[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 8


IRAQ:

Justice for Hussein----Yes, the trial was a mess - but only because the
occupation is a mess, says ANNE APPLEBAUM


Over the coming days and weeks  throughout the appeals process, up to and
including the day of the execution itself  you are going to hear a lot
about what went wrong with the trial of Saddam Hussein. You will be told,
as an Amnesty International director put it, that the trial "has been a
shabby affair, marred by serious flaws."

You will hear many denunciations of the verdict itself: The British
Guardian newspaper called on Iraq to maintain a "principled opposition to
the death penalty, to which there can be no exceptions." You will also be
told that the judges were incompetent, that the Iraqi government
interfered constantly, and that the international legal community loathed
the trial from the start.

All of this is true  and mostly irrelevant.

In fact, all post hoc political trials are in some sense "victor's
justice." That's just the nature of trying people who were not doing
anything "illegal," according to the laws of their totalitarian society,
at the time they committed their crimes.

In part, the decision to hold Mr. Hussein's trial in Iraq was made to
avoid a U.N.-sanctioned failure abroad. In part, it was made because back
in 2003 the U.N. Security Council told the Iraqis organizing the trial
that it wanted nothing to do with it anyway.

In truth, though, the shambolic and incoherent nature of this trial was
not so much evidence of too few foreign human rights lawyers as it was a
byproduct of the shambolic and incoherent nature of the U.S. occupation of
Iraq. Clearly, the violence outside the courtroom affected what happened
inside: Defense lawyers were murdered, judges traveled under armed guard,
and members of the prosecution said privately that they still felt afraid
when Mr. Hussein came in the room.

The violence outside the courtroom also affected how the trial was
perceived outside its walls. Televised testimony, which Iraqis initially
found riveting, grew less relevant as the violence increased. The trial
became nothing more than the background noise of the sectarian struggle:

On Sunday, Shiites cheered the verdict while Sunnis denounced it. Imagine
how different Mr. Hussein's death sentence would sound today if a stable,
peaceful Iraq with a reformed judicial system were uniting to declare it,
unanimously.

And yet, in the end, there is only one standard by which the trial of Mr.
Hussein and other Baathist leaders should be judged: Did it or did it not
compile a true record of Mr. Hussein's crimes  a record that in some
distant, future, peaceful Iraq, will be available to help Iraqis
understand what took place during his reign?

Though it is unfashionable to write anything positive about Iraq right
now, the answer is that it did. The crime for which Mr. Hussein was
condemned  the torture and execution of 148 people in the small town of
Dujail more than two decades ago  was well documented. Witnesses and
archives were produced. Cross-examinations were held.

It is true that the execution of Mr. Hussein, if it occurs, could have a
positive effect on Iraqi politics. If nothing else, it will eliminate once
and for all the Baathist dream of a Hussein-led revanche  a dream that
even Mr. Hussein himself appears to have cherished; witnesses say he was
genuinely surprised by the verdict and was shaking afterward.

But his death will also probably put an end to this truth-telling project,
one that has been unique and unprecedented in the Arab world. For the
first time, an Arab dictator was held accountable for crimes against his
people. Thanks to American incompetence in Iraq, it may be the last time
for a long time, too.

(source: Viewpoints, Dallas Morning News; Anne Applebaum, a Washington
Post and Slate columnist, is a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.
Her most recent book is "Gulag: A History.")

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

UN Rights Chief Calls for Moratorium on Executions After Saddam's Sentence


The top United Nations human rights official has called on the Iraqi
authorities to observe a moratorium on executions following the death
sentence imposed on ousted president Saddam Hussein and other defendants
yesterday, urging that their right to appeal be fully respected.

"A credible appeals process is an essential part of fair-trial
guarantees," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said in a
statement issued yesterday. "This is particularly important in this
instance, in which the death penalty has been imposed.

"Those convicted today should have every opportunity to exhaust their
appellate remedies in a fair way, and whatever the outcome of an appeal, I
hope the Government will observe a moratorium on executions," she added.

