[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 29



CENTRAL ASIA:

Central Asia Nearing Abolition


The vast region of Central Asia is moving closer to becoming
death-penalty-free and hopes are high that legislation banning all
executions will be adopted in all countries in the near future. But other
human rights challenges remain.

"There's a lot of expectation in the air. We've seen some very positive
steps in the last couple of years," Maria Luisa Bascur, regional project
director based in Brussels with the International Helsinki Federation of
Human Rights, told IPS. "I think in a couple of years the region will be
death penalty free. And we are pressing for that."

The resource-rich, strategically important region is comprised of five
countries which gained independence after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet
Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Their combined population is around 61 million.

Kazakhstan, the size of Western Europe, has vast untapped oil reserves.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are rich in minerals and potential hydroelectric
energy. Uzbekistan has big natural gas reserves and is also the world's
third largest exporter of cotton. Turkmenistan has large gas reserves.

"Only Uzbekistan is still executing people," Bascur said, adding that
Turkmenistan had already abolished the death penalty in 1999. "We estimate
from our sources that Uzbekistan is executing about 100 people a year.
There are no reports from there because it's a state secret. The president
(Islam Karimov) actually signed a decree in 2005 saying he would abolish
the death penalty in 2008."

But a spokesperson from Amnesty International, campaigning for a
death-penalty-free zone in the region, told IPS that "secrecy remains an
issue in all the countries".

Turkmen author Sapargul Mamedova, writing in the March 2007 issue of the
Internet magazine Oasis, said she had received reports that three
prominent people have died in Turkmenistan prisons since the declared
abolition of the death penalty there. They included journalist Ogulsapar
Muradova who allegedly died after being tortured late last year.

The two others -- the former head of the Turkmen security service
Mukhammed Nazarov, and chairman of the Turkmen parliament, Taghandurdy
Khallyev -- had been accused of abuse of power. Bascur confirmed that
extra-judicial killings had taken place in Turkmenistan.

Last December Kyrgyzstan took what was interpreted as a genuine lead in
the region by abolishing the death penalty through a constitutional
amendment that guarantees the "inherent right to life to everyone".

Lawmakers were then expected to agree to revisions in the country's
criminal code to bring it in line with the constitutional changes -- a
task to be completed within six months. But this has been delayed by
building pressure from the opposition -- led by former prime minister
Felix Kulov -- for President Bakiev to step down.

There have been reports that Kyrgyz judges have been handing down death
sentences despite the constitutional changes. This was due to "ignorance",
Justice Minister Marat Kayipov reportedly responded, adding that they
clearly "had not read the constitution."

Yet more constitutional changes are expected in Kyrgyzstan shortly,
sources here say. Bakiev has agreed to set up a joint working group to
re-write the new constitution. Human rights activists and politicians
expect this will also contain a ban on executions. This was confirmed to
IPS by Nurbolot Kurmanov, head of the justice department in Bishkek, the
Kyrgyz capital.

"Kyrgyzstan's abolition of the death penalty will have repercussions for
the entire region," Bascur said. She predicted that Kazakhstan would
quickly follow suit. "It might not happen right away. But the ground is
fertile with civil society pushing for it. Kazakhstan is listening to its
neighbours and the international community."

Next in line for abolishing the death penalty would be Tajikistan, Bascur
speculated. "They've already converted all death sentences to a fixed-term
sentence, so in a sense they have done the main work."

The big question for rights activists is whether Uzbekistan will honour
its pledge to abolish the death penalty on Jan. 1, 2008. "Uzbekistan is
the more extreme case," Bascur agreed. "The non-governmental organisations
are suffering constant persecution there. If you do work, you risk not
only fines but going to prison." No one was allowed to monitor the number
of executions. Not even the relatives of the people executed were informed
of the execution date or where they were buried, she said.

Experts here agree that Uzbekistan will be the last country in the region
to abolish the death penalty. "There is little hope that Karimov will
follow the way of Kyrgyzstan," Nur Omarov, professor of politics at the
Kyrgyz-Russian University, one of the leading universities in the country,
told IPS. Karimov's top concern was maintaining political stability and
there would be no softening in his stance towards political dissent.

