Dec. 13
INDONESIA:
Muslim wants Poso execution delayed
A Muslim leader has joined the chorus of voices calling for a delay in the
execution of three people convicted for their roles in killings in Poso,
to give the authorities more time to investigate the possible involvement
of others in the killings.
Nawawi S. Kilat, a Muslim leader in Poso who was one of the signatories of
a peace deal that ended 2 years of sectarian conflict in the Central
Sulawesi town in December 2001, said the delay was necessary to allow the
police to investigate the possible involvement of 16 other people in the
killings.
He said if Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were
executed as scheduled around Christmas, the three would be unable to share
with the police any information they might have on the 16 people, who are
still at large.
"Tibo has given up the names of 16 people involved in the mass murders.
People facing imminent death like he is usually do not lie. Therefore, the
police should follow up on the information and conduct an investigation as
soon as possible," local daily Radar Sulteng quoted Nawawi as saying on
Monday.
Tibo has been cooperative with investigators, Nawawi said, so the
execution should be delayed for the sake of justice.
Nawawi said he believed the three death row inmates were not the
masterminds of the murders, but took orders from others.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently denied clemency for Tibo, Da
Silva and Riwu, which was their last hope for escaping execution after the
Supreme Court upheld their death penalties.
Palu Police chief Brig. Gen. Oegroseno said he had received a letter from
the provincial prosecutor's office asking him to prepare a firing squad to
carry out the executions.
Josef Suwatan, the archbishop of Manado, who oversees the North Sulawesi,
Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo dioceses, said Tibo had provided
authorities with valuable information.
"Tibo is a simple person who had been resettled from his place of origin.
He did not even know how to read thus it would be impossible for him to
mastermind the Poso conflict. He does not deserve such a heavy sentence,"
Josef said.
He said the investigation into the 16 other suspects should be completed,
so the court would have a full account of what happened and who
perpetrated the murders.
Over 1,000 people were killed in violence between Muslims and Christians
in Poso between 2000 and 2001. A peace deal was signed in the South
Sulawesi town of Malino in December 2001, following talks facilitated by
then coordinating minister for people's welfare Jusuf Kalla.
(source: The Jakarta Post)
JAMAICA:
Death sentence challenger to know fate Tuesday
The man who successfully challenged Jamaica's mandatory death sentence is
to know his fate Tuesday.
Death row inmate Lambert Watson, is to appear before Chief Justice Lensley
Wolfe at 9:30 for re-sentencing.
Watson appeared in the Home Circuit Court for sentencing recently but the
case was adjourned.
At that time the Chief Justice said he wanted to examine a report from a
psychiatric assessment conducted on Watson before deciding his sentencing
for the 1997 murder of his girlfriend and nine-month old baby in Lucea,
Hanover.
In July last year the London based Privy Council sided with lawyers
representing Watson and ruled that the mandatory death sentence was
unconstitutional.
The Privy Council found that the 1992 Offences Against the Persons Act
which categorised murders was unconstitutional.
Watson's lawyers had contended that the mandatory death sentence denied
him an opportunity to seek to persuade the court not to sentence him to
death.
Since the ruling, Parliament has amended the Act which gives local judges
the power to determine whether a convicted killer should be hanged or
serve life behind bars.
Already 4 convicted killers have been re-sentenced to death while 11 have
had their death sentences changed to life imprisonment.
(source: Radio Jamaica)
EUROPE:
Europeans Outraged at Schwarzenegger
California's execution of Stanley Tookie Williams on Tuesday outraged many
in Europe who regard the practice as barbaric, and politicians in Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's native Austria called for his name to be removed
from a sports stadium in his hometown.
At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI's top official for justice matters
denounced the death penalty for going against redemption and human
dignity.
"We know the death penalty doesn't resolve anything," Cardinal Renato
Martino told AP Television News. "Even a criminal is worthy of respect
because he is a human being. The death penalty is a negation of human
dignity."
Capital punishment is illegal throughout the European Union, and many
Europeans consider state-sponsored executions to be barbaric. Those
feelings were amplified in the case of Williams, due to the apparent
remorse they believe the Crips gang co-founder showed by writing
children's books about the dangers of gangs and violence.
Leaders of Austria's pacifist Green Party went as far as to call for
Schwarzenegger to be stripped of his Austrian citizenship - a demand that
was quickly rejected by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel despite his
government's opposition to the death penalty.
