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

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 5



AUSTRALIA:

REMEMBERING A HANGING:


On the morning of Saturday, 3rd February 2007, an assortment of people
will gather outside the front entrance of the former Pentridge Prison to
remember a hanging.

40 years ago, on that very morning, Ronald Ryan had a noose put around his
neck by the prison hangman. With the authority of the Victorian State
Government, its then Premier, Henry Bolte, and the Victorian Supreme Court
he was killed.

Ryan was the last man hanged in Australia, and many believe he will always
retain that infamous privilege.

While popular press surveys, usually conducted after some horrendous
crime, often find that Australians divide equally in their support for or
opposition to capital punishment, there has been no reputable or respected
Australian political leaders in recent decades who has publicly supported
its re-introduction.

Reasoned argument instead suggests that it is hard for a civilized society
to support the taking of the life of one its citizens in order to uphold
the value of human life.

Such argument in Australia, of course, will not prevent other countries
continuing the practice - some, such as China and Singapore, continue to
practice it with great enthusiasm.

It is just over twelve months since an Australian citizen, 25 year old Van
Nguyen, was hanged on the gallows in Singapore. At the present time, 6
young Australians are awaiting death from a firing squad in Bali, as a
result of the decision of the Indonesian courts.

But the Australians concerned with preventing further executions do not
limit themselves to the protection of the lives of Australian citizens
living abroad. Around the world, thousands of people are executed each
year.

According to Amnesty Internationals annual report on official judicial
execution in 2004, there were 3,797 confirmed executions in 25 countries.
9 out of every 10 executions took place in China. Singapore has the 4th
highest rate of executions per year of any country in the world, after
Kuwait, China and Iran, at a rate 7 times that of the United States.

The need to spread what he called 'The Culture of Life' as opposed to 'The
Culture of Death' was proclaimed by John Paul II in 1995. He adopted a
position that was identical with that of the late Cardinal Bernadin,
Archbishop of Chicago  namely the 'consistent ethic of life'.

The clear message of this teaching is that all attacks on life are to be
resisted, whether they come from nuclear warfare, the practice of
abortion, euthanasia, suicide, ethnic conflicts, unethical genetic
practices, or capital punishment.

The recent execution of Saddam Hussein and his compatriots presented a
challenge to those who uphold this ethical or moral position. But those
who oppose capital punishment according to these moral principles are not
influenced by the guilt or innocence of the party concerned.

The critical issue is the commitment to the value and dignity of all human
life.

When Ronald Ryan's former defence counsels, Phil Opas QC, and Brian
Bourke, gather with other friends and colleagues outside the walls of
Pentridge Prison at 10am next Saturday morning, the memory of Ryans
execution, and the meeting of those who opposed it at the time will
reflect values that uphold human dignity.

So too will the gathering of his family members and others at the midday
memorial service at St Ignatius Church in Richmond on that day. Richmond
was where Ryans family lived at the time of his execution.

As Ryan explained, his 'return to the faith' at the time was from
conviction, not convenience. It was because of a saintly Good Shepherd
Sister, Margaret Kingston, and a knockabout priest, John Brosnan, who were
living witnesses to these gospel values.

(source: Fr. Peter Norden, who was awarded an Officer of the Order of
Australia (AO) on Australia Day 26 January, 2007).

****

THE DAY AUSTRALIA STOOD STILL; THE DAY THAT CHANGED A NATION OF 12 MILLION
- FOREVER:

The clock strikes 8:00 AM.

It is a hot Friday morning.

The 3rd day of February.

In the year - Nineteen Hundred and Sixty Seven.

The State of Victoria hangs Ronald Ryan at Pentridge Prison.

Australia falls silent ...

A flock of birds startled by the loud crash of the trap-door, suddenly fly
off the roof of the prison cell block.

At the same time - a gust of wind from nowhere - slams shut the prison
church doors with a loud crash.

A crowd of 3,000 protesters outside Pentridge Prison - pause for a 3
minute silence.

All is so deadly quiet - broken only by the sound of occasional sobs.

Trains, trams, buses and cars pull over to a halt.

Listless workers across Australia stop for a silent vigil.

Church bells across the nation begin to ring.

Worshippers attend prayer services.

Candles are lit around the country.

Student protesters outside Parliament House distinguish flames on the
torches - having burned night and day for more than a week.

There is an eerie quiet inside prisons - the usual prison sounds are
missing - there is just nothing.

Prisoners stage their own protest - motionless - they refuse to work.

Ronald Ryan's wife sits on a sofa inside her home - cuddling her 3
daughters tightly - as they weep.

One of Ryan's daughters suddenly realises she has torn her handkerchief to
shreds.

It was as though time had paused - all was still - temporarily.

It was the day Australia stood still - as a man was hanged by the state of
Victoria.

Ronald Joseph Ryan has earned his place in Australian history.

He is remembered as the man whose execution provoked such a public outcry,
that no person ever again, would be executed in Australia.

(source: Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (ACADP), Feb. 1)






TAIWAN:

Group calls for ending the death penalty


A Taiwan-based group says that ending the death penalty is a worldwide
trend.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty said that Taiwan should stop
using the death penalty.

The alliance said that the use of the death penalty in Taiwan has
decreased in recent years. And in 2006 there were no cases of its use in
Taiwan.

Death penalty opponents point out that only 22 countries still use the
death penalty. China is the number 1 practitioner.

(source: Radio Taiwan International)