July 29
ST LUCIA:
St Lucia to resume executions
St Lucia is set to resume executions of prisoners on death row, for the
first time in more than a decade.
The move comes as the government grapples with a significant rise in
violent crime.
Attorney General Victor La Corbiniere told Caribbean Net News on Thursday
that procedures for hanging are being activated in the case of one
individual whose appeals have been exhausted.
The gallows at the recently built Bordelais Correctional Facility are yet
to be tested; and this would be St Lucias 1st execution since Solomon
Vitalis was hung, more than ten years ago, for the murder of a Dominican
accountant.
La Corbiniere said, "Constitutionally, there is a framework for the death
penalty (in St Lucia)."
As for the impact of capital punishment on crime, the Attorney General
believes "in a small country... there will be a stronger deterrent
effect."
The news has been met with opposition from local human rights lawyer, Mary
Francis, who called the governments moves "premature."
"Government has a duty to do the right thing regardless of if it is
unpopular" try to sensitize and change public opinion in St Lucia, to the
point or the thinking that having the death penalty is not the right way
to solve violent crime," Francis said.
There are currently 4 men at Bordelais Prison who have been handed the
death penalty.
They include Kim John and Francis Phillip, who were convicted of the
brutal New Year's Day attack on worshippers at a Catholic Church in the
capital, Castries.
The unrelenting wave of violent attacks which is sweeping through the
country is showing no sign of easing.
Recorded homicides on the island, so far for this year, are more than
double the number for the same period last year.
The Government has refused to provide a firm date when the first execution
will be carried out.
Attorney General La Corbiniere believes that once the procedures for
hanging get underway, there will be detractors who will try to stall the
process.
(source: Caribbean Net News)
SYRIA:
UN urges Syria to stop torture and free activists
The news agency Reuters reported from Geneva today that the United Nations
has called on Syria to stop torturing prisoners and free jailed human
rights activists.
Furthermore, the UN's human rights committee has also stated that it was
deeply concerned about Syria's use of the death penalty, saying it was
inconsistent with international norms, Reuters informed.
Syria was also urged by the UN to immediately release political prisoners
and human rights activists and that Syria's state of emergency should not
be used as a pretext to suppress rights supporters.
According to Reuters, the UN report also said that Syria must protect
freedom of expression and assembly, abolish forced military conscription
and protect the countrys Kurdish minority.
(source: Reuters)
NIGERIA:
Death Row: Kill Me Now, Man Begs Judge
JUSTICE A. O. Ukachukwu of the Owerri High Court, Imo State, was yesterday
jolted by the demand of a condemned criminal, Vincent Ogueri, that he
prefers immediate execution to being remanded on death row in Owerri
prison.
Ogueri who is also standing trial in another murder case was answering to
charges of killing a former commissioner for finance in the state, Chief
Ogbonna Uche (popularly called OGB), who was gunned down before the 2003
National Assembly elections.
The late Uche was flagbearer of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) for Orlu
Senatorial zone.
The convict had earlier been sentenced to death by hanging by an Owerri
High Court, having been found guilty of killing a police officer. He was
soon after the verdict, transferred to Port Harcourt prison which has
facilities for hanging condemned people.
But on his return to Owerri yesterday, in continuation of the OGB murder
trial, Ogueri urged the judge to order his immediate execution or allow
him return to Port Harcourt prison.
He told the judge that he preferred the prison in Port Harcourt to the one
at Owerri because he feels safe in Port Harcourt.
Said he: "My enemies are threatening my life at Owerri prison."
Ogueri, whose lawyer was absent at the resumed hearing, raised his hand to
lodge a complaint as he was ushered into the dock.
When granted permission to speak by the judge, he said: "My lord, I want
to report that my life is not safe in Imo. My enemies and detractors are
trailing me and threatening my life.
"My enemies have penetrated into the police and prison. I am not safe in
Imo custody. They are now using the security operatives. They traced me to
Port Harcourt Prisons last April. Thank God they could not penetrate Port
Harcourt Prisons. They now want to kill me in Owerri.
"Let them service the gallows and take my life. Already, I am a condemned
prisoner. The court is the last hope of the common man. If you want to try
me in this court, take me out of Owerri or they should service the gallows
and take my life. I have not eaten since yesterday and will not eat until
they send me to Port Harcourt.
"Azuama, the prosecutor is here. He can make case for them to service the
gallows and take my life. Akaolisa, the lawyer who wrote anonymous
petition that made them to arrest me, is here. He wrote a petition that
Imo government gave me money to kill OGB. Look at me and Imo government,"
he added.
When Justice Ukachukwu asked him for evidence to prove that his life was
under threat, Ogueri said a local newspaper report had exposed the plot,
adding that his enemies are on his trial to Owerri.
But Assistant Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. L. C. Aguama told the
court that the authorities want Ogueri to be at the Owerri Prison to
enable him face trial in the case, pointing out that he is safe in the
state.
"I cannot imagine any person who would want to kill him who did not do so
for many years he was in Owerri before he was sentenced to death. My lord,
I cannot imagine anyone trying to kill him when he is already condemned,
though he has his right of appeal," he said.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Ukachukwu declined request for an order
sending Ogueri to Port Harcourt Prison, saying such will disturb the
trial.
"If I make the order, the case may never be heard. I will end up
frustrating the trial myself. However you are assured of accelerated trial
in this case," he said.
Justice Ukachukwu also directed Ogueri to report any threat to his life to
his lawyer for appropriate action.