"Whoever, out of political calculation, allows the death of a person
rehabilitated in such an exemplary manner has rejected the basic values of
Austrian society," said Peter Pilz, a Greens leader.
In Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz, local Greens said they would file a
petition to remove his name from the southern city's sports stadium. A
Christian political group went even further, suggesting it be renamed the
"Stanley Tookie Williams Stadium."
"Mr. Williams had converted, and unlike Mr. Schwarzenegger, opposed every
form of violence," said Richard Schadauer, the chairman of the Association
of Christianity and Social Democracy.
Williams was executed early Tuesday at California's San Quentin State
Prison after Schwarzenegger denied Williams' request for clemency.
Schwarzenegger suggested that Williams' supposed change of heart was not
genuine because he had not shown any real remorse for the killings
committed by the Crips.
Criticism came quickly from many quarters, including the Socialist Party
in France, where the death penalty was abolished in 1981.
"I am proud to be a Frenchman," party spokesman Julien Dray told RTL
radio. "I am proud to live in France, in a country where we don't execute
somebody 21 years later."
"Schwarzenegger has a lot of muscles, but apparently not much heart," Dray
said.
In Italy, the country's chapter of Amnesty International called the
execution "a cold-blooded murder."
"His execution is a slap in the face to the principle of rehabilitation of
inmates, an inhumane and inclement act toward a person who, with his
exemplary behavior and his activity in favor of street kids, had become an
important figure and a symbol of hope for many youths," the group said.
In Germany, Volker Beck, a leading member of the opposition Greens party,
expressed disappointment. "Schwarzenegger's decision is a cowardly
decision," Beck told the Netzeitung online newspaper.
>From London, Clive Stafford-Smith, a human rights attorney specializing in
death penalty cases, called the execution "very sad."
"He was twice as old as when they sentenced him to die, and he certainly
wasn't the same person that he was when he was sentenced," Stafford-Smith
said.
Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said the city would keep Williams in its memory
the next time it celebrates a victory against the death penalty somewhere
in the world.
Rome's Colosseum, once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and
executions, has become a symbol of Italy's anti-death penalty stance.
Since 1999, the monument has been bathed in golden light every time a
death sentence is commuted somewhere in the world or a country abolishes
capital punishment.
"I hope there will be such an occasion soon," Veltroni said in a
statement. "When it happens, we will do it with a special thought for
Tookie."
(source: Associated Press)
UNITED KINGDOM:
LAW AND ORDER----We must not bring back death penalty
I DONT agree with Ross Brewsters plea to bring back capital punishment
because certain killings are so appalling and shocking that the death
penalty is the only meaningful punishment (News & Star, November 29).
I say this because back in the 50s, a 19-year-old boy called Derek
Bentley, who was unable to read or write, and had a mental age of 11,
stood uncertain and afraid in the dock at the Old Bailey.
Judge Goddard said: "You will be taken to a lawful place of execution and
there suffer death by hanging."
At 9am on January 28, 1953, this gentle, good-hearted boy, who only the
previous day dictated to one of the warders his last letter home to his
mam and dad telling them to make sure his bike frames didnt get rusty
because they may come in useful, was executed.
An innocent lad was dead, a pinioned corpse swinging on the end of a rope
for a murder he did not commit. A victim of our legal system.
Which is why, despite numerous ruthless killings of innocent people, I am
fervently opposed to the reinstatement of the death penalty.
Its the sheer injustice dished out to Derek Bentley and others like him
that leads me to say this. That and the belief that should the death
penalty be reintroduced a miscarriage of justice will almost certainly
happen again.
Life imprisonment for convicted killers should mean exactly that: Till the
day you breath your last a solitary existence spent behind bars.
No chance of parole, no acting lessons given by performers from the RSC,
no day trips to Blackpool, no publicity - nothing.
DAVID HARKINS----Carlisle
(source: News & Star)
EUROPEAN UNION:
EU: Borrell: Statement on the death penalty
President Josep BORRELL opened the last session of 2005 with a statement
on the use of the death penalty. He stated that the European Parliament
would fight its use. The illegal detention of CIA prisoners in Europe, the
upcoming EU Summit and the use of data retention in the fight against
terrorism are among the issues MEPs will debate during the session. MEPs
will attend the presentation of the 2005 Sakharov Prize to the 3 laureates
during a ceremony in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
"The 10 December, we commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Declaration
on Human Rights. In the United States, the 1000th person to be condemned
to death since the re-establishment of the death penalty in 1976 has just
been reached. In Singapore, on the same day, 2 December, there was also an
execution. These events have once again put the death penalty high on the
agenda. The European Parliament will fight it. It goes against the values
of the Union. Its abolition is a sine qua none for accession to the Union.
