Oct. 24
JAMAICA:
HANG THEM? - IS IT REALLY THE ANSWER TO THE CRIME ? YES TO HANGING
P.J. Patterson, in a national broadcast on Wednesday, announced that the
Government would be initiating further discussions with the Opposition
with a view to achieving bi-partisan consensus on resuming hanging.
Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, during a recent trip to the United
Kingdom, declared his support for the resumption of hanging.
FORGET IT! - EU parliamentarian tells Jamaica 'no' to the death penalty
GLENYS KINNOCK, co-chair of the African, Caribbean and Pacific/European
Union Parliamentary Assembly, is urging Jamaica and other English-speaking
Caribbean countries to abolish the death penalty, immediately.
"I think it's an absolutely fundamental aspect of how a democracy tackles
crime. To take a life in that way is not the way to set an example as a
state of how you should conduct your business," Kinnock told The Sunday
Gleaner, during a visit to Jamaica last week.
Kinnock was in Jamaica as part of a tour of Caribbean states within the
African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group affected by a European Union
decision to reduce the guaranteed price paid for sugar purchased from
these countries by EU members.
On that score, the British Member of the European Parliament (MEP)
asserted that she was in full solidarity with Jamaica and other ACP sugar
producers, describing the European stance on the price reduction as both
illegal and immoral.
FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE
On the question of the death penalty, however, her position is very much
in line with European orthodoxy. "It's a fundamental issue for the
European Union. It's a written-in commitment that no member state of the
union will have the death penalty," she reaffirmed.
With the murder rate in Jamaica soaring, there have been many calls for
resumption of hanging for convicted murderers, on hold since early 1988.
PATHWAY TO GALLOWS MORE DIFFICULT
Despite many avowals that it would exact the maximum penalty for those
sentenced to die, the current People's National Party (PNP)
administration, in office since 1989, has failed to hang a single
murderer.
The pathway to the gallows became much more difficult for Jamaica and
other Commonwealth Caribbean countries in 1993, following the Pratt and
Morgan ruling by the Judicial Committee of the United Kingdom-based Privy
Council.
Under that ruling, persons under a sentence of death for more than 5 years
are automatically removed from death row and given a life sentence, the
law lords arguing that to be waiting to be executed for longer constituted
cruel and inhuman punishment. Caribbean government argued, on the other
hand, that their hands were tied by the inordinately long appeal process
afforded murder convicts, much of it, they contended, beyond their
control.
The appeals process became more complicated a few years later with the
Privy Council ruling in the Neville Lewis case, which effectively opened
another avenue of appeals, making the prospect of anyone being hanged even
more remote.
NO TO HANGING!
That's just fine for Glenys Kinnock, wife of former British Labour Party
Leader, Neil Kinnock who is now a vice-president of the European
Commission.
While professing grave concern for Jamaica, arising from the high crime
rate, she insisted that there was no evidence to support the argument that
resuming executions would result in a reduction.
She pointed to South Africa, which, under its new post-apartheid
constitution, abolished the death penalty. "No one," she said, "could say
that they don't have enormous problems dealing with crime, but they never
saw the death penalty as a solution."
Jamaica's murder rate has now reportedly eclipsed that of South Africa.
Kinnock confirmed that she intended to raise her concerns regarding the
death penalty when she met with Jamaican government officials during her
recent visit.
Such discussions, if they were held, would have come at an opportune time.
Prime Minister P.J Patterson, in a national broadcast on Wednesday night,
announced that the Government would be initiating further discussions with
the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) on the possible achievement of
by-partisan consensus on how to resume hanging.
That followed news reports out of the U.K. that Opposition Leader Bruce
Golding, during a trip to that country, had declared his support for a
resumption of hanging.
The Government has long been arguing that only a constitutional amendment
permitting a departure from the strictures imposed by Pratt and Morgan, as
was done by Barbados, would facilitate a resumption of hanging.
So far there has not been any agreement from the Opposition whose support
is needed to secure the required parliamentary majority to pass the
amendment proposed by the Government.
But, even amongst the ranks of the governing party, there are sceptics on
the question of the death penalty. Sharon Hay Webster, government
backbencher and the ACP's co-chair with Glenys Kinnock of the EU-ACP
Parliamentary Assembly, has grave doubts.
