[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 15




INDONESIA:

Bali 9 Case - Test For Aussie Policy


The recent downgrading of the sentences for 3 Australian drug smugglers
from death to life terms has been largely welcomed here. But with 3 other
members of the 'Bali 9' group still on death row, the role played by
Australias federal police in their arrests remains contentious.

The Indonesian Supreme Courts decision in early March to commute the death
sentences of Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman and Si Yi Chen to life
imprisonment was described by Stephen Smith, Australias Minister for
Foreign Affairs, as "very welcome news", a sentiment also expressed by
human and civil rights organisations around the country.

The threes initial life sentences were reduced to 20 years on appeal but
then upgraded to death following prosecutors counter-appeals. The 3 men
were arrested -- along with the condemned ringleader Myuruan Sukumaran --
with 350 grams of heroin in a suitcase at a Bali hotel in 2005.

They can hope that with good behaviour their life sentences will be
further reduced and they will be allowed to serve out part of their prison
terms in Australia. But Sukumaran, his co-ringleader Andrew Chan, and
Scott Rush, one of the drug couriers -- Rush was arrested at the islands
international airport with heroin strapped to his body -- still face the
death penalty.

The death sentence for Rush is seen here as particularly harsh, given that
3 other couriers -- known as drug mules -- arrested with him on Apr. 17,
2005, were sentenced to 20 years and to life in prison. Originally awarded
a life sentence, Rushs appeal only resulted in his sentence being
increased to death.

"Its anyones guess (as to) why Scotts penalty was upgraded to death when
anyone looking at the case could see that its pretty obvious that he was
just a mule," says Martin Hodgson from the prisoner advocacy group,
Foreign Prisoner Support Service (FPSS).

But this latest development has provided the impetus for further scrutiny
of the role played by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in the arrests
of the Bali 9 by the Indonesian authorities.

"I think its unfortunate whenever the AFP assists in arrests of
Australians overseas knowing that the penalty is the death penalty,"
Hodgson told IPS.

After initiating the investigation into the group in Feb 2005, the AFP
tipped-off Indonesian police regarding the expected activities of the Bali
9. In letters dated Apr 8 and 12 of that same year -- written in
Indonesian and titled Heroin Couriers From Bali To Australia and Currently
in Bali -- AFP officers provided their Indonesian counterparts with
detailed information about members of the group and how they expected the
heroin to be transported.

In a 2006 interview with the Australian Broadcast Commission (ABC)
television programme Australian Story, Mike Phelan -- the AFP officer
ultimately responsible for the decision to provide the Indonesians with
the intelligence about the group -- explained that the letters alerted
Indonesian authorities about the group for the 1st time.

The letters advised Indonesian police to take "whatever action you deem
necessary".

The AFP defends its action as a success. AFP commissioner Mick Keelty has
refused to apologise, saying that police acted lawfully and in accordance
with government policy.

The AFP says that the arrests stopped more than eight kilograms of heroin
-- at an estimated value of 4 million Australian dollars -- from hitting
Australian streets. Additionally, the AFP is confident that the syndicate
behind the Bali Nines actions -- which they say was responsible for
previous drug smuggling -- was closed down with the help of Indonesian
surveillance and subsequent arrests.

But Hodgson from FPSS says that while the AFP is obliged to work with law
enforcement agencies in other countries, the arrests could have been made
in Australia, where the death penalty has been abolished.

Hodgson argues that prior to the groups departure from Australia, the AFP
"could have, at the very least, arrested those they knew to be leaving".
Phelan, however, said that this was not an option at the time. "There was
just simply not enough evidence" to charge members of the group with
conspiracy to commit a crime, he told the ABC.

The AFP officer also rejected the option of arresting the Bali Nine when
they arrived back in Australia -- another course of action open to the
AFP, according to Hodgson -- as the decision to arrest the group was made
under Indonesias "own laws and own jurisdiction".

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) has also spoken
out against the AFPs actions. AFP documents obtained by the NSWCCL under
freedom of information laws show that Australias federal police are still
lawfully allowed to cooperate with foreign law enforcement agencies on a
police-to-police basis prior to a person being charged with an offence
that may lead to the death penalty.