Fortunately, progress towards abolition in the world is increasing
quickly. In 1977, 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all
crimes. Today, there are 84 countries. But in 76 countries, the death
penalty is still in use. Moreover, 24 countries have abolished the death
penalty de facto as they have not executed anyone for at least 10 years.
Although the number of countries using the death penalty is reducing, the
number of executions is particularly concerning.
In 2004, according to Amnesty International, 64 countries condemned 7,395
people to death. 25 countries have executed close to 3,800 people. 95 per
cent of executions have taken place in four countries: China, Iran,
Vietnam and the United States. The United States is the only democracy
that regularly uses the death penalty. In US prisons, there are some 3,415
held on death row. In the USA, since 1973, 121 people have been freed
before execution. Nevertheless, there are reasons for hope. American
society is becoming less and less favourable to the death penalty. Doubt
is growing. American juries are less likely to use the death penalty. The
US Supreme Court has abolished the death penalty for minors and mentally
disabled people. 12 US States have abolished it and 20 others have
excluded the use of it.
China is the country that has the highest number of executions. Lack of
information prevents clear figures from being known. Amnesty International
states that some 3,400 executions have been carried out. There are some
6,000 people condemned to death.
74 countries continue to use the death penalty and that is 74 countries
too many. Our work as parliamentarians is to convince our partners in
these countries to finally abolish the death penalty. The right to life is
an absolute right. It is the essence of human nature. We can not take it
away, even from the worst criminals."
(source: European Parliament Press Office)
CHINA:
China's death row kidneys get UK buyers
British patients are receiving transplant organs 'donated' by executed
prisoners, it emerged on Sunday. Up to 10 people are thought to have
travelled to China from the UK for replacement kidneys this year.
One of them is understood to be recuperating after he had a transplant
procedure in a hospital in Guangzhou, in the south of the country.
'Transplant tourism' is growing because donor organs are in short supply
in the UK. But British surgeons fear patients do not fully understand the
suffering behind the murky trade in human organs.
There are strong suspicions that death row prisoners in China have their
organs removed - with or without their permission - before being shot, to
ensure they are in prime condition.
On Sunday, medical sources in China said January was likely to be a
'bumper month' for organs as it is the usual practice to execute prisoners
en masse in the run-up to the Chinese New Year on January 29.
The kidney operations are being offered by an Internet company -
transplantsinternational.com - which charges 23,000 for the procedure. The
price includes a month-long stay in hospital with a friend or relative.
The company makes clear the organs are from executed prisoners. On its
website, under the heading "Where do the kidneys come from?", it says: "A
kidney comes from a dead person and, in the majority of cases in China,
the dead people are prisoners, which allows us to know at least two weeks
ahead of time when the kidney will be ready."
It also makes clear that blood samples are taken from prisoners in advance
of their execution to ensure they will be the perfect match for the
beneficiaries.
Patients are assured by the company that the procedure is entirely legal
in China. By the end of this year, 5,000 prisoners are likely to have been
put to death in China during a nationwide anti-crime drive.
Government policy allows the 'harvesting' of organs if the prisoner or the
prisoner's family has given written consent, or if the body is not claimed
after execution. In practice, however, the rules are often ignored.
Prof Nadey Hakim, head of transplantation surgery at Hammersmith Hospital,
said: "I suspect that to get decent organs they most probably operate on
the prisoners before they get a bullet in the head. I can't see any other
way of doing it."
"Of course people become desperate for a new kidney - but do they realise
what this trade is like? When I first heard about it, I couldn't believe
it," he said.
(source: The Times of India)
***************
Killer gets his death sentence
The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court yesterday sentenced Shen
Daming to death with a reprieve of 2 years for murder.
The Jiangsu Province native met his victim surnamed Liu in August 2004
through a matchmaking agency. Shen lied that he was a company manager
engaged in the elevator business. He was in urgent need of some money
because his employee was hurt in an accident. Liu sold her property and
gave Shen 147,000 yuan (US$18,148). But she said she wanted to visit the
injured employee with Shen. Shen, seeing his lie was to be disclosed,
killed Liu and took the money.
(source: Shanghai Daily)