Ms. Arbour said guaranteeing the right to a fair trial of persons accused
of major human rights violations was key to consolidating and
strengthening the very important process of ensuring justice and
countering impunity that Iraq had embarked upon.

(source: United Nations)

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

Jordan lawyers protest against Saddam death penalty


Jordan's Bar Association staged a one-hour work stoppage yesterday to
protest the death sentence passed on Saddam Hussein by an Iraqi court for
crimes against humanity, and to call for its annulment.

"The Jordanian Bar Association calls for the annulment of the verdict and
the immediate release of president Saddam Hussein," its chief Saleh
al-Armuti, who is also a member of Saddam's Jordan-based defence team,
said.

"This verdict is a stain of shame in the history of Iraq's judicial
system," Armuti said after taking part in the work stoppage with around
150 Jordanian lawyers at the Amman Palace of Justice courthouse.

Armuti also denounced the "American occupation of Iraq" and called for the
trial of US President George W Bush "and all those who came riding on
American tanks"  in reference to the US-backed government in Baghdad. "It
is an American verdict in the 1st degree and does not represent the Iraqi
judicial authorities and any verdict under occupation is null and void,"
he said.

Armuti said that the Jordanian Bar Association will ask, during a meeting
of the Arab lawyers in Morocco later this month, that "Bush be put on
trial" at the International Court of Justice.

The Iraqi High Tribunal on Sunday sentenced to death by hanging Saddam and
two of his seven co-defendants over the massacre of 148 Shiite villagers
in the Iraqi town of Dujail in 1982 after an attempt to assassinate him.

(source: The Peninsula)

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

Belgium says justice has been done in Saddam verdict Brussels, Nov 6, IRNA


Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht said Sunday that it was logical
for the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to receive the stiffest
possible sentence after being convicted of crimes against humanity by a
court in Baghdad.

De Gucht said "it seems perfectly normal to me that he should be given the
toughest possible sentence."

But, he added, "I hope that the death penalty will not be carried out," as
quoted in press statements.

Meanwhile, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who is currently
visiting India, was quoted by the local media as saying "justice has been
done."

He said that "the EU's position on the death sentence is well known."

"Let us hope that that the court's decision doesn't lead to escalation of
violence," added the Belgian prime minister.

(source: IRNA)

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

UN Rights expert calls for international court to re-try Saddam


Citing the "doubtful legitimacy and credibility" of the Iraqi court that
sentenced Saddam Hussein and other former leaders to hang, a United
Nations human rights expert has opendocument" called for an international
tribunal to re-try the ousted president and urged the authorities not to
carry out the death sentences imposed.

"It is clear that the verdict and its possible application will contribute
to deepen the armed violence and the political and religious polarization
in Iraq, bringing with it the almost certain risk that the crisis will
spread to the entire region," Special Rapporteur on the independence of
judges and lawyers Leandro Despouy said in a statement yesterday.

He hailed the Government's determination to punish the main authors of the
atrocities committed during three decades and its will to see the trial
take place in Iraq, but stressed that the court was established during an
occupation considered by many as illegal, is composed of judges selected
during this occupation, including non Iraqi-citizens, and has been mainly
financed by the United States, reports Trend.

He also cited the lack of observance of a legal framework conforming to
international human rights standards, in particular the right to be tried
by an independent and impartial tribunal which upholds the right to a
defence; the negative impact of the violence and the insecurity during the
trial, including the killing of a judge, 5 candidate judges, 3 defence
lawyers and an employee; and outdated legislation allowing the death
penalty.

It is "essential that this will be expressed through a trial conducted by
an independent tribunal, legitimately established, acting in absolute
transparency and providing all guarantees for a fair trial, in accordance
with international human rights standards," he said.

"If those conditions are not fulfilled, the verdict of the Iraqi High
Tribunal, far from contributing to the institutional credibility of Iraq
and the rule of law, risks being seen as the expression of the verdict of
the winners over the losers," he added in the statement, which followed a
call from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour for a
moratorium on executions.

