[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 15


INDIA:

Retired DP ACP gets death penalty for custodial death of 2


A Delhi court on Friday awarded death penalty to a former assistant
commissioner of police for torturing 2 persons to death in judicial
custody 19 years' ago.

Terming the offence as "rarest of rare", Additional Sessions Judge
Rajinder Kumar ordered that accused Rishi Prakash Tyagi be hanged till
death.

The court found him guilty under sections 302 (murder), 342 (wrongful
confinement) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Tyagi for causing death of
Mahender Kumar and Ram Kumar in Vivek Vihar Police station in east Delhi
in 1987.

(source: Hindustan Times)

*******************

Avoid giving death penalty, 1993 blasts accused tell court


A group of people held guilty for the 1993 bomb blasts today pleaded the
minimum sentence should be given to them and urged a court here not to
sentence them to death.

To justify their argument, defence lawyer Subhas Kanse cited two Supreme
Court judgements, one of which -- Dalbir Singh versus the state of Punjab
-- said the the number of casualties in a terrorist act alone did not
warrant the death sentence.

Another verdict cited by Kanse was Jashuba Bhagat Singh Gohil versus the
State of Gujarat, in which the apex court had observed that though 13
years had lapsed and the spectre of death was hanging over the accused,
the court should not advise severe punishment by exercising its
discretion.

On behalf of Sarfaraz Phanse and Tulsiram Surve, convicted for aiding and
abetting terrorist acts by helping prime conspirator Tiger Memon in
smuggling arms and RDX, the lawyer argued that both deserved minimum
punishment.

Kanse argued Phanse had not made any confession and the confession of his
father and co-accused Dawood Phanse did not mention the alleged
involvement of his son. He was in custody for 11 years and should be let
off after considering the period spent by him in jail.

The lawyer argued that Surve, a former watchman of a Government
communication tower at Wangani village in Raigad district, had already
been dismissed from service and his family was dependent on him. Kanse
left to the court's discretion the extent of punishment to be awarded to
Surve.

(source: The Hindu)






KENYA:

Death sentence for attackers of Kenyan writer


During a homecoming after a 22-year self-imposed exile, Thiong'o was
brutally beaten by four men in his apartment in Nairobi. His wife Njeeri
was raped and burnt with cigarettes on the night of the attack in August
2004.

"The offence of robbery with violence is notorious in Nairobi and must be
discouraged by imposing stiffer penalties," principal magistrate Julie
Oseko said when passing sentence.

The three attackers - Richard Kayago Maeta, Elias Sikuku Wanjala and Peter
Mulati Wafula - were convicted on Wednesday and have been given the death
sentence. They said they would appeal.

While the death sentence remains on Kenya's statutes, it has not been used
since perpetrators of a 1980s coup attempt were hung.

4 men attacked Thiong'o at the high-security apartment complex of a
city-centre hotel. His nephew, John Kiragu Chege, was cleared of charges
this week.

Thiong'o, a professor of English and comparative literature at the
University of California Irvine, was jailed for a year without charge in
1977, then fled Kenya in 1982 after troops razed a theatre where one of
his plays was being performed.

The novelist and playwright's works have been critical of British colonial
rule and also, implicitly, of Kenya's post-independence governments for
corruption and exploitation of the poor. His best works include Weep Not
Child, A Grain Of Wheat, Detained, Petals Of Blood and Devil On The Cross.

The magistrate said the 2004 attack was a normal case of robbery with
violence, with no political overtones as Thiong'o had alleged. A lap-top
and jewellery were stolen.

Nairobi is notorious for violent crime - drawing the name "Nairobbery"
from expatriates living here.

(source: Independent Online)






BAHRAIN:

Executions will deter criminals says lawmaker


A Bahraini lawmaker yesterday blasted rights watchdogs for condemning
execution of 3 convicted killers in Bahrain on Monday.

"I am shocked by activists' claims that it was shameful for Bahrain to
carry out executions. The real shame is on those who allow convicted
murderers to live in dignity in prison while the relatives of the victims
are suffering and aching," said Shaikh Mohammad Khalid, one of the most
vociferous Islamists in the Council of Representatives.

Pakistani Mohammad Hanif and Bangladeshis Jasmine Anwar and Mohammad
Hilaluddin were executed by a firing squad after they were convicted
separately of murder. The executions were the first in the kingdom since
1996 and the 2nd since 1977.

"Many people have expressed satisfaction with the carrying out of justice.
We believe that executions are the most significant deterrent to fight the
rising rate of crime," said Shaikh Khalid, who was re-elected to the
40-member Council of Representatives.

