June 28
TRINIDAD:
Hang them high? More come, more come
MAYBE I should begin this column by expressing my deep admiration for
Independent Senator Angela Cropper, who, having more reasons than
most in the society to call for mass executions of death row
prisoners, has held firm her lofty principles against capital
punishment. Angela lost the three people closest to her (and that
after losing an only son otherwise)-her husband, her mother and her
sister-at the hands of barbaric murderers. I imagine if she had been
present at the time, and she'd had the means to so do, she might have
blown the savages to bits. But she was not there, and after the fact
all she could do was mourn her loss, maintain her dignity and
humaneness, and most of all her principled position against the State
executing killers.
It's not an easy position for anyone to adopt or admit to at a time
when so much blood is being shed, when crimes and criminals are
becoming more brutal with every bullet-ridden body. The masses want
an eye for an eye, the Law of Moses, implemented post-haste. If the
public and the politicians had their way, and were it not for the
intervention of the Privy Council, we would by now see hangings in
Woodford Square, most likely on Fridays (after Jumma, please), with
huge crowds present for the gruesome spectacle. Reminds those of us
who studied the French Revolution of how French women weaved as heads
were sliced at the nearby Place de la Concorde.
The politicians know this only too well. Prime Minister Patrick
Manning's remarks about "prisoners on death row shaking in their
boots" are what I would expect coming from people on the street, not
the nation's leader. But politicians always pander to the popular
will, which, at this point, is baying for more blood to add to that
which already flows like rivers down the hillsides of Laventille,
Morvant, Belmont, and now Diego Martin and Carenage. How well I
recall Basdeo Panday, when he was PM, saying that while he did not
believe in capital punishment, he was duty bound to carry it out,
having taken an oath to so do. Power came before principles in his
case, and he went on to set the dubious record of executing nine
murderers over a weekend.
Whenever politicians cannot deal with a problem, they always seek the
easy, preferably populist, way out. This government has proved itself
incapable of reining-in runaway crime.
I don't know that any other government will have fared better since
what we are reaping today is what we, as a people, have sown over
many decades. Our own children and grandchildren have come to haunt
us in the most horrible manner.
Simply put, the authorities can go ahead and hang every convicted
killer on death row (and let their attorneys sue or ask questions
afterwards), but that will not stop the mayhem and murder that wreak
havoc in the society. What Manning, and all those who are baying for
blood, seem not to understand, is that if all killers are hanged in
one bloody orgy, death row will be refilled in short time with more
mindless killers. As Black Stalin sang years ago: more come, more come.
This is not to say that people like Angela and I, and thousands
others who hold a principled position on capital punishment, want
killers to go unpunished. Because of my personal experience in "dem
boys' jail", I have long argued that the punishment I would mete out
to such killers will be worse than simply hanging them. In fact, many
of them would beg to be executed, and some may even take their own
lives. For first degree murder, I would make the killers labour for
life (and I mean life literally, not 10 or 20 years).
The jail will become a major producer of concrete blocks, pre-
fabricated houses, and similar labour-intensive products. No
machinery will be used .just criminal-labour. These products can be
sold on the open market, off-setting some of the costs taxpayers meet
to keep these louts there.
They will work from sun-up to sun-down. They will be paid minimum
wages. One-third will go to the victim's family, one-third to the
killers' dependents, and one-third set aside to feed him (or her)
while in jail and bury him when he finally expires. Or we may choose
to give the victims' families two-thirds and leave none for the
beasts. That is punishment "fadder". Not this bull, living in
relative comfort in cells, having full security around them (which we
outside don't enjoy), and then being quickly allowed to depart this
life even as other citizens are made to suffer from afflictions for
years before they die.
I lived for a few months next to the gallows when I was in prison. I
shall give readers a peep into that netherworld in my next column.
(source: Raffique Shah, Trinidad Express)
IRAN:
Iranian court stays execution of young woman, orders flogging
An Iranian court has ordered a lower court to re-try the case against a
young Iranian woman who since late last year faced execution for "immoral
behaviour", news reports in Norway said Tuesday.
