[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 1


EUROPE:

Europe Pushes Ahead Plans for Anti-Death Penalty Day


Europe will mark an anti-death penalty day next week, but it won't be an
official European Union initiative. Efforts to involve the E.U. failed
when member state Poland refused to go along on the grounds that the death
penalty debate ignored broader right-to-life questions.

The conservative Polish government's objections ruined the E.U. plan, but
another European grouping, the 47-nation Council of Europe (CoE), has
decided to push ahead with a "European Day against the Death Penalty" on
Oct. 10.

The CoE groups most European countries, including those outside of the
E.U. It is independent of the 27-member E.U. and has been campaigning for
years against capital punishment.

Poland was able to veto the E.U. plan to formally recognize the day, but
at the CoE decisions are based on a majority view rather than unanimity.

In a statement that did not specifically mention Poland's stance, the
CoE's decision-making committee of ministers "expressed the hope that the
European Union will join the initiative as soon as possible."

CoE Secretary-General Terry Davis said the day would "be an occasion to
engage in a debate with those people in our 47 member states who continue
to support capital punishment" and to explain "why this inhuman and
degrading form of punishment is wrong."

With the exception of Belarus -- a member of neither the CoE nor the E.U.
-- no country in Europe has carried out an execution since 1997. European
governments are now leading a drive at the U.N. for a global moratorium as
a step toward eventual complete abolition.

They are lobbying for a resolution during the current General Assembly
session, and next Tuesday Portugal, which holds the rotating E.U.
presidency, will also host an international conference aimed at promoting
the initiative.

The CoE oversees the European Court of Human Rights and the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which has a protocol providing for the
unconditional abolition of the death penalty during peacetime.

Four years before joining the E.U. in 2004, Poland ratified the
legally-binding protocol as a requirement for entering accession talks.
Although the current government in Warsaw says it has no plans to
reintroduce the death penalty -- a move that would impact on its E.U.
membership -- it does object to decisions on the issue coming from
Brussels.

"In the opinion of the Polish government deliberations regarding this
topic should remain only in the national competence of the member states,"
Justice Ministry spokesman Krzysztof Galimski told Cybercast News Service.

Just because capital punishment has been abolished in Poland and other
European countries, that does not mean the discussion is over, he said.

"We must admit that the issue of death penalty is a complex one. Many
societies are divided as to the approach to the capital punishment for the
most brutal murders or perpetrators of the most cruel felonies," Galimski
said. He also cited research in the U.S. asserting that the death penalty
has a deterrent effect.

Even though the Polish government does not intend to reverse its abolition
of the death penalty, he added, it believes that the subject "cannot be
deliberated apart from the right to life as a broad concept ... a right
from the conception to natural death."

Poland's conservative government faces an early election later this month,
and opinion polls show the ruling Law and Justice party in a close race
against the more liberal Civic Platform opposition.

Predominantly Catholic Poland instituted strict abortion laws in 1993,
four years after becoming a democracy. Under communist rule, the right to
abortion on demand was guaranteed.

Poland's stance has drawn criticism in the European Parliament, where
lawmakers members voted 504-45 last week in favor of a "European Day
against the Death Penalty."

The Euro-lawmakers also supported a resolution calling for an immediate
moratorium on executions to be presented at the General Assembly this
month. The measure could be voted on by a U.N. committee during October
and be put before the full assembly for a decision by December.

(source: CNSNews)






INDONESIA:

Firing squad ready for Amrozi's execution


The Bali police force has readied a group of 10 sharp shooters from its
ranks for the execution of convicted Bali bomber Amrozi bin Nurhasyim
after the Supreme Court's August 30 rejection for a case review.

The court's previous ruling saw him receive the death sentence.

"We will hold psychological tests for the 10 shooters as a regulatory
requirement," Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko told detik.com
in Denpasar, Bali, on Saturday.

But Purwoko said he did not know the site for Amrozi's execution.

"I still have no idea about it.

"It will be more practical and efficient if the execution is held in
Nusakambangan (Central Java) than here (in Bali)," he said.

Amrozi is detained at a prison in Nusakambangan.

"A Java execution would also avoid the impression that Bali is seeking
vengeance by holding the execution on its island," Purwoko said.

(source : Jakarta Post)

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

Indonesian firing squad ready for bomber execution

The Indonesian police have readied a group of 10 sharp shooters from its
ranks for the execution of convicted Bali bomber Amrozi bin Nurhasyim
after the Supreme Court's Aug. 30 rejection for a case review, local media
reported Monday.

The court's previous ruling saw him receive the death sentence.

"We will hold psychological tests for the 10 shooters as a regulatory
requirement," Bali Provincial Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko was
quoted by national newspaper The Jakarta Post as saying.

But Purwoko said he did not know the site for Amrozi's execution.

"I still have no idea about it. It will be more practical and efficient if
the execution is held in Nusakambangan (Central Java) than here (in
Bali)," he said.

Amrozi is currently being detained at a prison on Nusakambangan island off
Central Java province.

"A Java execution would also avoid the impression that Bali is seeking
vengeance by holding the execution on its island," Purwoko said.

(source: Xinhua)

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

6 JI face Indonesia death penalty


6 Indonesian Muslim militants, alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah
regional terrorist network, went on trial Monday and face the death
penalty if convicted.