"The truth is, many of us have been struck by reports that have shown,
internationally, that the manner in which evidence has been collected and
presented has compromised some people's lives. And when you choose to take
someone's life in that way, you really must ensure that you have the right
to do so, and I don't think we have been given that right, ultimately,"
she argued.
Looking at her own constituency of South Central St. Catherine, sections
of which are troubled by a high crime rate, Hay Webster suggested that
hanging a few murder convicts would not make a difference to that problem.
"What's going to make the difference is to create new opportunities for
young people. Change the social equation within these communities and
we'll have changed behaviour," she asserted.
(source: Earl Moxam, Jamaica Gleaner, Oct. 22)
LIBYA/BULGARIA:
Libya v Bulgarian medics
November 15 looms as the date on which a Libyan court is due to rule on an
appeal against the death sentence against 5 Bulgarian medics.
Bulgarian authorities and the public are making new moves to raise
international awareness about the case.
On October 17, the Bulgarian delegation to the 113th Assembly of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) circulated a draft address in support of
the Bulgarian nurses in Libya.
The Speaker of Parliament and leader of the delegation, Georgi Pirinski,
also raised the issue at a session of one of the regional forum groups of
which Bulgaria is a member.
According to Pirinski, even though the Libya issue was not on the groups
agenda, the response was positive.
The British MPs and the chairperson of the session suggested that Bulgaria
draft an address on the issue.
"It was proposed that this address be signed by delegates who wish to
express support and solidarity," Pirinski said. "We drafted the address in
which we focused on the absurdity of the accusations which were rejected
by all experts, the inadmissibility of the way the Bulgarian nurses were
treated the absurdity of the verdicts, sympathy for the children infected
with the HIV and support for the EU Action Plan."
He said that the address ends with an appeal to free the Bulgarian nurses.
The address has been distributed and on the last day of the forum, October
19, it will become clear by how many MPs it has been supported.
Meanwhile, in Sofia on October 17, Bulgarian journalists and public
figures established an Association for Protection of the Civil Rights,
Honour and Dignity of Bulgarian Medical Professionals in Libya.
"The organization is committed to ensuring respect for the rights of all
Bulgarian nationals abroad in general, and those of the Bulgarian nurses
condemned in Libya in particular, Vladimir Sheitanov, former lawyer of the
nurses, told the news conference after the founding meeting of the
association.
Sheitanov said that the establishment of the association had been prompted
formally by the recommendations issued earlier in October by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) concerning the
Bulgarian nurses condemned in Libya.
The PACE document calls on the authorities in Tripoli to open new
investigative proceedings, to condemn the acts of the officials who
carried out the initial investigation, to release the nurses, to impose a
moratorium on the execution of death sentences in Libya, and on allowing
Dr Zdravko Georgiev immediate return to Bulgaria.
"The death sentence passed on the Bulgarian nurse may be confirmed at the
sitting on their appeal on November 15, but they may not be executed
leaving the nurses as hostages," Velislava Dureva, a prominent journalist,
said."
She read an appeal on behalf of the association, saying that the medical
professionals have fallen victims to Tripolis domestic and international
interests.
"We insist on two things - immediate release of the nurses and an apology
on the part of the Libyan state," Sheitanov said.
In its declaration, the association insisted that the Libyan authorities
pay compensation to Bulgaria for the damage caused to its international
prestige and calls on the Bulgarian authorities to petition an
international court about the violation of the Bulgarian medics human
rights.
Meanwhile, following a call by US president George W. Bush for the
immediate release of the nurses, Libyan foreign minister Abdel Shalgam
said that this was a matter of justice, not of politics.
"The arrested are accused of murder of innocent and were convicted by an
independent court," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. "We will not
accept someone to impose decisions or give us orders."
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin refused to comment on Shalgams
statement and said he would not communicate with him via the media.
(source: Sofia Echo)
RUSSIA:
United Russia not unanimous on death penalty
State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov
said the United Russia faction has not worked out a single position on
whether Protocol No.6 to the European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights, which abolishes the death penalty, should be ratified.
"This issue has not been put to a vote for the simple reason that there is
no unanimity within the political factions, including United Russia,"
Kosachyov told the press in Moscow on Monday.
