[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 28



BOTSWANA:

Khama's First Date With Death Penalty


The fate of death row inmate Kedisaletse Tsobane, now lies with President
Ian Khama after the Court of Appeal dismissed his case.

Tsobane was sentenced to death by the Francistown High Court after he was
convicted of killing his 10-year-old daughter in 2004 to avoid paying for
her maintenance. He pleaded guilty to a charge of murder. Last week, the
Court of Appeal sitting in Lobatse, upheld the death sentence, which was
imposed by the High Court. In dismissing the appeal, the court found that
there were no extenuating circumstances in Tsobane's case.

Tsobane can now only apply to the President for mercy. His lawyer, Tony
Matilo, said this is the only option they are left with. This will be the
1st application for clemency by a death row inmate to Khama since he took
power in April.

Tsobane appealed against his death sentence, saying that there were
extenuating circumstances that reduced his moral guilt and the High Court
erred in finding otherwise. He wanted the death sentence to be set aside
and replaced with a prison sentence. Tsobane was the last person seen with
the deceased who was on her way to school on the morning of January 20,
2004. He took her in his car but later that day, 2 people saw the little
girl's motionless body in the bush. The police found the deceased kneeling
on her knees with a cable around her neck tied to a tree.

Tsobane was arrested the following day and he made a confession statement
before a judicial officer. In his evidence he said that he had pleaded
guilty to the offence because "I was drunk and had smoked dagga". He
attributed his intoxicated state to the fact that he was hurt by the
mother of her daughter as she had told him a week earlier that he was a
fool because he was supporting a child who was not his.

However, the state produced a death certificate, which showed that the
mother of Tsobane's daughter, had died 2 years before the incident. The
Court of Appeal ruled that Tsobane told the trial court a blatant untruth
in claiming that he killed his daughter because her mother teased him.

In his confession statement, Tsobane had stated: "I have killed a child. I
killed the child in an attempt to avoid liability in order to do away with
my indebtedness. I was trying to do away with maintenance arrears. I was
trying to do away with the liability by killing the child because it was
too high. I think that is all. I killed the child by strangling it with a
rope. I think that is all I did."

Tsobane was obliged to pay P40 a month for maintenance for his daughter.
But he had paid nothing since 1994.

Judge President of the Court of Appeal, Patrick Tebbutt, said the evidence
makes it clear that Tsobane was in serious arrears with his obligation to
pay P40 per month. He said there was also evidence that Tsobane's wife was
becoming difficult about the fact that he does not have money. "Those
factors explain, in my view, why he killed the deceased," the Tebbutt
said. "It is obvious that because of his financial situation and his
problems with her maintenance, he decided to do away with her, what he
seems to have regarded as the cause of those problems."

The Court of Appeal ruled that this leads to the irresistible inference
that the killing of the deceased was premeditated. The court noted that
Tsobane was not so much intoxicated to render him not conscious of his
actions as he claimed.

The court said he could have alleviated his debts to some extent by
selling his car. "He did not do so. He had, apparently, never paid any
maintenance for the deceased, so even that had nothing in reality to do
with her. Why then kill her, in order to get rid of his liabilities?"
wondered Tebbutt.

"The murder of this innocent child was most brutal. Strangulation is a
particularly violent and brutal method of killing a person and this was a
defenceless 10-year-old-girl, who must have trusted the appellant as her
father. Anxiety over one's financial situation can never be a
justification for the brutal killing of an innocent defenceless
10-year-old child," the judge said.

(source Mmegi Online)






MIDEAST:

40% call for end to death penalty


An Arabian Business poll has revealed a big split in opinion on the issue.

Nearly 40 % of people who took part in an Arabian Business online poll
believe Middle East countries should no longer impose the death penalty.

Iran hanged 29 people on Sunday in the notorious Tehran prison of Evin
after they were convicted of drug trafficking, murder and rape.

In the largest mass execution in the Islamic republic in recent years, the
hangings bring to at least 155 the number of executions carried out in
Iran this year.

But many poll respondents said the practice was inhumane and should be
stopped immediately.

A further 10 % said the death penalty should only apply to horrific crimes
such as child killers.

In contrast, 27 % of people approved on Iran's hardline stance and said
they believed the death penalty was the most effective way of detering
criminals.

They argued that the rest of the world should follow the laws of the
Middle East and introduce the death penalty for certain crimes where it
doesn't exist at the moment.

