[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 3


CHINA:

Supreme court to review all death penalty cases


3 new criminal tribunals under China's Supreme People's Court, established
to review certain death sentence cases of provincial courts, has begun to
work on April 1.

They will firstly begin to review the cases and give their opinions. "They
do not yet formally have the right to review and make final decisions on
death sentence cases," said Chen Guangzhong, a consultant to the Supreme
People's Court.

He declined to say when the three tribunals will formally regain this
power.

Staff for the 3 tribunals, who are undergoing a month of training in
Beijing, are selected from various regional courts through a series of
rigorous examination processes.

"They are all very brilliant judges," said a teacher in the training
class.

The supreme court currently reviews and makes final decisions on some
kinds of death penalty cases, including in economic crime, but gives the
power on some kinds of death penalty cases to provincial courts.

It announced a decision last October to take back the power from
provincial courts in the near future.

The move appears to be a response to many Chinese media reports in recent
years, which exposed wrongful death penalty sentences, sparking public
debate.

Putting together brilliant judges to review death sentences is believed to
be effective in preventing wrong convictions to better protect human
rights.

(source: Xinhua)

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

Govt lobbies Chinese Premier on death penalty


The Federal Government has raised with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the case
of a man facing the death penalty in China over the murder of a Canberra
university student.

The body of Chinese student Steffi Zhang was found in her Belconnen unit
last January.

Her former boyfriend is being held in custody in China.

China and Australia have signed a treaty setting out the conditions under
which police in the 2 countries will cooperate on criminal investigations.

Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison says the mutual legal assistance
treaty also allows police to refuse to assist in cases that involve the
death penalty or human rights breaches.

Australian police are refusing to provide Chinese authorities with any
further assistance until China guarantees the death penalty will not be
applied in the case.

Senator Ellison says negotiations are continuing.

"I was not at the meeting today but I can tell you that the
Attorney-General did raise the issue and I think that it's one which is
progressing well, I'm satisfied with the level of progress," he said.

(source: ABC News)






SRI LANKA:

3 Sri Lankans face execution in Saudi Arabia for robbery


3 Sri Lankan nationals are reported to be at risk of imminent execution.

Their cases have been referred to Saudi Arabia's Head of State, King
Abdullah Bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud, to decide whether to grant clemency or
to ratify their sentences, a report from Amnesty International said.

Amnesty report further said the if the King ratifies the sentences the 3
men could be executed at any time.

D.D. Ranjith de Silva, E.J. Victor Corea and Sanath Pushpakumara were
reportedly arrested in March 2004 in the capital, Riyadh, and sentenced to
death in connection with a series of armed robberies. Their sentences were
reportedly confirmed in March 2005. They are currently held in al-Hair
prison in Riyadh, the report said.

AI does not have detailed information about their trials or whether the 3
men were legally represented. However, the organization is concerned that
defendants in Saudi Arabia often do not have adequate legal
representation, even in trials for offences carrying the death penalty.

Amnesty urged readers to write to King Abdullah Bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud
to commute the death sentences. Send appeals to: His Majesty King Abdullah
Bin 'Abdul 'Aziz Al-Saud, The Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines,Office of
His Majesty the King,Royal Court, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

(source: Tamil Net News)






AFGHANISTAN:

Death Sentence for change of faith - Violation of Human Rights


Change of faith by an Afghan citizen, Abdul Rahman, who has been released
recently by Afghan government on ground of mental disability had become a
burning issue in the world. Forty one year old Abdul Rahman remained out
of Afghanistan for 16 years during his work with a Christian Missionary
Agency. It is taken that during this period, he was so deeply impressed
with Christianity that he accepted this religion during his inhabitancy in
Germany. Instead of keeping the Quran Sharif with him, Rahman keeps The
Holy Bible with him and is accepting it as his sacred book. Rahman's
conversion from Islam to Christianity had become a scandal in Afghanistan.
The hard line fundamentalists in Afghanistan think that Rahman deserves
the death sentence for it. Although President Hamid Karzai and his
government in Afghanistan, are liberal on this sensitive issue, and worked
for his acquitted, the hard line Islamists are still very powerful, maybe
more powerful than the judiciary.

On the other side, the international community placed pressure on Kabul
for the release of Rahman. In this regard, the Karzai government had tried
for satisfactory solution of this problem by discussions in special
meetings. Catholic Christian religious leader Pope Benedict 16th, in his
letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, had requested him to be lenient
to Abdul Rahman.