The lawmaker said that capital punishment sentences should be meted out to
drug dealers "for their role in spreading this cancerous disease."

Human rights activist Nabeel Rajab on Tuesday urged Bahrain to take
concrete and immediate steps towards abolishing the death penalty as part
of the reform process.

Amnesty International yesterday deplored the executions.

(source: Gulf News)






JAPAN:

Waiting for the hangman: New executions feared in Japan


No one knows when the executioner will come. In Japan, when a new day
dawns, 96 people ask themselves, 'Will this day be my last?'

All of them have been sentenced to die by hanging, but none of them know
their execution date. They only learn when they are going to die on the
morning of the execution.

For a few of the death-row inmates, that day might be near - and more
likely to occur after the Japanese Diet, or parliament, ends its current
session next week.

'It raises the possibility that executions will be carried out,' said
Makoto Teranaka, secretary general of Amnesty International in Japan.

Executions - the most recent of which was on September 16, 2005 - always
come when the Diet is not in session, which hinders debate on the death
penalty. Against this background, Japan's national bar association has
urged Justice Minister Jinen Nagase not to approve any executions.

The group warned the minister of the potential that innocent people could
be hanged and also pointed out the worldwide trend toward the abolition of
the death penalty. It urged the government to impose a moratorium on
executions so the necessity of such a sentence could be examined.

But just last month, Nagase said the government had no intention of
abolishing the death penalty and was not considering calls to implement
sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole because
'it might be linked with the abolition of capital punishment.'

Polls have shown that a large majority of the Japanese public approve of
the death penalty. Japan is one of the few industrialized countries that
retains it, and its use of the ultimate punishment, the secrecy
surrounding it and its prison conditions have been denounced by Amnesty
International and other human-rights groups for years.

Because of a drawn-out appeals process, prisoners sometimes wait decades
for their executions, leaving elderly prisoners among those living on
death row. The oldest is 86-year-old Ishida Tomizo, who had his request
for a retrial denied in 2004, 13 years after he submitted it.

According to human-rights activists, death-row inmates in Japan are housed
in solitary confinement and may not talk to other prisoners. Their contact
to the outside world is limited to occasional, supervised visits with
their closest relatives and their attorneys, the activists said.

Watching television or pursuing hobbies is also denied death-row
prisoners, and many endure their isolation only with the help of sleeping
pills, they added.

When the justice minister's execution order finally arrives, the prisoner
usually has only a few hours to live. The inmate's relatives hear of the
death only after the hanging.

To the public, the Justice Ministry only releases the number of the
execution. The name of the prisoner only is learned if his or her family
releases it.

The government defends the secrecy as protecting the family from shame.
Critics, however, accuse the government of a lack of transparency that
begets a lack of information for a public discussion over whether Japan
should retain the death penalty.

'As a first step towards abolition, we urge the Japanese government to end
the secrecy currently surrounding its use of the death penalty,' said Suki
Nagra, and East Asia campaigner for Amnesty International. 'The government
cannot justify this inhuman punishment on the basis of public opinion when
it conceals the reality of the death penalty from people and so stymies
public debate.'

(source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur)






CHINA:

3 executions in China leave others wary


The Chinese government executed 3 house church leaders in November on
murder convictions in what the leaders of 2 Christian organizations
ministering in China describe as part of a vicious government campaign to
eliminate one of the countrys house church groups.

Despite evidence that the defendants from the Three Grades of Servants
movement had been severely tortured into confessing, the Chinese
government secretly executed the groups founder Xu Shuangfu along with Li
Maoxing and Wang Jun in late November for the murders of leaders of
Eastern Lightning, widely regarded as a violent Chinese cult.

"Chinese government officials know the West will not tolerate such blatant
religious persecution," said Paul Hattaway of Asia Harvest. "But if they
manage to pass it all off as a domestic criminal matter, the West is
largely silenced.

"In the past the Chinese have even cleverly defended such crackdowns by
asking, If America is able to prosecute the Branch Davidians, and Japan
the cult that let off sarin gas in the Tokyo subway, then why can't we
also deal with dangerous cults in our country?'"

The government's persecution against Three Grades, which has been ongoing
for several years, has included the imprisonment of hundreds of members,
according to other house church pastors, and the deaths of at least 15
people. Along with the 3 men executed, 3 other leaders were given two-year
suspended death sentences and 11 were sent to prison for sentences of 3 to
15 years. The 3 men had been convicted of murder earlier this year in
Shuangyashan City in China's Heilongjiang Province. Their appeal was heard
in October and the verdicts were upheld.

