[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 22



ENGLAND:

BBC Distorts Amnesty International -- Press Release, Media Lens


In a recent speech at New York's Columbia University, John Pilger
commented:

"We now know that the BBC and other British media were used by MI6, the
secret intelligence service. In what was called 'Operation Mass Appeal',
MI6 agents planted stories about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass
destruction - such as weapons hidden in his palaces and in secret
underground bunkers. All these stories were fake." (John Pilger, 'The real
first casualty of war,' New Statesman, April 24, 2006)

Wittingly or otherwise, the BBC may now be participating in a rehashed
'Operation Mass Appeal' to generate support for an assault on Iran.
Consider the focus of yesterday's BBC online article, 'Mid-East executions
are condemned':

"Amnesty International has said that Iran executed 94 people in 2005,
while 86 were executed in Saudi Arabia.

"Iran, the rights group said, was the only country known to have executed
juvenile offenders in 2005.

"At least 8 people were killed for crimes committed when they were
children, including 2 who were still under 18 at the time of execution.

"Some detainees in Saudi Arabia had been tried and sentenced in a language
they did not speak or read."
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/4925 922.stm)

Compare and contrast the above with the opening paragraphs of yesterday's
Amnesty International press release, 'Death Penalty: 20,000 on death row
across the world,' from which this information was taken. We think it is
well worth reading this section in full:

"Amnesty International today revealed that over 20,000 people on death row
across the world are waiting to be killed by their own governments.

"In its latest annual analysis on the use of the death penalty worldwide,
Amnesty International also disclosed that at least 2,148 people were
executed during 2005 in 22 countries -- 94 % in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia
and the USA alone. 5,186 people were sentenced to death in 53 countries
during 2005.

"The organization cautioned that these figures are approximate because of
the secrecy surrounding the death penalty. Many governments, like China,
refuse to publish full official statistics on executions while Viet Nam
has even classified statistics and reporting on the death penalty as a
'state secret'.

"'Figures around the death penalty are truly disturbing: 20,000 people are
counting down to the day when the state will take their life. The death
penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights, because it
contravenes the essence of human values, It is often applied in a
discriminatory manner, follows unfair trials or is applied for political
reasons. It can be an irreversible error when there is miscarriage of
justice,' said Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General.

"'The death penalty is not a unique deterrent against crime. Instead of
relying on the illusion of control given by the death penalty, governments
must focus on developing effective measures against crime.'

"Despite the shocking figures on the death penalty, the trend towards
abolition continues to grow: the number of countries carrying out
executions halved in the last 20 years and has dropped for the 4th
consecutive year. Mexico and Liberia are the 2 most recent examples of
countries that have abolished the death penalty.

"'As the world continues to turn away from the use of the death penalty,
it is a glaring anomaly that China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the USA stand
out for their extreme use of this form of punishment as the 'top'
executors in the world,' said Ms Khan.

"In China -- the country that accounts for almost 80% of all executions --
a person can be sentenced and executed for as many as 68 crimes, including
non-violent crimes such as tax fraud, embezzlement and drug offences.

"In Saudi Arabia, people have been taken from their prison cells and
executed without knowing that a death sentence has been passed against
them. Others have been tried and sentenced to death in a language they
didn't speak or read.

"In the US, 2 men were released from death row in 2005 after evidence of
their innocence emerged.

"Iran was the only country known to Amnesty International to have executed
juvenile offenders in 2005. Iran executed at least eight people in 2005
for crimes committed when they were children, including two who were still
under the age of 18 at the time of their execution. The USA banned the
execution of juvenile offenders in March 2005 having previously been a
"world leader" in the practice."
(http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT500092006)

Notice that Amnesty initially focused collectively on China, Iran, Saudi
Arabia and the United States, before focusing in separate paragraphs on
China - "the country that accounts for almost 80% of all executions" - on
Saudi Arabia, on the United States, and only then on Iran. Curiously, the
BBC article omitted to mention the following statistic reported by
Amnesty:

"Iraq: Following reinstatement of the death penalty in 2004, criminal
courts handed down more than 50 death sentences during 2005. There were 3
executions."
(http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-developments2005-eng)

In a 900-word press release, Amnesty devoted 47 words focusing
specifically on Iran in the 11th paragraph of a 19-paragraph article.
While the press release discussed the death penalty "across the world",
the BBC's title chose to focus on "Mid-East executions".

