[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 1



TAIWAN:

Phasing out the death penalty is overdue


Even before assuming office as minister of justice, lawyer Wang Ching-feng
is already facing a dilemma: Should capital punishment be abolished?

Wang has long devoted herself to human-rights issues. She made a deep
impression on me by choosing a tough road when dealing with such issues as
the 921 Earthquake reconstruction project and Taiwans comfort women.

On the issue of the death penalty, she is willing to face and recognize
her human-rights values and say that she opposes capital punishment. This
not surprising at all, but she will still be facing pressure from all
sides.

The biggest pressure will be the concern of the public: Without capital
punishment, will crime rates increase and what should we say to future
victims?

However, abolishing capital punishment does not mean discharging
prisoners, but rather that we want strict punishment of criminals.

Many culprits do not fear death, but how about life imprisonment? Would
30-year, 40-year or even 50-year sentences be more frightening than 2
bullets? This is the way criminals should face their misdeeds.

Moreover, wouldnt it be better compensation if criminals were given proper
labor assignments in prison and their earnings were returned to society or
victims of their crimes?

A judicial system is not perfect and the dead cannot be brought back to
life. In recent years, many shocking cases of injustice in the US and
Europe have been uncovered thanks to DNA technology, so we cannot overlook
the possibility that the wrong person could be executed.

I understand why the family of a crime victim would oppose abolishing
capital punishment. I sympathize with their pain and frustration, but are
executions the best and only way to help?

For most families, a comprehensive protection system for victims might be
more important than capital punishment. Our government, however has done
very little to explore this alternative.

Should capital punishment be abolished? Wang said she had to consider all
opinions before reaching a decision.

Abolishing the death penalty is not as simple matter, for the reasons
stated above, and it will require careful consideration. For the past 8
years, the government has said it would abolish capital punishment and
made some headway, but because of a lack of education and information,
most people still dont understand the policy proposal.

Perhaps a key task for the incoming minister of justice would be to launch
an educational effort and open a dialogue with the public on these issues.

Amnesty International reported last year that 135 countries have abolished
the death penalty in law or practice, while only 65 countries still have
it. Of those, only 24 countries actually carry out executions.

Even the number of executions in China, which annually tops the list of
countries using the death penalty, declined to 470 last year, compared
with 1,010 executions in 2006.

The UN also passed a resolution on Dec. 28 last year demanding the
worldwide abolition of the death penalty in the hope that countries that
haven't abolished it will issue a temporary moratorium while debating the
matter.

Taiwan still has the death penalty on the books, but it has not been
carried out for 2 years. But what is next?

Hopefully Taiwan will follow the global trend and stop implementing the
death penalty, conduct an overall review and launch public education and
dialogue to face the nation's capital punishment system.

(source: Commentary; Taipei Times----Lin Hsin-yi is the executive officer
of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty)






INDONESIA:

Bali bomber plans to wed on death row


DEATH-ROW Bali bomber Amrozi bin Nurhasyim plans to marry in jail within
days, his lawyers have revealed.

It will be the 4th marriage for the so-called "smiling bomber", infamous
for the grin he has described as his "secret weapon" against non-Muslims.

Amrozi and his 2 fellow death-row bombers, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron
(aka Mukhlas), have been engaging in stalling tactics over recent months
to delay their executions.

There was some suggestion yesterday Amrozi's latest bride might in fact be
his 1st wife, Rahma, whom he divorced some time before the 2002 Kuta
nightclub bombings that claimed 202 lives, including 88 Australians.

The couple had 2 children and she is now believed to live in the town of
Tuban, East Java.

"I heard a rumour he was going to return to his 1st wife, whom he had
already divorced," news service Detik.com quoted a family member as
saying.

A lawyer for the bombers, Mahendradatta, said he had received a text
message yesterday with the news. Mr Mahendradatta said there was no
restriction on marrying in jail.

Justice Ministry spokesman Akbar Hadi Prabowo confirmed there would be no
official conjugal rights.

But Amrozi would probably be able to pay a guard somewhere between
Rp50,000 ($6) and Rp100,000 ($12) for some time alone with his wife.

(source: The Australian)






PAKISTAN:

One gets death penalty in kidnapping and killing case


An Anti-Terrorism Court has sentenced to death a man and awarded life
imprisonment to a co-defendant woman after finding them guilty of
kidnapping a businessman for ransom and later killing him.

M Sohail (21) and Ms. Zainab (21) were prosecuted for kidnapping and
killing Mohammad Naveed, a businessman of chemicals, on September 3 last
year.

According to the prosecution, the accused had kidnapped the abductee from
City Courts and demanded Rs8 million in ransom from his family members for
his release. Police said that the accused killed the abductee for not
receiving the ransom and threw his body in the Malir area.

