[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 7


INDONESIA:

Victims wants death penalty for marines who shot locals


A man who was injured when marines fired on villagers in Pasuruan, East
Java, has urged the military to be open about the incident, in which 4
people died.

Samad, 54, the head of Alas Tlogo hamlet was wounded in the shooting,
along with his son Khoirul. Another son, Mistin, was killed.

Speaking at Airlangga University in Surabaya, Samad said he could not
forget the incident.

"I know well because I was standing near the marines just before the
shooting. I will not pardon the marines and asked the perpetrators be
sentenced to death," he said.

He said that around 50 residents of the village had gathered in the main
street after finding a tractor belonging to private plantation company PT
Rajawali Nusantara in a field.

"We asked why PT Rajawali Nusantara wanted to destroy the plants in our
fields at a time when the land's legal dispute was still being appealed at
the Surabaya High Court. We showed (the workers and marines) documents on
the legal process, but the marines started to get angry," he said.

The commander of the group, who has not been identified, said, "Shoot the
one with the document" but his subordinates did not respond, Samad said.
After a resident began to weep, he is reported to have said "Shoot those
who talk too much".

Samad told the university hearing that the commander then said "Have you
filled your weapons with real bullets? And bang..."

"The residents left after Sutam, who was the one with the court documents
and was standing 10 meters from the marines, fell to the ground after
being shot. The marines continued shooting indiscriminately and chased the
frightened residents," he said.

"I tried to run away but was caught and hit with a rifle butt in my right
cheek and left hand. I fell to the ground and was kicked," Samad said,
showing his injuries.

Samad denied the marines' claims that they were provoked by residents
throwing stones and that one villager had hit a marine with a celurit, or
Madurese sickle.

"Some of the residents did bring celurit because they wanted to work in
the fields. In our tradition celurit used in the fields are never used to
attack," he said.

"After the shooting, one of our neighbors saw a marine who was crying
after fatally shooting (resident) Khotijah when she was hiding in the
kitchen. The marine apologized to Khotijah at the incident site," Samad
said.

The marine covered Khotijah's face with a cloth and immediately left the
house, Samad said.

"We will strive to maintain our lands and refuse relocation. We want our
land returned to use," he added.

Airlangga University's legal practitioner Herlambang attributed the land
dispute to the poor land administration in Indonesia. Moreover, the
history of land ownership by the military used to be frequently marked
with coercion through repressive strategies, he said.

Land disputes between the military and civilians in East Java, he said,
accounted for 25.72 % of the 102 land conflicts in the province in the
last 50 or so years.

"Such disputes are thought to hinder the process of democratization and
the appreciation of values upholding human rights," he said.

Herlambang said that besides investigating the shooting, the government
should also investigate the land dispute, adding that failure to do so
could spark similar incidents elsewhere.

(source: The Jakarta Post)






VIETNAM:

Vietnam fishermen face death sentence for "plundering" cable line


Vietnamese fishermen who cut off about 100 kilometers (60 miles) of a
crucial fiber-optic cable that runs under the ocean and carries the bulk
of the country's telecommunications may face death sentences, the local
press said Wednesday.

According to the media, which quoted a freshly released Post and Telecoms
Ministry report, a regional administration had allowed the remains of
Vietnam War copper cables to be collected from the seabed and sold as
scrap metal.

However, local fishermen, in pursuit of windfalls, started to cut off
portions of operating fiber-optic cables running between Vietnam and
Thailand as well.

In some places, the media reports said, copper collection became so
profitable that fishermen bought special cable-cutting equipment.

Police seized over 1,600 metric tons of new as well as old cables, and
said those who "plundered" cables from Vietnam's only trunk communication
line could be "imprisoned for life or subjected to capital punishment."

The authorities are now guarding the trunk line and planning enlightenment
campaigns to teach people how to tell copper wires from fiber-optic
cables. All cable collection has been officially suspended.

The repairs would take no less than three months, post officials said.

(source: RIA Novosti)






CHINA:

Rights activist says China will support Sudan sanctions, cut executions
before Olympics


China will likely execute fewer prisoners and support sanctions against
Sudan to boost its image before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a human rights
activist said Thursday.

Beijing has been accused of ignoring the bloodshed in Sudan's vast Darfur
region, where ethnic African rebels have been fighting pro-government
militia. China buys 2/3 of Sudan's oil exports and sells its government
weapons and military aircraft.

John Kamm, a human rights lobbyist in Washington and Beijing, told
business leaders in Hong Kong that China will become more active in trying
to end Sudan's 4-year conflict, which has created a humanitarian crisis.
He noted that Beijing recently appointed a special envoy for Darfur.

"I think eventually, and it won't take too long, China will in fact sign
on to some pretty serious sanctions," said Kamm, chairman of the San
Francisco-based human rights group Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors
human rights in China and helps free prisoners.

"They are not on board yet, they are resisting it, but the price is very
high on this. And if it comes down to a successful Olympic Games or
Darfur, I think they will choose the Olympic Games," he said in a speech
to the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Kamm also predicted that China will likely execute fewer prisoners in the
run-up to the Olympics.

"I think if China were to greatly reduce the number of executions, which
is very possible, it would do a lot to help," he said.

He said that China has been using capital punishment less in recent years.
In 2006, about 7,500 people were executed, down from about 13,500 in 2001,
he said.

The rights group Amnesty International put the recorded number of
executions in China in 2006 at more than 1,000 people. But the group said
the true figure is believed to be as high as 8,000.

(source: Associated Press)