatory death
penalty in 8 jurisdictions, including Trinidad, has been overturned.
The firm has also become involved in a similar case in Nigeria.
Jabbar said: "If you look at the movement and the trends around the world,
we were hopeful that, if you applied the law properly, this would be the
decision."
He added that the team's greatest challenge was in transposing law that
had been used in other jurisdictions to East Africa.
"The lawyers on the ground did a tremendous job," Jabbar concluded.
The Foreign Office contributed travel expenses for the UK lawyers, but the
team completed all of the legal work on a pro bono basis.
(source: The Lawyer.com)
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO:
Hanging - politics or justice?
The decision by the Government to vigorously pursue the death penalty for
those convicted of murder has brought the debate on capital punishment
back to the public eye. I was taken by surprise by this announcement
because I was unaware that there had been any policy change or that the
Attorney General was not diligently pursuing the death penalty for those
in death row.
The recent statement by the Attorney General that he will pursue the death
penalty against all the inmates on death row (some 83 persons) has
however, all the hallmarks of being a political response to the escalation
in crime rather than a serious policy statement.
It is my personal belief that the death penalty has no place in a
civilised society.
However I do fully accept that Trinidad is not a civilised society and the
retention of the death penalty is widely supported and fully justified.
As a policy matter it should be an important part of our 20/20 Vision to
achieve developed and civilised country status and thus create the
circumstances in which the death penalty is no longer warranted and no
longer supported by the majority of the population.
One of the strongest arguments against the death penalty is that it has
become such a political football that one can no longer be sure that it is
reserved for the most heinous of murderers. With a mandatory death
sentence, political control of the Mercy Committee and a political debate
it is possible that we will end up with hanging at random instead of the
most evil of convicted killers.
The Privy Council has many times warned the Caribbean that the death
penalty must be the result of a timely and equitable due process.
In particular they have said at different times, 5 years is the maximum
time it should take from conviction to execution, the Mercy Committee
hearing must be subject to principles of justice, and that the mandatory
death sentence is not appropriate.
I can accept that these are equitable rulings and I would have expected an
appropriate response from the Government to speed up capital cases, to
ensure an equitable Mercy Committee and to provide for other sentences
than death in certain circumstances.
I have previously given the example in this column of the case of Craig
and Bently in the UK in which and execution took place within 3 months of
a murder.
This can only take place if capital cases are tried immediately, an appeal
is mandatory and immediate, and appeal to the Privy Council is also
mandatory and immediate, followed swiftly or preceded by a Mercy Committee
hearing.
Once the death sentence is non-mandatory and every opportunity is given to
commute death sentences except in the worst cases, then we can feel more
comfortable with the zeal towards the death penalty.
Attorney Israel Khan on the CCN-TV6 Morning Edition last week pointed out
that defence attorneys manipulate the process by filing notice of
intention to appeal without filing appeals. Every tactic is used to delay
in order to run out the clock, and this must be dealt with by rule
changes.
I would have been so much happier if the Attorney General had said that as
part of our 20/20 Vision, Trinidad would move towards creating the
circumstances in which the death penalty could be abolished.
He could then have focused on the people in death row by moving towards
commuting the majority of sentences and thus saving his zeal for those who
truly deserve the ultimate punishment. Lester Pitman may be one of those
but to seek to hang all on death row is a mistake, a waste of resources
and a blunderbuss approach where precision is needed.
In view of the fact that every death row inmate appeals to the Privy
Council against the death penalty, we could save significant time and cost
if the majority of cases were reviewed and sentences commuted to life
imprisonment if appropriate. Resources could then be concentrated on the
few that the Mercy Committee view as deserving of capital punishment.
Trinidad is not prepared for 83 hangings, but clearly the population will
applaud the Attorney General if he is able to make the system work
expeditiously and resume hangings for the worst offenders. Deterrent or
not some clearly deserve hanging.
(source: William Lucie Smith, Opinion, Trinidad Express)
