[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 23



PHILIPPINES:

RP can't reimpose death penalty due to UN obligation


The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) reminded lawmakers that the country
can no longer reimpose the death penalty due to its treaty obligation with
the United Nations (UN) in the abolishment of the capital punishment.

The CHR reacted to plans of the legislative, particularly neophyte Senator
Juan Miguel Zubiri, to restore the death penalty following two massacres
in Laguna.

CHR Chairman Leila de Lima stressed that the country cannot reimpose the
death penalty after acceding in 2006 to the Second Optional Protocol to
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Because of this, she stressed that "the country has not only affirmed but
has bound itself to abolish, in perpetuity, the death penalty and uphold
the right to life."

Under the Second Optional Protocol of the ICCPR, "1. No one within the
jurisdiction of a State Party to the present Protocol shall be executed.;
2. Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death
penalty within its jurisdiction."

(source: Tempo News)






PAKISTAN:

293 foreigners in 32 Punjab jails


293 foreign prisoners were detained in 32 jails of the Punjab, revealed
official data of the Jail Department on Thursday.

The data also revealed that of the 52 Afghani prisoners, 12 were under
trial, 34 were convicted, 4 were awarded a death sentence and 2 were
completing their sentence in jails. Of the 11 Bangladeshi prisoners, 1 was
under trial, 1 was convicted and 9 were internees.

All the 5 prisoners from Myanmar were internees and 1 prisoner from
Cameron was convicted. One prisoner from China was under trial and both
the prisoners from Congo were convicted. Of the 5 English prisoners, 1 was
under trial, 3 were convicted while another 1 was awarded with the death
sentence. All the 4 prisoners from Ghana and both the prisoners from Gunny
were convicted. Of the 44 prisoners from India, Sarabjeet Singh and Karpal
Singh were awarded with the death sentence, 9 were under trial, 14 were
convicted and 19 were internees. The single Indonesian prisoner was
convicted while of the three from Iran, one was under trial while 2 were
internees. One prisoner from Iraq was an internee while the four from
Ivory Coast were convicted. Likewise, 1 prisoner from Karghistan and 2
Kenyan prisoners were convicted.

Of the 3 prisoners from Liberia, one was under trail, one was convicted
and one was an internee. One prisoner from Malawi, one from Morocco, three
from Mozambique and one from the Netherlands was convicted.

Of the 97 prisoners from Nigeria, 48 were under trial, 45 were convicted
and 4 were internees while out of the 3 prisoners from Nepal, 2 were
convicted and 1 was an internee.

1 prisoner from Romania, two from Sierra Leone and one from the
Philippines were convicted while both the Russian prisoners were under
trial. One prisoner from Saudi Arabia was also an internee.

Of the 2 prisoners from Somalia, one was under trial and one was an
internee. Of the 12 prisoners from South Africa, 7 were under trial, 4
were convicted while 1 was an internee. Of the 11 prisoners from Tanzania,
5 were under trial, 5 were convicted and 1 was an internee. Of the 3
prisoners from Thailand, 1 was under trial and 2 were convicted. All the 3
prisoners from Turkey and the 2 from Zimbabwe were also convicted while
the one unknown foreigner was under trial.

Similarly of the 4 prisoners from Zambia, 1 was under trial and 3 were
convicted.

Punjab Jail Inspector General Mian Farooq Nazir said that most of the
foreign prisoners were in jails due to illegal border crossing and the
prisoners from Afghanistan and African countries were found involved in
drug trafficking. However, he said that the Jail Department was trying
their best to provide these prisoners with the best facilities. He said
that even the jail administration provided legal assistance to those who
could not afford it or failed in contacting the relatives in their native
countries.

(source: Daily Times)






CONGO:

Congo death sentences condemned ---- The motive for Serge Maheshe's murder
remains unclear


The sentencing to death of 3 people for the murder of a journalist in the
Democratic Republic of Congo has been widely condemned.

Serge Maheshe, a respected 31-year-old reporter with UN-backed Radio
Okapi, was shot dead in Bukavu in June 2007.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour,
denounced irregularities in the trial.

She said the military court had refused to explore other credible leads or
ask for ballistic expertise.

She criticised the use of military tribunals which continued to judge
civilians in violation of international norms and the Congolese
constitution.

Reporters Without Borders and its Congolese partner Journalists in Danger
also criticised the trial.

"There were no ballistic tests or autopsy. The defence lawyers and
independent observers received anonymous threats. And certain hypotheses
were deliberately ignored," the groups said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern that
the motives behind the murder remain unclear.

Serge Maheshe was the 4th journalist to be killed in DR Congo since 2005.

Correspondents say journalists in DR Congo often face threats and
intimidation.

Radio Okapi is seen as one of the few sources of reliable news in the
country, they say.

(source: BBC News)






SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Man beheaded for rape


A Saudi man convicted of rape and armed robbery was beheaded by the sword
in Riyadh today, the interior ministry announced.

Mohammed bin Hamad bin Saud al-Dusri was convicted of several armed
robberies in the capital and of rape, the ministry was quoted by state
news agency Spa as saying.

Dusri's execution brought to 60 the number announced by Saudi Arabia this
year.

Last year, a record 153 people were executed in the Gulf kingdom, which
applies a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law. This figure compared
with 37 beheaded in 2006, and the previous record number of 113 executions
in 2000.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry
the death penalty in the ultra-conservative country, where executions are
usually carried out in public.

(source: The Australian)