American President George Bush along with three NATO member countries had
expressed his concern over the death sentence of Rahman. Whereas America
made it clear that it didn't want to interfere on this issue, it did state
that Rahman should be allowed to follow any faith.

However, the fundamentalists and clergy in Afghanistan demanded other
countries of the world stop interfering in the internal matters of
Afghanistan, claiming the way to forgive Rahman might be that he should
again accept the Muslim religion. But Rahman said that he is a devoted
believer in Christ. He had clearly refused to change his faith again. It
was the first ever since case of change of religion in Afghanistan where
there was open differences between the liberal leaders and Islamists.
Although the Taliban government was dethroned four years ago, bigoted
elements are still powerful.

Although the Afghan Government has released Abdul Rahman on the basis of
the mental disability, the question remains - if a person changes his
religion willingly, can or should the religious leaders sentence him to
death?

Sometimes ago, a Cricket Player Yousuf Youhana in Pakistan changed his
faith from Christianity to Islam. Although this incident was reacted to
with sorrow by some Christians in the West, Christian leaders didn't
propose a death sentence. The Pakistani Cricket player is respectfully
playing cricket for Pakistan even today.

In India too, a change of religion often results in violence. Here too,
bigoted powers doubt the Christian Missionaries. In India, there has been
a horrible incident of burning Graham Stans and his two sons, who were
from Australian Christian Missionary, by workers of extremist Hindu
organizations.

Mother Teresa, a recipient of Noble Prize who glorified the name India by
her message of love and peace, was also always seen with suspicion by
extremist organizations. The traditionalists, who take change of religion
as their insult, are seen expressing their woes after change of religion,
but don't want to look into the basic reasons for this change.

History of change of religion is not new in a secular country like India.
The founder of Indian Constitution, Baba Saheb Dr. Bheem Rao Ambedkar,
along with his millions of his followers, withdrew from Hinduism and
accepted Buddhism.

The issue of Abdul Rahman should have been seen in the context of a person
rejecting one's original religion for some reason. As Yousuf Youhana got
more attracted to Christianity in the same way and away from Islam, why
has Abdul Rahman no right to change his faith willingly? No religious
leader should be given right to control the freedom of thought and
religious freedom of a person. If a religious leader or a religionist
thinks it as an insult to him, then he must think about the basic reasons
for this change of religion of the person. That is more important than to
declare a death sentence or to burn alive.

It would have been better if Afghan citizen Abdul Rahman would have been
acquitted on the basis of human rights and not on the basis of mental
disability. It would've been better to abolish death sentence as
punishment for converting out of Islam.

(source: Tanveer Jafri is a columnist in India related with hundreds of
most popular daily news papers and web portals in India and outside of it.
He is also a member of Haryana Sahitya Academy and Haryana Urdu Academy (a
State Government body in India----Global Politician)






ITALY:

Italians call for executionKidnappers admit hitting tot in face with
shovel


Italians, from politicians to soccer fans, called for the death penalty
yesterday as the country recoiled in horror over the slaying of a toddler
by his kidnappers.

A minute of silence was observed in soccer stadiums across the country for
18-month-old Tommaso Onofri, whose body was found late Saturday after the
kidnappers confessed to hitting him in the face with a shovel to stop him
from crying.

Pictures of curly-haired, wide-eyed Tommaso were splashed on the front
pages of all Italian newspapers yesterday, eclipsing the run up to next
week's general election.

"Since we heard the news ... I and my wife have been overcome by a
chilling horror that takes one's breath away," President Carlo Azeglio
Ciampi said.

Soccer fans at a Florence stadium held a banner calling for the kidnappers
to be executed. Italy has no death penalty.

Tommaso was abducted from his home near the wealthy northern city of Parma
on March 2.

His parents, who are not rich, said they were eating dinner when the
lights went out. When the father went outside to investigate, he was
forced back into the house by 2 armed men.

They bound and gagged the family and went after Tommaso, pulling him out
of his high chair.

State radio said the kidnappers had planned to demand about a million
euros ($1.4 million Cdn) in ransom.

The kidnappers, with the child between them on a motorbike, had fallen
over as they rushed from the boy's house.

When the toddler started crying, they tried to strangle him, then hit his
head with a shovel until he went silent, newspapers quoted investigators
as saying.

(source: Associated Press)