[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 14


IRAN:

Zahra Amir Ebrahimi sex video may lead to death sentence


Iran's most popular soap opera actress, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, could be
jailed and sentenced to death because of a sex video in which she
allegedly has sex with her boyfriend.

The Iranian parliament voted in favor of a bill which foresees application
of the death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of
porno movies.

Approval of the bill appears to be the direct consequence of Zahra Amir
Ebrahimi's alleged sex video. The actress repeatedly denied being the
woman in the controversial sex tape.

The scandal broke when the sex video of a woman having sex with a man was
leaked on the internet and was later released on DVD. Ebrahimi became
subject of an official investigation handled by Tehran's hard-line chief
prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi.

If found guilty the actress faces public lashing or worse for her
violation of Iran's morality laws.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi denied
being the woman in the film and dismissed it as a fake made by a vengeful
former fianc who allegedly crafted the hoax tape in the attempt of ruining
her career.

(source: TOW Newswire)






GHANA:

The death penalty: a portrait of injustice


In appreciating the informed thoughts of Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, UN Deputy
Secretary-General to the effect that scraping of the death penalty is not
an individual state's wish but one of UN policy; I would like to raise
further concerns for the abolition of the death penalty in Ghana and
beyond.

I begin with the conviction that the continued existence of the death
penalty in Ghana's law books is inconsistent with our commitment to
respect, protect and promote the right to life within the broader scope
and context of human rights as provided for in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.

The death penalty is the premeditated and cold blooded killing of a human
being by the state in the name of justice and is the ultimate, cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishment.

The provision for the death penalty, in my opinion, is a divergent
contradiction to the respect for human right - tenets which greatly
contributed to Ghanas spectacular nomination to serve on the UN Human
Rights Council.

Come June 26 countless public events would be held all over the world
including Ghana, rejecting torture, yet the death penalty which in itself
embodies psychological and physical torture remains with us.

That the Chairmanship of the African Union is currently hosted by Ghana
makes an opportune case for the abolition of the death penalty in Ghana
because the ideals upon which the Union was established uphold good
governance and the respect for human rights including the right to life.

If Ghana does abolish the death penalty now, it would have authoritative
influence on all the other member countries of the AU to follow suite.

To take such a decision now could be one of the countrys biggest legacies
for the human rights agenda. It could also represent one of the greatest
prizes ever to be bestowed on the human rights struggle in Ghana.

That Ghana has remained a de-facto abolitionist over a decade is very
suggestive that it has the capacity to abolish the penalty, and I think
that the tides of Ghana @50 must encourage His Excellency, The President,
to place a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolishing it.

The revelation that there are as many as 133 persons on death row at
Nsawam Prison, with the longest on the waiting list having served some ten
years, is quite disturbing to the human rights fraternity.

Perhaps, what is good to learn is the conviction of Augustine Bopam,
public relations officer of the Ghana Prisons Service that the prisoners
on the death row might not be executed, basing his conviction on Ghanas
de-facto abolitionist status.

His is an optimism which coincides with Amnesty International-Ghanas
intervention, calling for Ghana to join other countries in abolishing
capital punishment.

Whereas this appears good news because it is sympathetic to the issue, it
also tends to elicit an unfortunate shift of emphasis from the status quo.

The case for those of us who reject the death penalty consider that the
right to life is, and must remain, one of state policy in line with UN
policy rather than that of the unpleasant duty of His Excellency,
exercising his prerogative of mercy.

Perhaps the intensity of the debate on abolishing the death penalty in
Ghana has never, in my opinion, generated much public interest than now.
Interestingly, the editorials of the Thursday May 31 issue of the Daily
Graphic and the June 7 issue of the Ghanaian Times both make significant
comments on the subject.

Many prominent and influential Ghanaians have spoken against the death
penalty from a diversity of grounds, and I think the time has come for us
to muster courage and abolish the death penalty in Ghana now.

I am deeply concerned that the international community places contemporary
Ghana on a very high standard of respecting and promoting human rights and
it is critical that we strive consistently to justify this image through
our legal legislations, otherwise it is difficult to appreciate how a
country which prides itself with the commitment to human rights can at the
same time legislate and defend the denial of the right to life a right
which in my opinion is the most fundamental of all human rights more so
when that country appears to lack the courage or will to execute the death
penalty.

If Ghana would like to champion the cause of African Excellence, the right
to life must be firmly secured, such that its denial by state or other
apparatus is denied.

The death penalty is offensive to all norms of human dignity and can
hardly fit into any movement which pledges itself to the strengthening of
democracy, modernization of the justice system and the respect for
fundamental human rights.

The death penalty is an ultimate, cruel, inhuman and irreversible
punishment.

In the most legal systems, the constitution is the supreme law of the
land. It is therefore seen as the legal embodiment of a countrys highest
values extending human rights guarantees to everyone within in
jurisdiction.

It follows then that one of the most important decisions a country can
take to secure the human rights of its people is to abolish the death
penalty by removing it from its laws. In place of it, a life imprisonment
without the option of parole is strongly advocated so as to ensure that
criminals, who commit heinous crimes, would forever be purged from
society.

A country which does so demonstrates the great importance it attaches to
the respect for human rights, and I would love to see this happening in
Ghana.

In the words of the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the
forfeiture of life is too absolute and too irreversible for one human
being to inflict it on another even when backed by legal processes. It is
tragic that while nations debate this problem, people continue to be
executed.

Various arguments for sustaining the death penalty have been fundamentally
flawed several times. For instance, the deterrence/dissuasive argument has
been made dysfunctional by the fact that the death penalty has failed to
reduce the rate of crimes for which it is applied. It has also failed the
time tested test of being any more effective punishment than any other
punishment.

If a terrorist knows so well that he or she would die in a terrorist
attack and yet goes ahead to execute the diabolic plot, who says such a
person would be deterred by a death penalty?

The death penalty is unfair and only a portrait of injustice. Many people
have suffered the death penalty as a result of errors in judgement. Others
have suffered it because they are unable to secure the services of
competent lawyers to defend their case.

In other circumstances, the death penalty has been used disproportionately
against its victims. Given that the justice system is handled by human
beings, the possibility of human errors, insufficient evidence, procedural
errors etc cannot be ruled out.

When later evidence is adduced to indicate the innocence of someone
earlier considered guilty and subsequently executed, that person cannot be
brought back to life and no amount of money or compensation can restore
that life. The UN Declaration of Human Rights could not have been wrong in
advocating the right to life as a human right.

It is about time we passed a death sentence on the death penalty.

(source: Column, Prize F Y McApreko, The Statesman)