[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 21



INDIA:

"Khairlanji fit case for death penalty"----Sentence to be pronounced on
September 24; entry to village restricted to his judgment; If people have
problems with verdict, they can approach High Court


The much-awaited sentencing in the Khairlanji murder case will take place
on September 24. On Saturday, the Central Bureau of Investigation and
special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam pressing for the death penalty for
the convicts.

Last Monday, an ad hoc sessions court in Bhandara convicted 8 persons of
the murder of four members of the Dalit family of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange.

Sessions judge S.S. Das came down on the media for taking a "partisan
attitude" to his judgment, which did not convict the accused under the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes ( Prevention of Atrocities ) Act. Mr. Das also
criticised activists who threatened to take the law into their own hands
if the guilty were not given the death sentence.

If people had problems with the verdict, they could approach the Bombay
High Court. He said he would not tolerate this kind of expression of
dissent in future and would be constrained to exercise his jurisdiction.

Mr. Das said he had received threatening phone calls, abusing him since
the 1st day of the trial.

In response to the court request, Mr. Nikam submitted television
recordings of stories by private news channels, apart from interviews of
activists who were trying to "interfere" with the courts work. The court
indicated that it might contemplate some action.

In the arguments on sentencing, CBI prosecutor Ejaz Khan said the court
found all the eight guilty of murder and unlawful assembly. Each of them
played an overt part in the crime, and the maximum penalty must be given.

Mr. Nikam said it was the rarest of rare cases. The accused committed a
gruesome murder, which was diabolically conceived and cruelly executed. On
September 29, 2006, a mob encircled the Bhotmange house and abused
Surekha, wife of Bhaiyyalal; daughter Priyanka and sons Roshan and Sudhir
around 6.30 pm. Though Surekha set fire to a cattle shed to scare away the
mob, it extinguished the blaze and assaulted her first by dragging her
into a drain and then killing her. It was not merely a "cold-blooded
murder but frozen-blooded murder," Mr. Nikam told the court.

He said the mob assaulted Priyanka and the two boys, who had no role to
play and were defenceless. This was a case fit for the death penalty and
it should be a deterrent.

Defence lawyer Neeraj Khandewale said there was no extreme brutality or
diabolic planning involved. What happened was an act on the spur of the
moment. Had Surekha not set fire to the cattle shed, the incident would
have not taken place. The accused feared that they would be implicated in
another false case and tried to put out the fire. Even the prosecution
witness, Mukesh Pusam, had said the accused were standing outside her
house and they were provoked only when she set fire to the shed.

Mr. Khandewale said the accused were poor, landless labourers with
families and they might reform if given a chance.

Security was tight in Bhandara and entry to Khairlanji village was
restricted.

(source: The Hindu)

****************

Should capital punishment stay?


"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a
spirit of brotherhood. - Article 1 of the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.

MEN ARE born free of all crimes and errors, but in due course of time they
adopt what their surroundings teach them. It is the society and the
environment from which human beings acquire all the evils. Men practise
what society and family teach them. What is taught to him has a bearing on
his ethics and morals. So is it better to punish him? Or is it better to
reform him?

An infant is free of all the sentiments and inclinations, much like a
blank slate. Whatever is written is written either by his family or the
people surrounding him. He does not write anything himself. He adapts to
the life that the society has gifted him. Although the concept of
evil-free men is not accepted by all, reforming human action is being
carried out for ages. Jeremy Bentham, while advocating the natural rights
of human race, suggested many reforms. His jail reforms were considered as
the Magna Carta of prisoners rights and reforms. Along with him, many
social scientists have regularly opposed the concept of capital
punishment. Gautam Buddha once advocated the dignity of human life while
talking to Angulimaal, who was reformed into becoming a saint by Buddha.

Many who believe in strict punitive action against any breach of law never
accept the dignity of human life. For them, a culprit should enjoy no
human rights. Almost 1,252 people around the world faced death-penalty
through various methods in the year 2007, with China topping the list with
470 estimated capital punishments.

India is no exception, although the country lags far behind its neighbour
China. There is a hue and cry being raised over the death penalty. A
majority suggests that the criminals be hanged for the crimes committed
under section 302 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). But the question
that still remains unanswered is whether capital punishment is the final
solution. It may be although I dont think so. Leave apart the human
issues. Politically, is it right to allow the culprit to get away with all
his crimes without allowing him to repent of his sins before he dies? Yes,
let the criminal live either to reform himself or to face life with some
constructive pursuits. 'Hate the crime and not the criminal' is what one
should believe in.

If man is not eternal and his actions are the reflections of what he has
learnt from the society, how can the society punish him for the actions
gifted by it in the first place? Society should reform itself first and
then it should reform the individuals. Most of the crimes committed are
either a reaction to the atrocities perpetrated in the past or the abusive
childhood a criminal has gone through. Punishment is not the solution.

The crimes in our society can only be prevented by providing just and
equal opportunities to all. The root cause of crime can also be found in
the famous 'Theory of Revolution', enunciated some 2,300 years back by
Aristotle. Also the mother of crime can be located in the studies of
Rousseau, who said, "The first crime was committed on the day when someone
fenced a piece of land and said, 'This is mine'." So mine and thine are
the mother of all crimes in this world.

So let us make a just world where equality, dignity and equity rule. Let
us say no to inhuman practices and make this world a better place to live
in.

(source: MeriNews)