[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 11



RWANDA:

Mpanga Prison for Death Row Inmates


The recently constructed state-of-the-art Mpanga maximum security prison
in the Southern Province has been earmarked by the Ministry of Internal
Security to accommodate death row inmates and those who have been
condemned to life imprisonment.

The Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Moussa Fazil Harerimana made the
disclosure during a recent press briefing, in which he said that 1,490
inmates, 48 of them women had already been transferred to the facility.

"These are people we have been risking by confining them together with
others. They can carry out inhumane acts against fellow inmates so we had
to get a special prison for them," Harerimana said, adding that the
development would lead to a reduction in visits.

"This is a place that is far from the road and the visits will be
minimized, that is why we ruled out the first alternative of taking them
to Kibungo (Eastern Province) prison because it is by the roadside,"
Harerimana, a former Governor of Western Province, said.

The Mpanga Prison will also host genocide suspects expected to be
transferred from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to
face trial in Rwanda.

Asked whether the development would not hamper the transfer of the Arusha
prisoners, Moussa said that the facility is big enough to accommodate all
suspects.

"The prison has the capacity to hold over 7,000 people and the death row
inmates will live in a separate structure. Those from Arusha will live
with the other prisoners and there is no provision that the former would
be put in a separate prison," he said.

(source: The New Times)






INDONESIA:

Bali bombers execution awaits family's no-appeal stance


Indonesian prosecutors are seeking confirmation from relatives of 3 men in
death row for role in the October 2002 Bali bombing that they will not
appeal against the conviction, the final procedure before the firing squad
does its job.

The condemned inmates -- Imam Samudra, Ali Ghufron and Amrozi --have
publicly said they would not appeal against the terror conviction but the
execution was delayed pending confirmation from their families.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has sent officials to their relatives
to seek confirmation, AGO spokesman Masyhudi Ridwan told reporters here
Tuesday.

"The family of Imam Samudra has confirmed they would not lodge a final
appeal. But we still need confirmation from the families of Amrozi and Ali
Ghufron," he said.

Should there be no appeal, the execution will be carried out as soon as
possible, he added.

The 3 were convicted of a leading role in the attacks on two nightclubs on
Bali island that killed 202 people, mostly foreign holiday makers.

The delayed execution sparked protests among the Balinese following last
year's suicide bombings in 3 restaurants on there sort island in which
over 20 people were killed.

Local authorities transferred the three inmates to a prison island in
Central Java province last year after protesters stormed the prison in
Bali demanding their execution.

(source: Xinhua News)