Government prosecutors charged the six, who are believed to be followers
of captured JI military commander Abu Dujana, with conspiracy to commit
terrorism, storing explosive materials, and illegally possessing firearms
and ammunition.

The 6 defendants are Ahmad Syahrul, alias Faisal; Mahfudz Gomari; Sekas,
alias Karim; Amir Ahmadi, alias Ubu Jundy; Suparjo, alias Sarwo Edi; and
Maulana Yusuf Wibisono, alias Kholis. They are being tried in 4 different
trials at the Central Jakarta District Court.

They are being prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws enacted just weeks
after the October 2002 bombings of 2 nightspots on the Indonesian resort
island of Bali that killed more than 200 people. JI was blamed for those
attacks and several other bombings across Indonesia in recent years.

The 6 were arrested separately in March by a counterterrorism police unit,
Detachment 88, in Surabaya, East Java, in the Central Java district of
Sukoharjo and following a shootout in Yogyakarta, Central Java, that left
one of their group dead.

In the raids, police seized caches of weapons, thousands of rounds of
ammunition, explosives and chemicals that could be used to make a bomb
bigger that those used on Bali.

Their arrests directly led to the capture of Dujana, who was nabbed in
early June in Banyumas, Central Java, after a police raid on his hideout.

Indonesian authorities have said Dujana had replaced Malaysian explosives
expert Noordin M Top, another senior JI figure, as the nation's
most-wanted fugitive. Top narrowly escaped a police raid in March and
remains on the run.

JI is blamed for bombing tourist targets on Bali in 2002 and 2005; the
bombings of dozens of churches on Christmas Eve 2000; the JW Marriott
Hotel bombing in Jakarta in 2003; and the Australian embassy bombing in
Jakarta in 2004.

Dujana is believed to have played a major role in both Bali attacks and
the embassy blast and controlled JI's ammunition and explosives. He is
also accused of providing them to militants involved in sectarian violence
in Poso in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province.

(source: Bangkok Post)






UGANDA:

Kony Won't Be Hanged - Govt


LRA leader Joseph Kony will not get the death sentence when he faces trial
for crimes committed during the 2 decades rebellion in the North, the
Government has stated.

The chief government negotiator, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, said reconciliation
would be the overriding factor when implementing the comprehensive peace
agreement, which is expected to come out of the Juba peace talks.

"While sentencing, we should bear in mind reconciliation. Therefore the
death sentence should not be countenanced. When someone has gone to the
gallows, he has gone, he cannot reconcile," Rugunda said at the end of the
government consultations on accountability and reconciliation, held in
Speke Resort Munyonyo on Thursday.

Judges, Magistrates, lawyers, academics, police, army, prisons, opposition
parties and human rights activists attended the 2-day meeting.

Important for the Government, Rugunda stressed, was that the outcome would
satisfy the victims first, the people of Uganda second and the
international community last.

"Emphasis in the international community is to punish. If the perpetrators
are punished, you have met the standards. Yes, we want punishment. But
even more importantly, we want to be reconciled."

The minister was reacting to a report by Human Rights Watch, which
demanded for the death penalty to be scrapped in Uganda if the LRA rebels
were to be tried by national courts.

The Constitution and the Uganda penal code allow for the death penalty for
offences such as murder, rape, treason, defilement and aggravated armed
robbery.

"Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently cruel and inhuman punishment," Elise Keppler said while
presenting the report at the government consultations.

The organisation reiterated its support to the International Criminal
Court (ICC) and the arrest warrants issued in 2005 against four LRA
commanders.

"These cases are a major opportunity to see that justice is done for some
of the atrocities committed," Keppler noted.

Any national alternative to the ICC should meet basic conditions, such as
"credible, impartial and independent investigation and prosecution,
rigorous adherence to international fair trial standards and penalties
that reflect the gravity of the crime."

It added that the risk of torture of suspects in custody, interference by
the Government and investigative and prosecutorial capacity for serious
crime trials posed serious challenges for Uganda in conducting LRA trials.

Other concerns noted were witness protection and support, victims'
participation and reparation.

(source: New Vision)

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

Luzira Inmates to Be Transferred to Kirinya


WOMEN on death row at Luzira will be transferred to Kirinya Prison in
Jinja district.

The New Vision on Wednesday established that 15 of the 33 women currently
under death row at Luzira would be relocated to Kirinya.

"We have been having congestion problems, especially at the women's
condemn section in Luzira.

"Now that we have renovated these two rooms in condemn section at Kirinya,
we shall transfer some women currently under death row from Luzira to
Kirinya," said Wycliffe Kururagyire, the acting commissioner of prisons in
charge of inspectorate.

Kururagyire revealed this to The New Vision after officiating at the
graduation of 57 inmates at Kirinya.

They received training in functional adult literacy, tailoring and
computer skills. The project was funded by the Irish government and the
Women's prisoners Support Organisation.

Kururagyire said the relocation of inmates was aimed at creating a good
living environment for the prisoners.

He said the Luzira section, which was planned for 8inmates, now
accommodates 33.

There are currently 566 death-row inmates in various prisons countrywide.
At least 367 of them are in Luzira, while 199 are in Kirinya.

Internal affairs state minister Matia Kasaija said the Government was
committed to rehabilitating and socially re-integrating the prisoners into
crime-free and law abiding people.

The Irish ambassador, Aine Hearns, said the training was based on a
trainers approach, where the graduates would reach out to others.

(source: New Vision)