The AFP is only barred for cooperating once a death penalty charge has
been filed. However, the Practical Guide on International Police-to-Police
Assistance in Death Penalty Charge Situations indicates that the AFP can
still continue providing assistance following such a charge if the
attorney-general or minister for home affairs give their approval. The AFP
"needs to re-address their protocols when it comes to assisting in cases
that will ultimately lead to the death penalty," Hodgson says.

Australia acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -- which aims to abolish the death
penalty -- in 1990, but it has not been adopted into domestic law and is
therefore not legally binding. Hodgson says that Australia has an
obligation to "not only oppose the death penalty but to ensure that we
dont facilitate it in any way".

"If the AFP is conducting practices that result in the death penalty, even
if indirectly, then they need to review those procedures," he argues.

(source: IPS)






CHINA:

China defends use of death penalty, says conditions not right to abolish
it


China limits the death penalty to a small number of serious criminals and
does not have any plans to abolish it, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The comments were in response to a report from human rights group Amnesty
International that said China executed more people last year than any
other country in the world, with at least 470 put to death.

That was down from 1,010 in 2006, the group said, but cautioned that the
actual number of executions was undoubtedly higher.

Beijing defended its use of the death penalty, saying it was responsible
in carrying out the punishment.

"We have strictly controlled and taken a prudent attitude toward the death
penalty to ensure that the death penalty only applies to a small number of
criminals who commit serious crimes," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang
Yu said.

She added that China would not abolish the death penalty because "the
conditions are not right."

"It will not be accepted by the Chinese people," Jiang said.

She did not answer a question asking whether China would address calls for
greater transparency. Beijing treats death penalty figures as a state
secret.

The lower death penalty figure for last year stems in part from a reform
that began in January 2007 requiring China's top court to review all
capital cases. The reform shows the government is trying to change a
system that often put people to death just a few weeks after conviction
for crimes ranging from corruption to murder.

(source: Associated Press)

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

China leading the way in global executions: Amnesty


At least 1,200 people were executed globally last year with China leading
the way amongst the world's most prolific users of the death penalty,
Amnesty International said in a report published Tuesday.

The London-based human rights group warned, however, that those figures
were only minimum estimates, and cautioned that the true extent of the use
of capital punishment could not be known because in many countries, state
executions were shrouded in official secrecy.

"The secretive use of the death penalty must stop: the veil of secrecy
surrounding the death penalty must be lifted," Amnesty said in a
statement.

"Many governments claim that executions take place with public support.
People therefore have a right to know what is being done in their name."

Amnesty said that at least 1,252 people had been executed in 24 countries
around the world in 2007, 88 percent of which took place in China, Iran,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States.

"These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher,"
its report read.

Of the countries using the death penalty, China led the way with at least
470 executions, followed by Iran with more than 317, Saudi Arabia with a
minimum of 143, and Pakistan with at least 135, according to Amnesty.

It challenged Beijing in particular to "end its secretive use of the death
penalty and provide detailed information about the use of capital
punishment" as China prepares to host the Olympic Games in August.

"In a country as vast as China with tight government controls on
information and the media only the authorities know the reality behind the
use of the death penalty," the report read.

Nearly 70 crimes can carry the death penalty in China including tax fraud,
stealing VAT receipts, damaging electric power facilities, selling
counterfeit medicine, embezzlement, accepting bribes and drug offences,
said Amnesty.

In a report earlier this month, Amnesty warned that China's human rights
record was getting worse as Beijing bids to present a united front by
cracking down on dissent.

China's hopes of winning international prestige by sending the Olympic
torch through 135 cities on five continents ahead of the Games have
already been severely dented.

The early stages in London and Paris were overshadowed by demonstrations
against Beijing's repression of protests in Tibet, and the San Francisco
leg was also drastically curtailed and seen by relatively few people.

(source: Agence France Presse)






AFGHANISTAN:

Supreme Court issues 100 death sentences


The Supreme Court of Afghanistan has in the past few weeks confirmed 100
death sentences issued by provincial courts.

"These people, who have been accused of crimes such as murder and rape
have been sentenced in the first petition and the second appeal and the
punishment has also been confirmed by the Supreme Court," Abdel Rashid
Rashed, a member of the Supreme Court told reporters.

Capital punishment has to be approved by the president before the sentence
can be carried out in Afghanistan.

In the past 12 months, 15 death sentences have been carried out in
Afghanistan.

"The court proceedings are carried out behind closed doors, without the
presence of defence attorneys, and often without the presentation of any
proof on the part of the public prosecutor," said Wadir Safi, a jurist and
law professor at the University of Kabul.