Amnesty International reported that in 2007 Iran applied the death penalty
more often than any other country apart from China, executing 317 people
during the year.

Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed
robbery, drug trafficking and adultery.

In our poll, 22 % of respondents thought it should be up to the individual
country to decide whether the death penalty should be imposed.

At one time capital punishment was used in almost every part of the globe,
but over the last few decades many countries have abolished it.

Approximately, 60 countries still maintain the death penalty in both law
and practice while 92 countries have abolished it completely.

A handful of countries retain it, but only for crimes committed in
exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war).

About another 34 countries maintain laws permitting the use of the death
penalty but have allowed the it to fall into disuse for at least 10 years.

Iran hangs 29 criminals

Iran on Sunday hanged 29 people convicted of drug trafficking, murder,
rape in Tehran's Evin prison.

(source: arabianbusiness.com)






JAMAICA:

Death penalty alone not enough


We are told in Friday's edition of this newspaper that Parliamentarians
will, in September, decide if Jamaica should retain the death penalty for
capital murder.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding tabled a motion in the House of
Representatives last Tuesday, calling on his colleagues to either affirm
support for the death penalty, or request its removal from the law books.
He has told ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members that they should
vote according to their conscience rather than seek to adopt a party line.
Chances are that the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) will use the
same strategy.

While Jamaican law requires, and indeed the courts continue to pass the
sentence of death by hanging for capital murder, there has been no such
execution in two decades. This is mainly because of the inefficiencies of
the justice system, legal manoeuvrings and a barely concealed reluctance
on the part of those in charge.

This newspaper welcomes this long overdue move to a conscience vote. The
decision one way or the other must be acted on quickly and decisively. For
the Government cannot simply continue to flout and ignore its own laws. It
sends the wrong message to all and sundry - not least the murderous and
terrorist criminals themselves.

For many, the failure to implement the law - over so many years - is clear
indication of the lack of political will in dealing decisively with crime
and criminals at the leadership level in this country.

The counter argument is that the death penalty does not deter murder, but
in fact facilitates the frightening possibility that innocent people who
were convicted because of flaws in the prosecutorial and justice system
could pay the awful, ultimate price.

As far as this newspaper is concerned, the simple truth is that the death
penalty, by itself, solves nothing.

Yesterday's Sunday Observer lead story "Infant Criminals" tells the
horrifying story of how children in many socially and economically
depressed communities are being taught violent criminality as a mode of
behaviour from infancy.

By the time they enter their teenaged years, these children are trained
criminals. Crime is what they are good at.

It may not have been said in as many words, but what it also means is that
in these communities, crime is part of accepted culture. In such
circumstances, it seems to us, people who are socialised to a life of
crime are unlikely to worry unduly about being put to death if and when
they are caught.

Ultimately, saving our children and resolving our crime problems go hand
in hand. There will be short-term victories along the way, but the
solution can only be long-term. And it must involve a mix of strategies to
take our communities back from the evil ones.

Social intervention such as that of the admirable Mr Mervin Jarman of
Palmer's Cross must be part of the solution. Further, we agree with Safe
Schools Ambassador Mr Lawman Lynch that the solution requires "education,
massive social intervention and our security forces going head-to-head
with . criminals".

Above all else, we suggest there must be the will at the level of the
political leadership to do what must be done.

(source: Editorial, Jamacia Observer)






CHINA:

Report: China human rights have not improved----China has intensified
crackdown against protesters, Amnesty International claims----China says
it has improved rights by reforming legal system, raising living standards


China has failed to improve its human rights record in the run-up to next
month's Olympics, with the government intensifying its crackdown on
activists in recent years, Amnesty International charged in a report to be
released Tuesday.

Police are shown last week near the National Stadium in Beijing, China.

1 of 2 Amnesty said that in the last year alone, thousands of petitioners,
reformists and others were arrested as part of a government campaign to
"clean up" Beijing before the games, which open August 8. It said many of
those arrested have been sentenced to manual labor without trial.

Chinese human rights activists have been targeted elsewhere in the country
as well, Amnesty said in its report.

It cited the case of Sichuan-based activist Huang Qi, who was formally
arrested earlier this month on charges of possessing state secrets. The
case, though, is believed to stem from his work helping the families of
children killed in May's earthquake bring a legal case against local
authorities, Amnesty said.

