[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 29



JAPAN:

Public Support for Capital Punishment Grows in Japan


There are 130 nations that that either have made it impossible to hand
down death sentences by abolishing capital punishment or have nullified
the capital punishment system by not carrying out executions, like South
Korea. But Japan, though an industrialized member of the G7, runs counter
to world trends in terms of both death sentences and executions.

Throughout the 1990s, in only one year -- 1995 -- did the number of
capital sentences handed down in trials of first instance in Japan exceed
10 a year. But in this decade, despite a drop in heinous crimes, death
sentences have regularly exceeded 10 per year, and last year saw a record
high since the 1980s of 15. Since the inauguration of the Yasuo Fukuda
administration in September last year, 10 have died on the gallows on
three occasions. The preceding Shinzo Abe administration executed a total
of 10 convicts in a period of 1 year.

The principles and taboos Japan has maintained with regard to capital
punishment are being broken in succession. In December 2007, when the
Fukuda government carried out its first executions, it broke with the
tradition of not publicizing them and announced the names and crimes of
the three convicts being executed. When executions were carried out in
February, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, who ordered the executions,
expressed his views on the death sentences in person at a press
conference. The tradition of not carrying out executions while the Diet,
Japan's legislature, is in session in an attempt to avoid unnecessary
controversies was also broken. Each of the 3 execution sessions overseen
by the current government were done while the legislature was in session.

The policy of capital punishment for juveniles also shifted from
"exceptional" to "in principle," with the same criteria for death
sentences that are applied to adults also being applied to minors. This
was evinced last Wednesday when the Hiroshima High Court upheld the death
sentence of a man convicted of the 1999 murder of a mother and her infant
child in Hikari, Yagaguchi Prefecture. The defendant was a minor at the
time of the crime. The trial took place following an order by the Supreme
Court in 2006 that the high court revisit the case.

Japan's shift to this severe punishment policy reflects the move of public
opinion toward the rights of victims and away from those of the assailant.
About 80 % of Japanese people have supported capital punishment since the
start of the decade, according to government and media polls. Strong
demands for stern punishment by the families of victims since the Hikari
murders have played a major role in shaping public opinion. Justice
Minister Hatoyama declared that executions would not be carried out if
public opinion opposes them, underlining a strong will to conduct them so
long as the people support them.

Some link Japan's trend toward severe punishment with changes in the
nation's judicial system. In May next year, Japan is set to adopt the lay
judge system, in which citizens will serve as de facto judges in trials
involving serious cases. Unlike the U.S. jury system in which jurors
decide only guilt or innocence, or South Korea's public participatory
trials, in this new Japanese system a panel of six made up of ordinary
citizens and conventional judges weighs the offenses. The Asahi Shumbin
recently commented, "The recent moves toward severe punishment are aimed
at reducing a sense of rejection of capital punishment on the part of
citizens, who will now participate in trials thus demonstrating that
executions are proper steps taken under the law."

Whether capital punishment is good or bad is a matter of individual
judgment. Whether to maintain or abolish capital punishment is also a
problem to be decided by public sentiment and culture. Some note that
Japan may have less cultural antipathy toward capital punishment because
of the strong Japanese tradition of suicide, in which one accounts for
one's crimes by death. But I would support Japan's severe punishment
policy from this standpoint alone: that the state does not avert its eyes
from a consensus formed by demands for redressing grievances made by
victims of those who have been killed unfairly, bereaved families'
indignation and the exclamations and anguish that result at the thought of
such crimes happening to one's own family.

(source: Chosun Ilbo;The column was contributed by Son-U Jong, the Chosun
Ilbo's correspondent in Tokyo)

KUWAIT:

Keralite in Kuwait gets death sentence reduced to jail term


Simil, a Keralite on death row in Kuwait escaped the gallows after his
capital punishment was reduced to 7 year's imprisonment as he was pardoned
by the kin of his roommate Suresh from Andhra Pradesh, whom he was accused
of murdering.

"Our prayers have been heard. We thank all those who worked to save our
son's life. Our only grievance is that we have to wait another 7 years to
see our son", Simil's mother Telma said after receiving the news from a
relative in Kuwait.

Simil had gone to Kuwait for work about 2 years back. He was charged with
the murder of Suresh following an altercation. After the trial he was
sentenced to death by a court in Kuwiat.

Simil's parents later approached the Indian High Commission in Kuwait
which advised them to take it up with the relatives of Suresh as his
punishment could be relaxed if they could obtain the pardon from the
parents of the victim.

They later approached Kerala Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy, and Union
Minister Vayalar Ravi, who in turn approached Suresh's parents through
Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh.

Though reluctant earlier, Suresh's parents later gave their consent based
on which Simil's death sentence was commuted to 7 year's imprisonment.

