[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 14



CHILE:

CHILE'S SEN. NARANJO CALLS FOR COMPLETE ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY


Politicians and activists around the world commemorated the International
Day Against the Death Penalty last Friday by protesting against death as a
means of punishment. Chile was no exception: Socialist Party (PS) Sen.
Jaime Naranjo Ortiz called on the Chilean government to completely abolish
the death penalty and encouraged other countries to ratify the U.N.
resolution against it.

Although Chile abolished the death penalty in civilian courts in 2001,
military tribunals can still sentence criminals to death for serious
crimes committed during times of war. On Friday, Naranjo pushed for the
complete abolition of the death penalty, which he called an inhumane and
useless practice.

"The death penalty is much more than a punishment. It's an inhumane
practice, and because of this, it should be abolished," Naranjo said.
"Those who defend its use dont want to recognize that its implementation
isn't effective. While it's true that the death penalty eliminates the
criminal, it doesn't put an end to the economic, social, or political
motives that generate the crimes. Lastly, and this is an important fact,
the death penalty violates the right to life as stated by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights."

Naranjo made an international request asking countries to ratify a U.N.
resolution against the death penalty that was passed on December 18, 2007
during a visit by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. President Bachelet
promised the assembly that Chile would "fight as a country so that (the
death penalty) will be abolished for good at an international level."
Naranjo said that to make good on Bachelet's promise, Chile's "imminent
task is to eliminate every vestige of the penalty from our legislation."

The senator expressed hope that Chile would use October 10 "to reaffirm
our promise as a country to continue fighting for the total abolition of
the death penalty around the world. The death penalty cannot continue to
be a form of the State's or society's revenge against those who have
infringed on the law."

Naranjo said he was pleased with the progress the world has made toward
abolishing the death penalty, but believes there is still a long way to
go.

Recent Amnesty International figures show that 92 countries  almost 2/3 of
the world  have abolished the death penalty in law and practice. However,
at least 1,252 people were executed in 2007, and 88 % of these executions
took place in 5 countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the
United States.

Sen. Naranjo is known for his leading stance on social justice and human
rights issues. A former head of the Senate's Human Rights Commission, he
has sponsored a number of justice-oriented bills, including one that would
strip human rights violators of military perks (ST, July 10). His call to
abolish the death penalty is the latest in a long history of human rights
advocacy.

(source: The Santiago Times)






MOROCCO:

Morocco debates abolition of death penalty


A seminar on death penalty in Morocco ended on Sunday evening without
deciding whether it should be abolished in the Moroccan Kingdom but it
admitted it was a disputed and problematic issue.

Organized jointly by the Consultative Council on Human Rights (CCDH) and
the French association "Together against death penalty" (ECPM), the Rabat
seminar called for an "objective debate" on the issue considering its
sensitivity as it is intrinsically linked to Islamic law

. Only a \scientific and dispassionate debate" can clarify this
"fundamentally-problematic" issue, the participants from various parts of
the country said.

This is the 1st meeting of its kind in Morocco under the auspices of the
CCDH.

As a de facto abolitionist, Morocco continues sentencing convicts to death
but executions are not carried out. The last execution was in 1993 when a
commissioner convicted of rape and abuse of power was executed.

According to the CCDH, the country's courts have passed 350 death
sentences since independence in 1956, 211 of which have been enforced.

Some 150 people are still languishing in death row, CCDH said.

The abolition of the death penalty in Morocco remains "delicate" without a
"consensus" among "positivist" lawyers and Ulema (Islamic scholars),
reliable sources in Rabat said.

(source: African Press Agency News)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia 'pay with lives'---- Saudi Arabia
'disproportionately uses death penalty against poor foreign workers'


Saudi Arabia is disproportionately using the death penalty against poor
foreign workers, Amnesty International has found.

A report from the charity has released a report estimating there were at
least 1,695 executions between 1985 and May 2008 and of these, 830 were
foreign nationals and 809 Saudis.

Given that foreigners make up about a quarter of the population, this is a
"highly disproportionate use of the death penalty against foreigners"
Amnesty said.

Foreigners facing capital trials in the Kingdom are frequently unable to
understand any of the proceedings if they are not Arabic speakers, are
often not even represented by a lawyer and are routinely held for long
periods in harsh conditions and coerced into false 'confessions'.

In addition, they also lack the financial means or the contacts to
negotiate pardons via 'diya' or 'blood money' arrangements.

Amnesty International UK director, Kate Allen, said: "Poor foreign workers
are literally paying with their lives when accused of capital crimes in
Saudi Arabia.

"The use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is a disgrace. The Kingdom
should introduce a moratorium immediately."

