[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 26



BANGLADESH:

Farm murder pair facing death penalty


2 Bangladeshi men, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a
compatriot, may yet face the death penalty if an appeal is granted.

Public Prosecutor Ahmed Bucheeri yesterday issued a statement appealing
against their sentence and demanding they be given the death penalty.

Another Bangladeshi also found guilty of the murder of Ridar Mian in
Janusan in October 2005 has already been sentenced to death.

All 3 were sentenced on January 17 at the High Criminal Court after
pleading guilty to the murder of Mr Mian.

They lured Mr Mian to a Janusan farm by promising him sex with a woman.
However, when he got there they jumped him and one held his legs, while
the other 2 strangled and suffocated him.

They then stole his wallet containing BD400 before burying his body in a
ditch, which they filled with dirt and covered with branches.

His body was discovered the following day by a farm worker who noticed
some equipment missing.

The worker went looking for the equipment, but called police when he saw
human fingers sticking out of the ground. When police dug up Mr Mian's
body, they found both his legs tied and a cloth wound tight around his
neck.

(source: Gulf News)






PAKISTAN:

'7,000 on death row in Pakistan'


More than 7,000 people are on death row in Pakistan, one of the most in
the world, a leading human rights group said in a report released
yesterday.

The report, compiled by the Paris-based International Federation of Human
Rights and the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said more than
50 Pakistanis were executed in the 1st half of 2006.

Christine Habbard, who authored the report, said flaws in legal systems in
countries like Pakistan made the death sentence an unjust punishment.

Most of the death sentences were carried out in Punjab, the country's most
populous province, where 6,985 prisoners are on death row, the report
said.

(source: Gulf Daily News)






GUYANA:

These men should be hanged or their death sentences should be commuted


Dear Editor,

The nation wishes to have an explanation from the President, the Attorney
General and possibly the Minister of Home Affairs as to the real reason
why those on death row condemned to be hanged and who do not have motions
pending in the courts are not executed or their sentences commuted to
life. There are at least 5 on death row who have no pending motions.

Every day that goes by constitutes a further breach of the human,
constitutional and fundamental rights of these men who should either be
hanged or their sentences commuted to life, some having been on death row
for over 10 years.

Can the President also say why in a country that purports to advocate
democracy there hasn't been a functioning Prerogative Board of Mercy for
the last eight years. This confirms the suspicion of many that the
government of Guyana has no intention of resuming hanging or commuting
death sentences as it is this body that makes the recommendation to the
President after a man's death sentence is confirmed by the final court. No
one can be hanged unless this body recommends to the President.

Yours faithfully,

C.A. Nobrega-Gibbs

(source: Stabroek News)






RUSSIA:

Moscow Mayor Calls for Harsh Drug Laws Including Death Penalty


Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov called Monday for drug dealers to be "destroyed"
during a speech to law enforcement and city offficials at the Moscow
headquarters of the Federal Drug Control Service, according to an account
in the Moscow Times. Luzkhov suggested Russia implement drug laws like
those in Singapore, where drug traffickers face execution.

"In Singapore, there is no drug addiction," he said. "Let us do the same."
Luzkhov somewhat wistfully noted that "these days, a democratic government
does not accept" a draconian drug policy like Singapore's, but added that
Russia should "accept something close to it."

But Russia has gone in the other direction in recent years. Since 2004,
when a new law decriminalized simple drug possession, official drug policy
has been to go after traffickers and sellers, but not users. Apparently,
the increased penalties for drug dealers and traffickers under the 2004
law is not enough for Luzkhov, and the decriminalization of drug
possession sticks in the craw of Russian narcs. The Federal Drug Control
Service has fought bitterly to reinstate penalties against small-time
possessors, first attempting to subvert the new law's intent by defining
personal use quantities at ridiculously low levels, such as 0.01 grams of
heroin. Instead, the personal use quantity was set at one gram, but in a
small victory for the drug warriors, that was cut back to half a gram last
year.

Drug use has been on the rise in Russia and other republics of the former
Soviet Union since its dissolution. The country registers several hundred
thousand "drug addicts" each year, with the real number being likely much
greater. An estimated 70,000 Russians die from drug overdoses each year,
and injection drug use is involved in many of the country's hundreds of
thousands of AIDS cases.

While officials like Mayor Luzkhov see only greater repression as the
answer, non-governmental organizations like New Drug Policy seek to
balance the hardliners by lobbying for reasonable harm reduction policies.
"Using a drug is not a criminal offense," said the group's Lev Levinson in
response to the mayor's remarks. "It is punishable only by a fine. The
mayor, Levinson said, had cast an envious glance on Singapore's harsh
policy for at least a decade.

(source: Drug War Chronicle)