(source: Interfax)
***********************
Russians Miss the Firing Squad
In a desperate hope to rein in terrorism more and more Russians are
calling for the restoration of the death penalty.
This month Russia marks the third anniversary of the deadly rebel raid on
a Moscow theater where hundreds of people were taken hostage and as many
as 130 lives were lost.
The tragedy of Nord-Ost was followed by a series of no less deadly attacks
perpetrated by terrorists across Russia. Earlier this month, militants
raided the southern Russian city of Nalchik, killing dozens of civilians
and police.
In September of 2004 Chechen gunmen attacked a school in another southern
town, taking over 1,000 people hostage, 330 of whom were killed in a 3-day
standoff.
Against the backdrop of those tragic developments more and more Russians
are calling for the restoration of the death penalty suspended by the
Boris Yeltsin government in the mid-1990s on joining the Council of
Europe, which bans the practice, though it has yet to ratify the sixth
protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights that would formally
abolish it.
Last week, a popular television show focused on the issue of the death
penalty in Russia in a duel between a fiery advocate of restoring the
practice and his opponent who claimed that Moscow should honor its
international commitments.
The two recalled the case of the infamous serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo,
who killed and mutilated over 50 people between 1978 and 1990. Thank God
he was caught before Russia suspended the death penalty, the proponent
said.
Chikatilos murderous spree continued for 15 years as bungling
investigators tried and executed at least one innocent man for the deaths
Chikatilo later claimed.
The opponent of the death penalty recalled that wrongful execution,
saying, we do remember that other people were put to death for Chikatilos
crimes, to which the host of the show himself retorted: "Only one that we
know of!"
Such a response on the part of the host, who is supposed to keep a neutral
stance in the debate - at least such is the policy proclaimed by the
makers of the program - is a tell-tale sign.
Russian courts, cash-starved and plagued by corruption, are prone to fatal
judicial mistakes, human rights activists and leading lawyers insist.
However, outraged by soaring crime rates ordinary Russians are out for
blood. And leading political and public figures are siding with them.
Earlier this year, senior Duma official Lyubov Sliska of the pro-Kremlin
United Russia party spoke in favor of restoring capital punishment for
those found guilty of terrorism. "I believe that such crimes as terrorism
should entail the death sentence," she told a news conference in Moscow.
Other Russian politicians have spoken out against the current moratorium
on the death penalty. Dmitri Rogozin, head of the nationalist Rodina
party, has also backed the death penalty for terrorists.
A recent poll by a respectable public opinion study center has revealed
that as many as 65 percent called for the restoration of the death
penalty. Only 17 percent of respondents agreed that it should be abolished
forever.
European human rights groups have continuously criticized Russia for its
reluctance to drop the practice for good.
The Council of Europe lashed out at Russia for its failure to honor the
promises it made by joining the body back in the 1990s. Europeans said
Russia had broken a pledge to abolish the death penalty and condemned
recent calls by pro-Kremlin lawmakers to introduce the death penalty for
"terrorists" in the wake of the Beslan school hostage siege.
Opponents of the death penalty insist that it is better for 10 guilty men
to go free than one man who is actually innocent to be executed. On their
part, the proponents call for the death penalty for terrorists but the
crime of terrorism remains so vaguely defined in our laws that the risk of
wrongful punishment remains too high.
Lifting the current ban on the death penalty will not save Russia from
terrorism - suicide bombers do not fear death - but will most likely
result in the further loss of innocent lives.
(source: Moscow News)
INDONESIA:
Legislators demand execution of bombers
The Bali provincial legislative council has sent a letter to President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to push for an immediate execution of three death
row inmates involved in the 2002 Bali terror attacks.
Council deputy speaker I Gusti Ketut Adhi Putra said on Saturday that the
President was expected to instruct the Attorney General's Office to
quickly execute Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron alias
Mukhlas, the three Islamic militants who were sentenced to death by firing
squad in August 2003 for their roles in the nightclub bombings the year
before that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
He was quoted by Antara as saying that there had been increasing calls
from several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and leading public
figures for the law enforcement agencies to immediately execute the 3
terrorists.