Before adjourning the case to September 27, the judge advised Ogueri to
always eat from the same plate with other prisoners.
He also advised him to ascertain the name of any visitor who come to see
him in prison before allowing such person access.
(source: Daily Champion)
IRAQ:
Iraqi Leader Vows to Block Purges on Hussein Tribunal
The president of Iraq said Thursday that he would personally ensure the
preservation of the Iraqi tribunal preparing the trials of Saddam Hussein
and his aides.
The tribunal has been threatened with a purge of its judges, prosecutors
and officials.
The president, Jalal Talabani, made his comments at a televised news
conference alongside Raid Juhi, a young judge investigating Mr. Hussein's
crimes and the most prominent of 19 tribunal members facing dismissal for
having been members of the Baath Party, which governed Iraq under Mr.
Hussein.
On Tuesday, a senior official on the commission created to purge former
Baath officials said it intended to rid the tribunal of 19 former
Baathists.
That statement ignited concern among American officials and senior members
of the Iraqi government that the cases against Mr. Hussein might be
impaired, and apparently prompted Mr. Talabani's remarks in defense of the
tribunal.
"I will do my best to ensure that they are respected by other government
parties, especially the de-Baathification commission," Mr. Talabani said
of the tribunal members.
Mr. Talabani is the 1st senior Iraqi official to publicly defend the
tribunal during the attempted purge, and his remarks pose a direct
challenge to Ahmad Chalabi, a deputy prime minister and former Pentagon
ally who runs the commission purging former Baathists.
Though the 2 worked together for years to oust Mr. Hussein, they have a
complicated relationship because Mr. Chalabi has fallen out with some of
Mr. Talabani's fellow Kurdish officials.
Mr. Juhi, who is 34, appeared before television cameras on Thursday in his
crisp black robes and tried to quell talk that he would be dismissed
anytime soon from the tribunal. "We are still continuing our work," he
said.
The political developments came on a day when reports emerged of further
violence across Iraq.
The American military said 2 soldiers died and a 3rd was injured in a
roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, a roadside bomb exploded next to a train carrying
fuel in southern Baghdad, setting the area ablaze and killing at least one
Iraqi guard and wounding at least 4 other people, an Interior Ministry
official said.
Civic groups and Shiite leaders held separate meetings in Baghdad hotels
to discuss the future constitution. The civic groups released results of
an unscientific survey showing that more than 60 % of respondents wanted
strong autonomous powers for regions or provinces and 35 % supported Islam
as "the main source" of legislation in Iraq, 2 major issues in the
drafting of the constitution.
Nearly 1/5 said they did not want Islam to play any role in the law, and
29 % said they wanted Islam and other religions to be the basis for
legislation.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made it clear that the
United States was making its views known to Iraqi leaders on the writing
of an Iraqi constitution, not only to ensure that it is completed by Aug.
15 but also to guarantee that the charter protects women's rights.
"Obviously the United States stands for equality for women worldwide," Ms.
Rice said in an interview on "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." "I think I've
been out there even in some places where equality for women seems quite
far away, saying that the United States believes that you cannot be half a
democracy."
Officials on the tribunal handling the crimes of Mr. Hussein and his aides
have said Mr. Chalabi is trying to purge Mr. Juhi as a show of support for
Moktada al-Sadr, the popular firebrand cleric who has led 2 uprisings
against the Americans.
Mr. Juhi issued an arrest warrant against Mr. Sadr in 2003 for Mr. Sadr's
connection to the killing of an American-backed Shiite cleric. That
warrant was later suspended because of a cease-fire agreement the
Americans and the Iraqi government reached with Mr. Sadr.
Mr. Chalabi, one of the most canny and ambitious politicians in Iraq, has
formed an unlikely alliance with Mr. Sadr, presumably to forge a political
base out of Mr. Sadr's many supporters. Mr. Chalabi, though, adamantly
denies that the actions of the anti-Baath commission have anything to do
with a personal agenda.
Entifadh K. Qanbar, a spokesman for Mr. Chalabi, issued a statement late
Wednesday saying the accusations "are false and unfounded and
unsubstantiated." He added, "Dr. Ahmad Chalabi is a committed supporter of
a strong and independent judicial system in Iraq."
The anti-Baath commission has already dismissed nine administrators from
the tribunal, and American officials have been fearful that further
purging would cripple the tribunal shortly before the 1st trial of Mr.
Hussein is expected to begin.
Mr. Juhi has been the lead investigator on cases involving Mr. Hussein,
and it was his research that led the tribunal to bring charges against Mr.
Hussein and 3 associates related to a massacre in the Shiite town of
Dujail.
Mr. Juhi is now investigating the Anfal campaign of the late 1980's in
which tens of thousands of Kurds were killed, and the suppression of a
Shiite rebellion in 1991 that resulted in as many as 150,000 victims being
shot dead and bulldozed into graves.
Concern over the disruption Mr. Juhi's dismissal might cause the tribunal
has been heightened by the rapid leadership turnover at the Regime Crimes
Liaison Office, the American Embassy agency that plays a powerful
behind-the-scenes role in aiding the tribunal's work.
Gregg R. Nivala, the Justice Department lawyer who directs the liaison
office, is leaving the post four months after he took over from Gregory W.
Kehoe, a former prosecutor from Florida who guided much of the tribunal's
work in its 1st year. Mr. Nivala will be replaced by his deputy, Chris
Reid, a former assistant to New Hampshire's attorney general.
(source: New York Times)
