Jan. 19
INDONESIA:
Treaty no guideline to avoiding the death penalty for Bali 9
How utterly heartbreaking for Lee Rush, whose son Scott is one of the Bali
9 accused. His tragedy is doubly awful. Not only does his son face
execution by firing squad if convicted of heroin trafficking by an
Indonesian court, but it was his well intentioned intervention that may
have contributed, however marginally, to that very situation.
Giving evidence in the Denpasar District Court, Lee Rush said a father's
"instinct" led him to approach the Australian Federal Police about his
19-year-old son's forthcoming trip to Bali. The family was left with an
understanding that the federal police would warn Scott that he was under
surveillance and thereby head off a worst-case scenario.
As we know, that never happened. He wasn't warned and instead the federal
police tipped off the Indonesian police, resulting in the arrest of the
nine accused heroin smugglers. As the Federal Police Commissioner, Mick
Keelty, helpfully put it: "These people have been caught red-handed with
heroin in Indonesia."
Further details of Lee Rush's concerns also emerged in Federal Court
proceedings against the police started Scott Rush and co-accused Renae
Lawrence.
They claim the federal police acted illegally in handing information to
the Indonesian police and that a bilateral treaty governing mutual
assistance in criminal matters was breached. The treaty rules out
co-operation in instances where the death penalty may be imposed.
In an affidavit before the court, Lee Rush said that because his son
didn't have a passport and had no money, he became concerned after
learning that the youngster had an airline ticket to Bali.
He sought advice from a family friend, the barrister Robert Meyers, who
contacted a federal police agent, Damon Patching, the son of a close
friend.
Meyers said in an affidavit that he asked that federal police agents tell
Scott they were onto him and in effect warn him off any illegal or
nefarious enterprise.
Lee Rush further said in his submission: "As a result of conversations
with Bob Meyers, I desisted [from going to Bali himself] believing that
the AFP had told my son he was being observed or was under surveillance.
"Now - my state of mind is one of the deepest anxiety that my son - and
the other young Australians - face the risk of having the death penalty
imposed." It must be a father's worst nightmare.
Justice Paul Finn will decide whether the applicants can press ahead with
their action against the police. There is also another important pending
decision - whether the Indonesian prosecution will press for the death
penalty.
There have been discussions involving the Indonesian Attorney-General on
that matter, but at the time of writing nothing had been announced.
While Rush and Lawrence might have an arguable case in relation to the
bilateral treaty covering co-operation on crime investigations, the
federal police guidelines speak another language altogether.
There it is stated: "That countries impose the death penalty is not
sufficient reason for Australia to disengage in collaborative efforts.
That would damage Australia's fight against terrorism and transnational
crime."
The position seems to be that it is quite all right to co-operate with
these countries up to the point where charges are laid.
So there is the dichotomy. The lives of a few are to be expended so that
the drug war can be fought, however unlikely a victory.
As Keelty put it in his inimitable manner last October: "I know it's an
emotive issue - but we can't apologise for taking the strategy forward the
way we have and the outcomes we have achieved. While we have some sympathy
for the potential outcome we've got to be looking at the bigger picture
all the time."
If the "bigger picture" involves the execution of the nine then, in the
Commissioner's view, so be it. Proportionate punishment for crime and
Australia's public opposition to the death penalty don't figure too
largely in Keelty's equation.
The Law Council has called for the police guidelines to be dismantled so
that they accord with the requirements of the treaty.
Some inkling of the bigger picture emerged in the Denpasar court when
Michelle Stephens, the mother of co-accused Martin Stephens, said the
family was under federal police protection so that her son could testify
against the ringleaders.
Yet there is so much about the Bali nine case that is disconnected and
inexplicable. Never has there been an adequate explanation as to why the
arrests could not have happened in Australia.
Keelty tried to explain it by saying that Australia has to work with death
penalty countries because the United Nations attributes a drop in
Australians dying from heroin overdoses from 1100 to 350 each year "to the
work we've taken offshore in countries like Burma, in China, in Malaysia,
in Thailand".
Again, the implication is that in the broader struggle the sacrifice of
the few is quite legitimate.
It is just that when it comes to weighing the relative importance of human
life, law enforcement agencies may not be the outfits best equipped to
make moral judgements. After all, they are guided largely by whether
someone is "caught red-handed".
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
ST. LUCIA:
Anthony wants reform to ensure death penalty----Anthony... We must cease
the vacillation over capital offenses, but comply fully with the rule of
law
St Lucia's prime minister has called for constitutional reforms to ensure
convicted murderers receive the death penalty as part of a plan to stiffen
penalties for violent offenders.
The proposal comes amid growing worries over violent crime on the tiny
Caribbean island, which recorded 37 homicides in 2005, tying a record set
the previous year.
Prime Minister Kenny Anthony said his government was reviewing St Lucia's
27-year-old constitution and "at the appropriate time" would propose
amendments "to ensure that the death penalty is enforced".
Under current law, judges in St Lucia decide whether to impose the death
penalty on convicted murderers. St Lucia carried out its last hanging in
1994.
"We must cease the vacillation over capital offenses, but comply fully
with the rule of law. There must be no exception," Anthony said in a
national address Monday night.
Anthony's party has 14 seats in St Lucia's 17-seat Parliament, giving it
the 2/3 majority needed to amend the constitution.
5 people are on death row in St Lucia, including 2 who have been jailed
since 2000.
Anthony said judges would have to implement "the will of the people" when
sentencing convicted murderers, suggesting he believed most St Lucians
favoured the death penalty.
Last year, English-speaking Caribbean governments inaugurated the
Caribbean Court of Justice, meant to replace Britain's Privy Council as
the region's highest appellate court.
Many Caribbean governments, faced with high crime rates, are hoping the
new court will pave the way for the resumption of executions in the
region, something the Privy Council has blocked in recent years.
(source: Associated Press)