"In essence, we can say that justice in our country does not work and the
accused do not enjoy any form of guarantee."

These charges have been rejected by Rashed, who said that "all death
sentences have been issued on the basis of Islamic law and confirmed by
all three petitions provided for under current legislation."

(source: AKI News)






UKRAINE:

Interior Minister supports resuming death penalty in Ukraine


Interior Minister of Ukraine Yuri Lutsenko speaks for resuming death
penalty in Ukraine.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, Yu.Lutsenko disclosed this in an
interview with journalists after the conference concerning struggle
against corruption, which was held by President Yushchenko today.

"I'm for resuming the capital punishment in a form of shooting for
particularly grave crimes against person" said Yu.Lutsenko.

At the same time, he said that he is opposed to applying this punishment
for corruption-related crimes.

Earlier, delivering a speech at the conference, Yu.Lutsenko spoke for
strengthening the responsibility for corruption of officials and
introducing corresponding amendments into the legislation.

(source: WOWT News)




IRAN:

Iran says number of executions is "not high"


The number of executions in Iran is "not high", the judiciary said on
Tuesday, responding to an Amnesty International report that listed the
Islamic Republic as the world's second most prolific executioner in 2007.

European governments and Western rights groups have criticised Iran for an
increasing number of hangings since authorities launched a clampdown on
"immoral behaviour" in July.

Amnesty said on Tuesday that Iran had executed 317 people last year.
China, the world's leading executioner, carried out at least 470 death
sentences in 2007, the rights group said.

Asked to comment on the figure given by Amnesty, judiciary spokesman
Alireza Jamshidi said: "Whether Iran has had that number of executions I
don't know, but the number is not high."

He also told a news conference: "The bulk of executions in Iran have to do
with retribution ... and they can be retracted with the consent of the
next of kin."

Under Iran's sharia law, a victim's relatives may pardon the murderer in
return for "blood money", or financial compensation.

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are
all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, practised since the 1979
Islamic revolution.

At least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries last year and 3,347
sentenced to death in 51 countries, Amnesty said.

China and Iran were followed by Saudi Arabia, with 143 executions,
Pakistan with 135, and the United States, which executed 42 people.
Between them, these 5 countries accounted for 88 percent of all known
executions.

Amnesty said the number of executions had risen from 2006 in Iran, Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan.

It noted that in December 2007 the United Nations General Assembly voted
by a large majority for a resolution calling for an end to the death
penalty.

(source: Reuters)






GLOBAL:

New execution figure chilling says Richey


KENNY Richey today described an Amnesty International league table on
execution around the world as "chilling".

The human rights group claims an estimated 374 people will be executed in
China during the Olympic Games. China used capital punishment 470 times
last year  but campaigners believe the true figure may be 8000.

Amnesty's UK director Kate Allen said: "As the world's biggest
executioner, China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions."

She called on Olympic athletes and the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) to press for greater openness about executions by the host country.

In total, there were 1250 people executed worldwide last year, down from
1591 in 2006.

Iran executed at least 317 people, up from 177, and Saudi Arabia executed
at least 143, up from 39. Executions in the United States dropped to 42 in
2007, the lowest since 1994.

Richey, who spent more than 20 years protesting his innocence on death row
in the US, said: "These numbers are chilling. Having been on death row I
can guarantee that there's a human tragedy behind every one of these
statistics."

(source: The Scotsman)






JAPAN:

WCADP CONDEMNS ACCELERATION OF EXECUTIONS IN JAPAN AND CONTINUED SECRECY
SURROUNDING THESE EXECUTIONS


The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) is deeply concerned
about the accelerated pace of executions in Japan and continued secrecy
regarding the executions.

4 persons were executed on 10 April 2008, bringing to 7 the number of
persons executed in 2008. According to Amnesty International, ten
executions have been carried out in less than six months.

Executions are held in secret. Relatives are informed of the executions
only after they have taken place, and until December 2007, the names of
the persons executed were not made public. The WCADP appeals to the
Japanese government to put an end to this practice, contrary to human
dignity.

On 18 December 2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed
with a large majority a resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of
the death penalty worldwide.

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty calls upon the Japanese
government to follow the recommendation of the resolution and apply a
formal moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death
penalty.

(source: WCADP)