Why did the BBC decide to focus so prominently and heavily on Iran - a
country under serious threat of attack by the United States and perhaps
Britain? Why would the BBC choose to isolate and highlight the sins of an
official enemy, thereby boosting the government's propaganda campaign? Is
this innocent, or are more cynical forces at work here?

In a recent Guest Media Alert, Richard Keeble, author of Secret State,
Silent Press (John Libbey 1997), cited Roy Greenslade, media specialist at
the Telegraph: "Most tabloid newspapers - or even newspapers in general -
are playthings of MI5."

Keeble commented:

"Bloch and Fitzgerald, in their examination of covert UK warfare, report
the editor of 'one of Britain's most distinguished journals' as believing
that more than half its foreign correspondents were on the MI6 payroll.
And in 1991, Richard Norton-Taylor revealed in the Guardian that 500
prominent Britons paid by the CIA and the now defunct Bank of Commerce and
Credit International, included 90 journalists." (Keeble, 'Hacks And
Spooks,' Media Alert, March 3, 2006;
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/06/060303_hacks_and_spooks.php)

And what, we are entitled to ask, is the situation at the BBC?

SUGGESTED ACTION

The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and respect
for others. When writing emails to journalists, we strongly urge readers
to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone.

Ask the BBC why they misreported the Amnesty International press release
by highlighting executions in Iran.

Write to Steve Herrmann, the BBC's online editor: Email:
steve.herrmann at bbc.co.uk

Helen Boaden, the BBC's director of news: Email:
HelenBoaden.Complaints at bbc.co.uk

The first Media Lens book has now been published: 'Guardians of Power: The
Myth Of The Liberal Media' by David Edwards and David Cromwell (Pluto
Books, London, 2006). Described by John Pilger as "The most important book
about journalism I can remember", at time of writing (April 21), there
have been no mentions or reviews in any mainstream British newspaper. The
publisher is nevertheless about to order a reprint of the book after high
sales. For further details, including reviews, interviews and extracts,
please click here:

http://www.medialens.org/bookshop/guardians_of_power.php

This is a free service. However, financial support is vital. Please
consider donating to Media Lens: www.medialens.org/donate

Visit the Media Lens website: http://www.medialens.org

(source: uruknet.info)






PHILIPPINES:

Solon sees death penalty abolition before June


The principal author of the measure seeking to repeal the death penalty
law at the House of Representatives said on Saturday he is optimistic the
bill can be enacted and signed into law by President Arroyo before
Congress adjourns in June.

The passage of the measure can now be expedited by Congress now that
President Arroyo has certified the bill as urgent, Albay Rep. Edcel
Lagman, principal author of House Bill 4826, said during the weekly
Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel news forum.

"The certification [as urgent] by President Arroyo will quash all doubts
on the sincerity of her position against the death penalty," Lagman said.

Several opposition lawmakers, including staunch administration critic
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., have supported the repeal of
the death penalty law.

At the House of Representatives, the Committee on Revision of Laws has
already consolidated 15 bills on the abolition of the death penalty.
Lagman filed the 1st bill seeking the abolition of the law during the 1st
day of the 13th Congress. He had been filing the same measure since the
8th Congress.

If the committee approves the bill, it would go to the plenary for
approval on 2nd and 3rd reading upon inclusion of amendments from House
members.

If the Senate approves a similar measure, the bill would undergo a
bicameral committee conference and ratification by the two chambers of
Congress.

Those opposing the measure include families of victims of heinous crimes,
but Lagman said the death penalty is not the only way for convicts to
atone for their crimes.

Lagman said his own family had been a victim of heinous crimes not only
once but twice.

His brother Hermon Lagman, a labor and human rights lawyer, was a victim
of involuntary disappearance on May 11, 1977 during the Marcos
dictatorship.

Labor leader Filemon "Popoy" Lagman, also a brother of the congressman,
was assassinated in February 2001.

"The viciousness experienced by my brothers in the hands of their killers
will not be wiped away with the execution of their executioners. A
grievous wrong cannot be righted by State-sanctioned murder," he said.

"I know the anger and pain that the families of victims of heinous crimes
feel. I am not unaware of their grief and boundless heartache. But the
death penalty is about anger and hate and it was also anger and hate that
killed my brothers," he said.

He said many studies have proven that death penalty is not a deterrent.

(source: ABS-CBNNews)