"They (NGOs and public figures) recently came to the secretariat of the
Bali legislative council to demand that Amrozi, Samudra and Ghufron be
executed immediately," said Adhi Putra, who recently visited the 3 on the
prison island of Nusakambangan in Central Java.
The increased urgency for the execution follows the 2nd terror bomb
attacks on Bali in less than 3 years, the country's most popular resort
island, on Oct. 1, which killed 23 including 3 suicide bombers.
Amid rising public pressure, several law enforcement personnel and
legislators from Bali recently made the visit to Nusakambangan to ask the
three whether they intended to request presidential pardons.
They, however, said they would not ask for a pardon and they refused to
sign the papers necessary. According to one prosecutor who visited them,
the three refused to seek a pardon, while asserting that pardons should
only be "sought from Allah not from an earthly institution." They also
said that the bomb attacks were carried out to avenge the deaths of
Muslims in Israel and Afghanistan.
Adhi Putra said that the team of prosecutors, lawmakers and judges were
planning to meet with the families of the 3 convicted terrorists to ask
whether they would seek pardons on their behalf.
Indonesian law states that death row inmates cannot be executed until all
legal avenues have been exhausted.
(source: Jakarta Post)
AUSTRALIA/SINGAPORE:
Howard sorry for Australian on death row
The federal government has pledged to help with any new evidence that
could save the life of an Australian drug trafficker facing execution in
Singapore.
Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, who is in a Singaporean jail, is expected to be
hanged within a month after being caught in transit at Changi Airport in
December 2002 with almost 400 grams of heroin strapped to his body and in
his hand luggage.
Singapore has refused clemency and Mr Howard said there was no realistic
prospect that anything could be done to save Nguyen.
But on Monday, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer pledged to contact
Singapore's government with fresh information about Nguyen's case in a
last-ditch bid to save his life.
Nguyen's lawyer, Lex Lasry, QC, says if his client is saved from the death
sentence he will be able to testify against Asian drug syndicates.
In Hobart, Mr Downer said: "I'm certainly proposing once more to get in
touch with the Singaporean foreign minister to try to furnish more
information to the Singapore government about the assistance that Nguyen
has been to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in their investigations
into heroin trafficking in Asia."
But he said the chances of gaining clemency were remote.
Mr Howard said while Australia had done everything it could to help save
Nguyen's life, if any new evidence came to light the federal government
would hand it over to Singaporean authorities.
"I am desperately sorry," Mr Howard told reporters in Queensland.
"If there is anything new then we will put that forward to the
authorities.
"But if there's nothing new, I don't want to raise false expectations.
They have looked at it very closely."
Mr Howard said while he felt for the man and his family, Singapore had
every right to enforce its laws.
"People have to understand that when you go to another country and commit
a crime against the laws of that country, you're punished according to the
laws of that country."
Nguyen has claimed that he was pressured by loan sharks to act as a drug
mule to help pay off his twin brother's legal debts.
The Australian government has lobbied Singapore not to execute Nguyen, but
three days ago the bid for clemency was rejected.
Mr Lasry said information his client could provide could help Australian
and Singaporean police crack open an Asian drug syndicate.
"He has given information to the Australian Federal Police, through us
initially and then in person," Mr Lasry said.
"The next step for him would be to act as a witness and he is available to
do that.
"He would give first-hand evidence about the circumstances under which he
made the trip."
Mr Lasry said AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty would know the value of the
information given by Nguyen.
An AFP spokeswoman said officers conducted interviews with Nguyen in
Singapore about any potential links back to Australia.
Mr Lasry said he expected his client would be executed within 4 to 6
weeks, unless there was a more concerted push to save him.
"I think if the prime minister were willing to say to the Singapore prime
minister or the Singapore government 'Australia does not want this man
executed, he is deserving of clemency, he has assisted the authorities, he
is an exceptional case and we do not want Singapore to execute him', I
think they would take that seriously," Mr Lasry said.
"The time has come for direct statements and we would like to see some
direct statements."
Mr Lasry said he planned to visit his client in Singapore next month.
"The main reason why we would go, regrettably, is to say farewell," he
said.
If the Melbourne man is hanged, he will be the 1st Australian to be
executed overseas since Sydney barman Michael McAuliffe was hanged in
Malaysia in 1993.
