[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 7


CUBA:

Cuban rights group speaks out against death penalty


A leading Cuban human rights group on Monday urged governments around the
world to petition Havana to spare the lives of army deserters who could
face a firing squad for allegedly killing soldiers as they fled military
bases.

The statement by the non-governmental Cuban Commission for Human Rights
and National Reconciliation referred to a deadly attempted hijacking at
Havanas main airport last week, as well as a previously unreported
December shootout and escape in eastern Cuba.

Signed by veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, the statement
noted that Cuban military law calls for capital punishment for deserters
older than 20. The two cases of escaped soldiers involved 6 men, only two
of whom were old enough to face a death penalty.

The statement called on organizations and governments around the world to
protest capital punishment in Cuba, where several dozen prisoners are on
death row.

The governments swift execution of 3 men convicted of hijacking a Havana
passenger ferry in April 2003 - a case in which no one was killed - led to
international protests, which were largely ignored by Cuban authorities.

The government also almost always ignores what Sanchez says and refuses to
legally recognize his committee.

In the most recent case of desertion, 3 conscripts shot their way out of
the Managua base southeast of the Cuban capital in late April, killing at
least 1 soldier.

They avoided capture until they allegedly commandeered a city bus before
dawn Thursday, forced it to drive to the airport and loaded 8 of its
passengers aboard an empty jetliner they demanded be flown to the United
States.

Officials say they shot and killed an army officer who had been on the bus
before a gunbattle at the airport led to the capture of 2 of the escaped
soldiers. The 3rd soldier was arrested earlier. It was unclear which of
the 3 soldiers was 21.

The earlier desertion came on Dec. 20, when 3 soldiers killed 2 Interior
Ministry officials and made off with machine guns in fleeing El Manguito
garrison near Santiago, 525 miles east of Havana, according to the
committee.

The suspects were captured a short distance away following an "intense
military operation," it added, saying only one of them was 21. Cubas
government has not reported the incident.

(source: Associated Press)






SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Saudi beheads 2 Thais


2 Thai nationals were beheaded in the Saudi Arabian city of Al Dammam for
drug smuggling.

Saudi's official news agency (SPA) reported that the men had smuggled a
"large quantity of hashish" into the kingdom inside a sportswear shipment.

The executions, carried out on Monday, raise the number of people beheaded
in the kingdom this year to 55.

This is a big increase from 2006, which saw the execution of 37 people.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry
the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

(source: Gulf News)