The plight of the woman, known only as "Leyla M." generated protests
in several countries including Norway after it was reported that she
risked flogging and capital punishment for "morality- related" offences
after being forced into prostitution as a child.
Leyla M., said to have the mental age of eight, was subjected to abuse
since she was a young girl but those circumstances were not taken into
consideration in her trial, human rights group Amnesty International said
in December.
Iranian exile Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a researcher at Oslo University,
told Norwegian news agency NTB late Monday that he had learned that the
supreme court in Teheran had ordered a local court to re-try the case.
The supreme court said she should not face a 5-year prison sentence,
but ruled that she should be flogged.
"Of course it is terrible that the court upheld the 3rd count in the
sentence of 100 lashes, but the announcement was in any case a major
victory," Amiry-Moghaddam said.
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen also welcomed the reports
that Leyla M.`s life would be spared, but strongly criticized the flogging.
The Foreign Minstry in Oslo has raised her case with the Iranian ambassador
to Norway.
(source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan Supreme Court overturns acquittal of men
Pakistan's Supreme Court overturned the acquittals of 13 men accused of
gang-raping a villager and ordered the suspects arrested Tuesday in a case
that has drawn international attention to the brutal treatment of women
in this conservative Muslim country.
The ruling came a day after the 36-year-old victim, Mukhtar Mai, made a
dramatic appearance at the Supreme Court, appealing a lower court decision
to acquit 5 of the men who allegedly raped her on orders of a council
of village elders. The 8 members of the council, an influential force
in rural Pakistan, were acquitted 3 years ago.
Outside the courtroom, dozens of women hugged and congratulated a relaxed
and smiling Mai, who was wearing the traditional Shalwar kameez - trousers
and a shirt - with a blue-and-green shawl covering her head.
"I am happy and I hope those who humiliated me will be punished," Mai
said. "I was expecting justice from the Supreme Court and the Supreme
Court has done justice."
The court said it would hold another hearing later to decide on possible
punishments - including the death sentence - for those accused.
Mai was raped in 2002 allegedly as punishment for her 13-year-old
brother's illicit affair with a woman from a higher-caste family. Mai and
her family deny the affair took place, saying the brother was in fact
assaulted by members of the other family.
By confronting her attackers, Mai has defied tradition in a country where
rape victims often suffer in silence for fear they will be shunned by
their families if they come forward.
Several courts local, federal and religious have issued conflicting
rulings in the case this year in a legal pingpong match that often has
seemed capricious and confused, further embarrassing authorities.
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the head of a three-judge panel that heard the
appeal, issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the suspects. It was not
known how many of them were in custody Tuesday evening.
Mai's counsel praised the court ruling.
"This is a good decision," Aitzaz Ahsan said, adding that he was not
expecting a new trial for the men. He told The Associated Press the
Supreme Court would make a decision "on reappraisal" of the evidence.
In the years since the assault, Mai has become a prominent activist for
women's rights and has helped set up a school in her impoverished farming
village, mainly with donations from her supporters.
But her attempts to take the plight of women in rural Pakistan to a wider
audience were muzzled by the government, a key U.S. ally in the war on
terrorism.
Mai had been invited by a U.S.-based human rights group to talk about her
experiences but was stopped from leaving Pakistan and her passport was
confiscated.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, while on a trip to New Zealand, said he
ordered the travel ban to prevent Mai from bad-mouthing Pakistan.
The move was strongly criticized by the United States and human rights
groups. On Monday, Mai received her passport back. It was unclear Tuesday
whether she intended to continue with her trip to the United States.
A trial court in 2002 sentenced 6 men to death and acquitted 8 others in
Mai's rape.
In March of this year, the High Court in Punjab province, where Mai's
village of Meerwala is located, acquitted 5 of the men and reduced the
death sentence of the 6th to life in prison.
Meerwala is about 350 miles southwest of Islamabad.
(source: Associated Press)