Defense attorneys contended that no direct evidence linked the men to the
crimes other than the confessions the men and other church members made
after being tortured. Chinese law prohibits the use of confessions
obtained through torture.

"The defense lawyers have clear evidence that those 3 were tortured," said
Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association. "During the trial, they saw
the scars and wounds on [the defendants] bodies."

According to news reports, as many as 20 Eastern Lightning leaders were
killed in 2002 as a result of clashes with Three Grades of Servants.
Eastern Lightning has been accused of using kidnappings, violence and
seduction of pastors in an effort to take members from other groups. Fu
called Eastern Lightning "a mafia group with Christian uniforms."

In April 2004, Xu was kidnapped and relatives received a demand that a
ransom of more than $350,000 be paid. Later, it was learned that Xu was
under arrest by the government. About 90 other leaders of his group also
were arrested during this time.

During his imprisonment, Xu, who was believed to be in his 60s, and most
of the others arrested were subjected to severe torture. Xu's ordeal
included being shocked with electrical devices, hung by his wrist for
hours at a time and sleep and food deprivation, according to his lawyer.

He finally confessed, according to his defense lawyer, because the torture
was so severe "that he would rather die than live in such a dreadful
condition."

According to the religious rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide,
Xus daughter said her father revoked the confession immediately after
interrogation records were read in court and stated that it was signed
under severe torture.

Lawyers and relatives were not informed of the executions until after the
bodies of the three men had been cremated. Fu believes the bodies of the 3
men were cremated by the government to eliminate physical evidence of the
torture.

The appeal process and executions were completed about a month before the
Jan. 1 enactment of a new law that gives the Supreme Peoples Court sole
authority to sentence people to death.

Fu said he believes Three Grades of Servants had been targeted by the
government because it has been so successful. With as many as 500,000
members, the group is aggressive in church planting and evangelism, well
financed by members and well organized, Fu said.

The group has been labeled a cult by the government, but Fu and Hattaway
believe that label is unwarranted partly because it is difficult to know
the groups beliefs and practices because of the secrecy many Chinese house
churches require to protect themselves from the government.

Fu said he has never read anything by the group that contradicts essential
Christian doctrine, but he does have concerns about their practices, which
reportedly include corporal punishment for church discipline.

"Given the evidence that I have so far, I still think their main doctrines
are orthodox, but I dont have sufficient knowledge to know more about
accusations, especially regarding their practices," Fu said.

Regardless of whether the group is a cult, other house church leaders are
concerned that the Chinese government disregarded its own laws to convict
the men and will do the same to other house churches.

The governments strategy, Hattaway said, is to label a group an "evil
cult," usually by the China Christian Three Self Patriotic Movement, one
of two government-sanctioned Protestant groups in China. An article
usually comes out in the Three Self magazine Tianfeng listing a group's
crimes and heretical beliefs and practices. The government then arrests,
interrogates, prosecutes and even executes members of the group

"The worst part of the process is that so many Christians believe what
they read and do not question the validity of the information," Hattaway
said. "This is a very dangerous thing to do.

"[The Chinese government] is conducting a similar attack on the South
China Church at the moment, with as many as 700 of their members being
arrested and prosecuted for belonging to an 'evil cult,'" Hattaway said.

He added that the Born Again house church movement suffered a similar fate
and several other main house church movements in China are on the
government's cult list.

"Any house church now will likely be called 'evil cults' if they refuse to
register with the Chinese government," Fu said, "and they will face severe
persecution like this. No church should feel they will be exempted."

Said Hattaway, "Some of the house church leaders I know have told me they
are deeply concerned that a similar fate awaits them.

"If their group is one of those placed on the list of 'evil cults' they
know it is a matter of time before they are also targeted for systematic
destruction," Hattaway added.

Fu called on Christians worldwide to find out what's really going on in
China and not rely only on news reports. When they know of specific cases,
he asks that they pray.

"We ask our American brothers and sisters to take more action," Fu said.
"Write to President Bush and other elected officials to take specific
action against the persecution and to urge the Chinese government to obey
its own constitution and its own laws."

Members in the house church movement in China also need to learn from what
happened to the Three Grades of Servants and realize that the government
will use any means to destroy a group, Fu said.

"Church members should be careful before the Lord, before the people and
before the government," Fu said. "If there are any unbiblical practices,
even among church members, it will be used by the government to damage the
whole church."

If a church member is even suspected of a crime, "the governments real
motivation is not to seek justice," Fu said, "but to destroy the house
church group."

(source: BP News)