William Sampson, a joint UK-Canadian national who was tortured and
sentenced to death in the country along with several British and other
foreign nationals in 2001, said: "As someone unfortunate enough to have
experienced all that the Saudi system can throw at you, I know intimately
the barbaric, arbitrary and inhuman manner in which Saudi justice is
implemented.

"What further appalls me is the muted observance of these facts by
countries such as ours - ones that claim to support and uphold human
rights."

(source: InTheNews.co.uk)

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

Sri Lankan Consulate General in Jeddah to assist death row convicts


The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been informed by the Sri Lankan
Consulate General in Jeddah that 3 Sri Lankans had been sentenced to death
and 3 others sentenced to jail terms and lashing, by a Jeddah Court on
Sunday upon being convicted for the crimes of robbery, sowing dissension
and threatening public order and peace.

In this case, K.A.P. Gayan Uditha Nanayakkara, Thushara Dinesh Perera
alias Isaac Christy Vedamanikkam and W.M. Nilantha Bandara Tennakoon were
sentenced to death and P.R.M. Ranjith Wasantha Kumara, Noora Mohamed and
Rajiya Abdul Samad sentenced to 10 years, 4 years and 2 years imprisonment
respectively as well as lashing, after being found guilty to robbery and
murder of a Yemeni national, Omar Yeslam in May 2007.

It may be noted that 5 Indian nationals who had also been involved in the
crime were sentenced by the Court to varying terms of imprisonment and
lashing.

The Sri Lankan Consulate General in Jeddah has been providing consular
assistance to the above Sri Lankans from the time of their arrest through
their Court trial, and would facilitate the appeals against the death
sentences on the 3 Sri Lankans. The 3 Sri Lankans who have been sentenced
to jail terms and lashing have accepted the verdicts against them, and do
not intend to appeal.

According to the Saudi Arabian regulations, the appeals against the
verdicts have to be filed before the Court, within 1 month of the written
judgment being delivered, which is expected shortly.

The Foreign Ministry has directed the Consulate General in Jeddah to
closely follow all developments in this case and continue to provide
consular assistance to the Sri Lankan nationals, as well as facilitate the
filing of the appeals.

(source: Sri Lanka Daily News)






INDONESIA:

Execution delays could turn terrorists into martyrs


The planned executions of the 3 Bali bombers on death row have been
politicized to gain Muslim support ahead of next year's elections,
observers said Monday.

They said the political tug of war that had seen the executions
continually delayed would increase the chances of the 3 convicted
terrorists -- Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron -- attaining martyr
status.

The more the sentence is delayed, the harder it will be for the government
to uphold the law as sympathy for the bombers will grow, observers said a
day after the 6th anniversary of the bombings that killed 202 people in
Bali.

Some of the survivors of the blast questioned the government's reluctance
to execute the 3 convicts.

Political expert at the University of Indonesia Bantarto Bandoro said he
suspected that some hard-line legislators at the House of Representatives
had managed to lobby for more time for the convicts in the hope that the
delay would lead to public sympathy to overturn the sentences.

"I think it's late already as the executions should have been performed
long before Ramadan. The government seems to (be attempting to) appease
the Muslim community to gain popularity ahead of the elections," he said.

Bantarto said the delays would weaken the fight against terrorism and
undermine the potential for the death penalty to deter crime.

"With all eyes on Indonesia, we will be seen as lenient and compromising
by the international community if the executions are postponed," he said.

Legislator Andreas Pareira of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P) accused the government of hiding behind a wall of legal nonsense
to gain political support.

"All legal means have been exhausted so the executions should be performed
quickly. It will be chaotic if political and legal issues are mixed," he
said.

Andreas said the delays could cultivate an air of injustice because the
government had been quick to execute in 2006 Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da
Silva and Marinus Riwu, who were convicted of mass killings during the
sectarian conflict between Christians and Muslims in Poso, Central
Sulawesi, in 2000.

The Supreme Court rejected in September last year a case review demand
filed by Amrozi, Samudra and Ghufron, which was the last legal resort
available to the 3 terrorists.

However, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has continually prolonged the
lives of the bombers, most recently by delaying the executions beyond the
holy month of Ramadan, which ended Sep. 30.

The AGO on Monday denied accusations it had delayed the executions for
political reasons, promising in a public announcement that the three would
be killed Friday.

"The allegations are untrue. We have no intention of delaying the
executions. We need to consider many things before we can carry them out,"
AGO spokesman Jasman Simanjuntak said.

Lars Bergander, a Swede whose teenage daughter was killed in the 2002 Bali
bombing, said he eagerly awaited the executions.

"I'm glad that your government managed to arrest the terrorists. But I
don't understand why they have repeatedly postponed the executions," he
was quoted as saying by AFP.

(source: Jakarta Post)