The victim's family has been given a good will amount, mobilised through
donations locally as well as from the Gulf.

(source: The Hindu)






IRAQ:

Former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz Faces Death Penalty At Baghdad Trial


Tariq Aziz, who served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister in
the former regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, is due to go on trial at
the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad.

Aziz, who was the most visible public face of the regime, could face the
death penalty if convicted of ordering the 1992 executions of 42 rice
merchants. The merchants were accused by Hussein's government of
increasing prices for essential goods at a time when Iraq was under United
Nations sanctions for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Yahia Said, an Iraq expert with the nonprofit Revenue Watch Institute,
says Aziz was different from other figures in the regime in that he had an
extraordinary ability to adapt and survive.

"He has been one of the few leading figures in the Ba'ath party who
remained engaged in a couple of levels of politics over many decades,"
Said says. "Many of his peers got out or got executed or fired or removed
from their posts, and he remained a loyal supporter of Saddam Hussein."

Aziz played an important diplomatic role in the run-up to the first Gulf
war when he served as foreign minister, exhibiting faultless English,
strong nerves, and negotiating skills. He used those skills to represent
Iraq at high-level diplomatic meetings, justifying Hussein's policies --
including the invasion of Kuwait.

Surrendered In 2003

Aziz survived the 1st Gulf War, but he did not escape after the U.S.-led
overthrow of the regime in 2003. Aziz was No. 43 on the U.S. most-wanted
list of Iraqi officials. He gave himself up to U.S. troops in April 2003,
just 2 weeks after Hussein's rule ended.

Aziz -- a Chaldean Catholic -- was the only Christian in Hussein's inner
circle and also the most visible public face of the regime. His presence
in Hussein's government was often held up as evidence of the regime's
religious tolerance. Said says that fact is neither a plus nor a minus,
since the regime was based not on religion but on loyalty to a dictator.

"He was a Christian and only one of a few Christians [in the government],
but that is not [important]," Said says. "There were also Kurds and
Shi'ites in Saddam's court. He was a loyal supporter of Saddam Hussein and
of the regime."

Besides Aziz, other defendants in this trial include Hussein's half
brothers Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, who was interior minister when the
executions took place, and Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a former top
security official. A former trade minister and central bank governor will
also face the tribunal.

Presiding over the trial will be judge Raouf Abdul-Rahman, who sentenced
Hussein to death in May 2006 for his role in the killing of Shi'a Muslims
in Dujail in retaliation for an assassination attempt in 1982.

(source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

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

Sentencing judge condemns Hussein's execution----Judge who sentenced
Hussein to death condemns manner of execution

Chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman calls hanging 'uncivilized and backward'

Rahman decries public nature of execution during a religious holiday


The judge who sentenced Saddam Hussein to death has condemned the manner
in which the notorious dictator was executed.

Saddam Hussein was hanged after being found guilty for his role in the
killing of 148 people in Dujail.

"It was uncivilized and backward," said Chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman,
who spoke to reporters on Tuesday as they awaited the start of the latest
trial of ex-regime members.

Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, was hanged for his role in the killings of 148
people in Dujail, a mostly Shiite town north of Baghdad, after a 1982
attempt to assassinate the then-Iraqi leader.

The hanging -- which took place as hostilities between Sunnis and Shiites
were erupting -- occurred December 30, 2006, when Sunnis began celebrating
the religious holiday Eid al-Adha.

A cell phone video showedHussein being taunted by Shiites and included
bitter exchanges between Hussein and Shiite witnesses. There were shouts
of praise for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose father was believed to
have been murdered by Hussein's regime.

After Hussein was hanged, Shiite witnesses danced around his body,
chanting celebratory slogans.

"In Iraqi law, there are no public executions," Abdul Rahman said. "Eid is
a time of love, tranquility and reconciliation, not a time for
executions."

None of the Iraqi government's top officials attended the execution and
Hussein was buried in Awja, near Tikrit, in the same cemetery as his sons
Uday and Qusay.

His execution was condemned at the time, then British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, a leading advocate of Hussein's overthrow, saying its manner was
"completely wrong."

The Vatican said the killing of the guilty was not a route to justice or
reconciliation, while Russia warned that it would worsen the situation in
the country.

(source: CNN)

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

Hanging judge: Saddam's execution 'uncivilized and backward'


The judge who sentenced Saddam Hussein to hang is criticizing the manner
in which the former Iraqi leader was executed.

"It was uncivilized and backward," Chief Judge Raouf Abdul-Rahman tells
reporters in Baghdad, according to CNN.

The judge was referring to video footage that showed Shiites celebrating
in the gallows after the Sunni dictator's Dec. 30, 2006, hanging.

"In Iraqi law, there are no public executions," the judge says. "Eid is a
time of love, tranquility and reconciliation, not a time for executions."

(source: USA Today)