(source: The Age)
***********************
Rudd continues call for clemency over Singapore death sentence
Reporter: Catherine McGrath
ELEANOR HALL: After earlier saying that nothing more could be done to save
an Australian on death row in Singapore, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
now says he will write to the Foreign Minister of Singapore to ask him to
reconsider.
But Mr Downer says he still believes the plea will have little success.
25-year-old Melbourne man, Van Nguyen has been convicted of heroin
smuggling, and now that a clemency appeal has failed he could be executed
within weeks.
But Opposition Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Kevin Rudd, says the Government
should continue to lobby for an act of mercy in this case.
And Mr Rudd also told Chief Political Correspondent Catherine McGrath that
the time for quiet "behind closed doors" diplomacy has passed.
KEVIN RUDD: Well our policy, like that of the Government, is that we
oppose the use of the death penalty under all circumstances. We have a
particular responsibility to raise this when it affects a young Australian
man's life.
I don't criticise what Mr Downer and the Prime Minister have done up until
now at all. We've worked closely with the Government on this case, going
back more than a year. I think, however, based on our discussions with
this young man's lawyers, it's important that we continue to place public
pressure on the Singaporean Cabinet to reconsider.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said this morning
that he is going to write to the Foreign Minister to ask him to
reconsider. Do you think that's likely to have any effect?
KEVIN RUDD: I think it's important we continue to place pressure on the
Singaporeans. I've also dispatched a letter to George Yeo, the Singaporean
Foreign Minister, and I'll be having discussions with the Singaporean High
Commissioner this week on this matter.
Up until now, the agreement I've had with Mr Downer is that we'd do all of
our negotiations with the Singaporeans privately, and we've done so on a
bipartisan and constructive basis.
But now that the decision's been taken and been communicated to us on the
terms it was a few days ago, it's important that we now do the sort of
public level.
Remember that the Singaporean Constitution does provide for acts of mercy.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Do you think that that act of mercy has been considered
and rejected, or do you think it has not been considered?
KEVIN RUDD: There are a number of grounds upon which an act of mercy can
be considered, including whether a person has cooperated with the
prosecution authorities in providing further information, and other
considerations as well. We hope that that full range of considerations is
taken into account by the Singaporean authorities.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: What impact is it going to have on bilateral relations
if Singapore does go ahead, if it doesn't listen to the pleas being made
by Australian officials, Australian Government leaders here, and goes
ahead with the execution?
KEVIN RUDD: Up until now the Republic of Singapore and Australia have had
good relations. Remember, for example, things like the Singaporean Air
Force extensively uses facilities at RAF Base Perth, RAF Base Pearce I
should say, in Western Australia. A whole range of cooperation
arrangements exist between Singapore and Australia at the military, at the
security and intelligence levels.
Let's hope that these further representations by the Foreign Minister and
by myself, representing both sides of Australian politics, have some final
effect on those who have a heart to listen to these human appeals on
behalf of this young man's life in Singapore.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Are you suggesting that if that doesn't happen then the
security relationship could be affected, the defence relationship could be
affected?
KEVIN RUDD: I think it's important, Catherine, we take this one step at a
time. We have many good friends...
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Obviously it's a lever though that could be used if
need be?
KEVIN RUDD: I think it's important we take it one step at a time. It's
important that we consider this in a mature way, but one which is very
mindful of the predicament, the terrible predicament in which this young
man and his poor mother find themselves today.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Kevin Rudd, the only other point that some Australians
may be making today is that this man carried heroin through Singapore
Airport, this man was bringing heroin back to Australia.
KEVIN RUDD: Well, as far as drugs are concerned, we - on our side of
politics - believe that people need to be dealt with harshly under the
law. That's always been our view in this country. But we've always held
that view at the same time as arguing our consistent policy of opposition
to the death penalty in all circumstances.
That's where we find ourselves with this argument today and as a country
and as a government and as an opposition having engaged significantly with
our friends, Indonesia, over the recent Schapelle Corby case, which
involved a non-capital sentence, I think it's important that we raise this
matter strongly, firmly, clearly and compassionately with our friends in
the Singaporean Government, Cabinet, and ask them to again reconsider.
ELEANOR HALL: And that's Labor's Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Kevin Rudd,
speaking to Catherine McGrath.
(source: The World Today, ABC Australia News)