Since the present verdict is subject to appeal, it opens the possibility
to consider setting up "an independent, impartial and international
tribunal with all the necessary guarantees to enable it to receive the
support of the United Nations, and which will take advantage of the rich
experience acquired by other international tribunals," Mr. Despouy said.

"This should be done with urgency, to attenuate the negative impact this
verdict already started to produce in Iraq and the proliferation of
violence in the region."

Carrying out the sentences would represent a serious legal setback for the
country and would be in open contradiction to the growing international
tendency to abolish the death penalty, he added.

(source: Trend News Agency)






SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Saudi executes 2 Pakistani women for drug smuggling


Saudi Arabia executed 3 Pakistanis, including 2 women, for drugs smuggling
on Wednesday, taking to 20 the number of reported executions in the
conservative kingdom in 2006.

The official Saudi Press Agency said the 2 women were put to death in the
coastal city of Jeddah for smuggling heroin into the country.

Saudi Arabia implements strict Islamic law and usually carries out
executions by public beheading with a sword. The country executed 86
people in 2005 and 36 in 2004.

Officials have not explained the fall in the executions this year which
follows criticism from human rights groups over the high rates in previous
years.

Saudi Arabia executes convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers.

(source: Reuters)






VIETNAM:

Vietnam set to try 3 US citizens


The Bush administration prodded Vietnam on Tuesday to fairly try 3 U.S.
citizens facing charges of trying to prompt a rebellion against the
communist government.

The comments by State Department spokesman Sean McCormack came just days
before President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are to
travel to Hanoi for talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program and
other regional security and economic concerns.

"What we would ask is that any judicial proceedings proceed in a free and
in a fair and transparent manner," Mr. McCormack said.

A court official said in Ho Chi Minh City that the trial of 7 people,
including 3 Americans, would begin Friday. The three are Thuong Nguyen
"Cuc" Foshee of Orlando, Fla., Le Van Binh "Phu" of Tampa, Fla., and Huynh
Bich Lien "Linda" of San Gabriel, Calif.

The seven are accused of trying to take over state radio stations to call
for an uprising against the Vietnamese government. The terrorism charges
carry sentences ranging from 12 years in prison to death by firing squad.

Court officials in Vietnam said the defendants were connected to the
California-based Government of Free Vietnam, which the Vietnamese
government considers a terrorist organization.

Dr. Rice is to attend a foreign ministers' meeting in Hanoi next week. Mr.
Bush will attend a meeting of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation group Nov. 18-19 in Hanoi.

(source: Dallas Morning News)






INDONESIA:

Beheaded Christians: Man on trial


A suspected Muslim militant went on trial Wednesday on charges of
beheading 3 Christian girls in a religiously inspired attack on
Indonesian's tense Sulawesi island.

Hasanuddin is the first of three men accused in the slayings last year due
to stand trial.

Speaking before the trials opened, the mens' lawyer said all 3 had
admitted involvement in the crimes, which he said were aimed at avenging
Muslim deaths in fighting on Sulawesi from 1998 to 2002 that left at least
1,000 people from both faiths dead.

Muanas also revealed the contents of a note the attackers left at the site
of the slayings on a quiet jungle track leading to the town of Poso in
central Sulawesi province.

"We need 100 more (killings) like this," the letter raid, said Muanas, who
goes by a single name.

The men are charged under Indonesia's anti-terrorism law and could be
sentenced to death if found guilty.

Prosecutors began reading out their indictment against Hasanuddin, who
said nothing as he arrived at court.

Large scale clashes between the two faiths ended in 2002 with a peace
agreement, but sporadic attacks -- mostly by suspected Muslim militants on
Christian men, woman and children -- have continued.

Tensions flared anew last month after the execution of three Roman
Catholic militants convicted of leading a 2000 attack on an Islamic school
that killed at least 70 people.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, with 90 percent of
its 220 million people professing the faith. But Central Sulawesi has a
roughly equal number of Muslim and Christians.

(source: Associated Press)