The organization said the games, touted by Chinese and Olympic officials
alike as a way to help expand freedoms in the authoritarian country, have
instead led the government to muzzle critics in hopes of presenting an
image of harmony and stability to the outside world.

"By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human
rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made
when they were granted the games seven years ago," said Roseann Rife, a
deputy director in Asia for the London-based group. "The Chinese
authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the games."

An after-hours duty officer at China's Foreign Ministry had no immediate
comment on the report, although the Chinese government routinely denies
such allegations, saying it has promoted human rights by reforming the
legal system and raising living standards of hundreds of millions of
people.

In once recent shift, the government announced it was setting up special
protest zones during the games.

The Amnesty report also took aim at China's suppressive media censorship,
noting that foreign journalists have been harassed by authorities.

It also claimed the government had expanded its "re-education through
labor" program under which security forces arrest people and sentence them
to manual labor without trial.

Amnesty also accused the International Olympic Committee of showing a
"reluctance" to pressure China publicly on its human rights record.

Messages left with IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies asking for comment on
the report were not immediately returned.

Elsewhere in the report, Amnesty welcomed China's move last year to
restore the Supreme People's Court's role in approving death sentences.
But it criticized the government, which says the number of executions has
declined, for withholding data on death penalty cases.

(source: Associated Press)






LIBERIA:

Liberia illegally restores the death penalty


New Liberian legislation makes some violent crimes punishable by death, in
violation of the country's international obligations.

On July 15, the Liberian Senate adopted a law establishing the death
penalty for homicides committed during acts of armed robbery, terrorism or
piracy, confirming a previous vote of the Chamber of representatives.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who could have opposed the legislation,
signed it into law a few days later.

The vote takes place at a time when the whole country is going through an
unprecedented wave of robbery with criminals going as far as kidnapping
children to get a ransom.

Liberian politicians welcomed the decision, which Isaac Red, the Chamber
of Representatives' spokesman hailed as a "way to come out of the
nightmare of insecurity". But it has been sharply criticized by
representatives of the civil society.

Dempster Brown, who heads a coalition of human rights defense movements,
notes that none of these organizations have been consulted. "The
government's decision is not a good one because the UN opposes death
penalty."

On Dec 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted at a large majority a
resolution to introduce a moratorium on executions that requires states
that already abolished the death penalty not to restore it.

A decision that contradicts international commitments

The law goes against Liberia's international commitments. On September 16,
2005, the national transitional government subscribed to a hundred
international treaties. Among others, Liberia signed the Second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

The Protocol commits its members to 3 main obligations: it forbids them to
resort to executions, asks that members abolish the death penalty within
their jurisdictions and abstain from reintroducing it.

The World Coalition is currently campaigning for the treaty's
ratification.

Liberia should in principle abolish the death penalty but some members of
parliament have been questioning the Protocol's status. "The President may
have signed an international document aiming at abolishing the death
penalty, but the Parliament knew nothing about. No such document was
ratified by the assembly," Isaac Red said.

(source: World Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty)






INDONESIA:

MPR chief asks govt to impose death penalty on big-time corrupters


Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Hidayat Nur Wahid has
asked the government to immediately impose a death penalty on the
country's big-time corrupters.

"The law must be upheld. Anybody proven guilty of inflicting huge losses
to the state deserves the death penalty," he said here on Sunday.

The MPR chief said he had asked the Indonesian police chief and the
attorney general to impose the most severe sentence on corrupters. "This
is to save the Indonesian nation`s future."

The government could impose the death penalty on corrupters when it
referred to Law No.20/2001 on the Amendment to Law No.31/1999 on
Corruption Eradication, he said.

The law stipulates that anybody found guilty of committing corruption
under certain circumstances, he/she may be subject to the death penalty.
The certain circumstances refer to conditions in which corruption is
committed when the country is in the state of emergency, is put under
national disaster status or is facing economic and monetary crisis.

The death penalty was designed to bring about a deterrent effect to
would-be corrupters, he said.

"The move will give confidence to the public that the law can be upheld in
our country," he said.

Wahid said he believed the death penalty would not spark international
protest. "Malaysia and Singapore can apply the death penalty, why can't
Indonesia do the same."

The government must have the courage to impose the capital punishment on
corrupters, otherwise it would be difficult to rid the country of
corruption, he said.

(source: ANTARA News)