[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 21



JAPAN:

Calls mount for retrial of boxer 38 years on death row


Former world boxing champions and other supporters filed pleas Monday that
the Supreme Court order a retrial for a former boxer who has been on death
row for 38 years, arguing he was wrongly convicted of killing a family or
in 1966.

The top court has been looking into a retrial request on behalf of Iwao
Hakamada, 70, who was convicted of killing an executive with a miso maker,
the man's wife and their 2 children.

The supporters presented the top court with some 500 letters from across
Japan asking it to order a retrial. Among those who wrote the letters were
former world junior middleweight champion Koichi Wajima, 63, and former
world junior flyweight champion Katsuo Tokashiki, 46.

Wajima heads a committee of the East Japan Boxing Associations in support
of Hakamada.

Hakamada's sister, Hideko, 73, told a news conference she is encouraged by
the support from Japan's pro boxing community. She said she is "worried
most about her brother's health."

Wajima told the news conference, "Hakamada is innocent."

Hakamada has refused to speak with his lawyers since March 2003.

(source: Kyodo News)






VIETNAM/UNITED KINGDOM:

British pair face death penalty ---- The British pair are on trial in
Vietnam's Quang Binh province


2 British citizens are facing the death penalty in Vietnam after being
accused of smuggling drugs. Le Manh Luong and Tran Thi Hien are also both
accused of forging documents while Mr Luong is also charged with smuggling
weapons.

The Foreign Office said the British vice-consul is attending the trial.

Miss Hien has been given a replacement lawyer after her original choice
was placed under house arrest for holding membership to a banned political
party.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Miss Hien's original lawyer is under
house arrest and we are very disappointed because it does hinder her
ability to prepare and attend the trial to represent Miss Hien.

"The ambassador has raised concerns with the Vietnamese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

"However, Miss Hien is now being represented by a replacement lawyer and
she is satisfied with that."

The trial began on Tuesday and is being heard in the central Vietnamese
province of Quang Binh.

According to local newspaper reports Mr Luong is aged 46 and Miss Hien,
reported to be his sister-in-law, is 47.

Catherine Wolthuizen of Fair Trials Abroad said one of its lawyers was
attempting to contact the British embassy in Hanoi to offer assistance to
Miss Hien's new lawyer.

The Vietnamese authorities have so far declined to comment on the case.

(source BBC News)






IRAQ:

International Noose


Hanging a war criminal is a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

The Iraqi High Tribunal said that Saddam Hussein should be hanged for
killing 148 Kurds. People have been hanged for a lot less and also a lot
more.

First of all, I wish to set something straight. There are many ways of
hanging someone. There is the short drop, the suspension drop, the
standard drop and the long drop. Each has its advantages.

India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Singapore and the United States all have a
history of hanging. The short drop, which frankly I don't care for, places
a condemned person on the back of a cart, horse or other vehicle with the
noose around his neck. The vehicle is then moved away, leaving the person
dangling from the rope. Before 1850 it was the most popular method used,
and is still widely used in Middle Eastern countries.

The standard drop involves a drop of between 4 to 6 feet and came into use
in the 19th century. It was considered an advance over the short drop.

The long drop was introduced in 1872 by William Marwood as a scientific
advancement. Instead of everyone falling the same standard distance, the
person's weight was used to determine how much slack was provided in the
rope, so that the distance dropped would be enough to ensure that the neck
was broken.

I won't go into the medical effects of hanging, other than to say if done
correctly there would not be a lot of pain.

Saddam Hussein had his day in court -- a lot of days in court. And
although he was sentenced to the gallows for crimes against humanity, they
were religious as well as sectarian slaughters. The tribunal felt they
would have more luck if they tried him for 148 Kurds than all the
different Iraqis that everyone knew he had killed.

You would think with a sentence handed down that everybody would be happy,
but instead the world was split between those who thought the sentence was
a fair one and others who were against the death penalty.

Countries in the Middle East believe in hanging and still practice it.

Western countries might agree with the death penalty, but not by hanging.

I watched Hussein -- he made a lot of noise at his trial. Actually, he was
a lousy prisoner. At the beginning of the trial, I thought he made a case
for himself. But as days went by, it was obvious he was putting on a show
and he wanted the whole world to know that his atrocities were not as bad
as the court said they were.

As usual, the United States was in the worst mess because, although it
captured Hussein, it felt if he were hanged he would be made into a
martyr. In the United States, there is very little hanging going on, and
when you have capital punishment it is either by lethal injection or the
electric chair.

And then there are the polls. 85 % say he should be hanged. 10 % are for
life imprisonment, and 5 % say they are undecided.

Here is where I stand. I'm for the long drop over the standard one, as
long as the punishment fits the crime.

(source: Art Buchwald, Washington Post)