Announcing judgment, the ATC observed that the prosecution has proved its
case against the defendants beyond any reasonable doubt. The court also
awarded 5 years imprisonment to both accused for creating terrorism in
society.

(source: The News)






NIGERIA:

Rev King's Appeal Suffers Setback


Attempts by the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly (CPA),
Isolo, Lagos, Emeka Ezeugo a.k.a. Dr. Rev King, to introduce additional
grounds of appeal in the appeal he filed before the Court of Appeal, Lagos
yesterday suffered serious setback as the court struck out the
application.

King is challenging his conviction last year by an Ikeja High Court, Lagos
for murder and is asking the appellate court to set aside the judgement of
the lower court and quash as well as reverse the conviction handed down on
him by the lower court.

At the resumed hearing in the matter, the court pointed out that the
motion was not supported by the original notice of appeal and suggested
that it would be better if the application was withdrawn and properly
filed.

The court had said, "we cannot take this application until we see the
original notice of appeal. We know that this is a criminal case where life
is involved and it is important that counsel help us and when told to do
something, they do it quickly. It will go a long way to have this appeal
heard and determined quickly. If you help and want us to do what you ask
of us, we will do so".

At that point, Ojo agreed and withdrew the motion, which was consequently
struck-out by the court. Further hearing in the matter, was however,
adjourned till June 10, 2008.

(source: This Day)






UZBBEKISTAN:

Death Sentences Revised in Uzbekistan


The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan is revising death sentences. The law "On
abolition of capital punishment" that came into effect on January 1, 2008,
demands that the sole penalty (death by a firing squad) is replaced with
life sentence or 20-25 years behind the bars. Very many people currently
on the death row will therefore live.

Tamara Chikunova, the head of Mothers Against Death Sentence and Torture
(Uzbek non-governmental organization), says the revision began in April.
The prisoners whose verdicts were already revised are transferred from the
death row in Tashkent to prisons and colonies in Andijan, Urgench, Nukus,
Karshi, and Navoi.

Seventeen death sentences already revised, not one of the convicts drew a
life sentence. All were sentenced to 20-25 years imprisonment instead. The
Supreme Court detracts the time the criminals already spent behind the
bars from the new sentence.

"I'd like to complement the Supreme Court on the professional approach,"
Chikunova said. "The widespread opinion initially was that all death
sentences would be automatically replaced with the new sole penalty, i.e.
life imprisonment the way it had been done in Kyrgyzstan. But no, judges
take time for individual approach."

On the other hand, Chikunova complains that the law-enforcement practice
regarding the law "On abolition of capital punishment" has never been
published. It is therefore practically impossible to guess the Supreme
Court's motives in this or that particular case. There is no saying at
this point if amnesties are to be applied to 1st-time offenders sentenced
to years behind the bars.

In any case, what convicts ended up with 20-25 years imprisonment have a
chance to walk out of jails one fine day. Some of the 17 convicts whose
sentences have been revised spent years behind the bars. One stood trial
in 2002, 6 others in 2003, and the rest 2 or 3 years ago. In the meantime,
the amended legislation offers a chance to serial killers and certified
maniacs too. Consider Mikhail Sakhno, the man repeatedly convicted and
imprisoned for murder of his wives. Serving his time in Andijan, he was
released in 2005 when Akromija activists overrun the jail. Sakhno went
home and murdered his son.

"Sakhno is nuttier than a fruitcake," Chikunova said. "He murdered
everyone he happened to encounter." She is convinced that life
imprisonment should be reserved for people like that.

"I'm not here to justify serial killers, maniacs, or pedophiles. Their
must be isolated from society," Chikunova said. "Unfortunately, methods of
the investigation and confessions obtained under duress, i.e. torture,
make one wonder about legality of some verdicts."

Chikunova referred to the case of one Sodkik Kodirov, tried and imprisoned
in 2003 for repeated attacks on women. Some of Kodirov's victims died. The
investigation knew of at least fifteen episodes of these crimes, some of
them resulting in victims' deaths. Kodirov was tortured by investigators
and, it seems, forced to shoulder responsibility for some other crimes as
well.

"The situation being what it is, saying who is a killer and who is
innocent with any degree of accuracy is very difficult," Chikunova said.
She added that when the jail in Andijan had been overrun and all convicts
had been set free, three people on the death row (Nazirjan Azizov,
Bahtijer Tuichiyev, and Hurshid Salaidinov) surrendered to the police of
their own volition, hoping for a revision of their sentences.

Exact information on how many people were sentenced to death and
transferred to the Tashkent Jail (where executions take place) is
classified. President Islam Karimov's words in late 2004 that about 100
prisoners were executed in Uzbekistan every year is the only indication.

(source: Turkish Weekly)