But there was every reason to be optimistic that change was in the air in
Turkmenistan after the sudden death in December 2006 of its hard-line
president Saparmurat Niyazov, said Omarov. "The Turkmen people are
expecting changes," he said. Even before the election of Qurbanquli
Berdymukhamedov as president in February, some high ranking politicians
sentenced to long terms in prison had been released and one state prison
closed down completely, Omarov said.

"Something will happen hopefully, especially in Turkmenistan," Bascur
agreed.

Rights organisations are especially pressing for all countries in the
region to introduce death penalty bans into their constitutions. "It's
important to transform moratoriums into something more concrete," Bascur
said, adding that the region had experienced considerable turmoil in the
1st years after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

"Moratoriums are very positive. But in countries where power rests mostly
with the president, just a presidential whim could set them aside. What is
needed is something more concrete: full abolition reflected in the
constitution and the criminal code."

Activists also point out that as long as a moratorium is in place, judges
will continue to hand down death sentences. This means the numbers on
death row in the region will continue to grow. Those on death row live
under constant fear that the moratorium could be lifted and an execution
order carried out.

Bascur believes that with death penalty bans in place, more attention will
be focused on reforming the judiciary systems in the region. "There isn't
an independent judiciary in any of these countries," she said. "Most of
the death sentences were pronounced in faulty trials. Maybe confessions
were extracted by torture and the victims were not heard."

Reforming the penal systems is also a priority for activists. The end of
death rows would mean that those convicted of serious crimes must now
spend decades in prison. "They don't get proper food there," said Bascur.
"Many die from tuberculosis and disease because there is no access to
medical treatment."

She added: "We are striving for more humane conditions in prisons and the
rehabilitation of those having served their sentences. Sometimes even NGOs
think the battle is won once the death penalty has been abolished. It is
an important step. But the battle ahead of us is even greater."

(source: IPS News)






RUSSIA:

PACE Urges Russia To Abolish Death Penalty


Monitors from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly have
reiterated calls for Russia to abolish the death penalty.

Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Luc Van den Brande and Theodoros
Pangalos said the Council of Europe insisted Russia remove the death
penalty from its books, a commitment it undertook when it joined the body
in 1996.

After joining the council, Russia imposed a moratorium on executions. But
it remains the only country among the council's 46 members not to have
ratified a protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the
abolition of the death penalty.

The PACE monitors today concluded a three-day visit to Russia to assess
its progress in honoring its commitments to the council, Europe's top
human rights watchdog.

The monitors said they had noted some positive developments. They also
voiced concerns over some aspects of Russian electoral law ahead of
forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

(sources: RIA Novosti, Interfax)






BAHAMAS:

Murder Convict's Appeal Delayed


The justices of the Court of Appeal met on Wednesday to hear the appeal of
convicted murderer Forrester Bowe, but the matter had to be adjourned
until a later date after it was revealed that Bowe did not have an
attorney to represent him during the hearing.

President of the appellate court, Dame Joan Sawyer, asked the convict if
he had attempted to secure an attorney for Wednesday's proceeding. Bowe
indicated to the court that his family had been seeking to appoint an
attorney.

He said he was under the impression that someone would have come on
Wednesday to represent him and indicated that he planned to contact his
family members to see whether they had selected an attorney.

Dame Joan adjourned the matter until June 19 and said she would instruct
the registrar of the appeal court to appoint an attorney for Bowe in the
event that his family does not select someone to represent him by the
adjourned date.

Bowe and Trono Davis, another murder convict, successfully mounted a
challenge before the Privy Council against the mandatory death sentence.
The high court ruled last year that the mandatory death sentence in the
Bahamas was unconstitutional.

Their challenge resulted in the Privy Council quashing their death
sentences and ordering that their cases be sent back to the Supreme Court
for reconsideration of the appropriate sentences.

Since then Bowe was re-sentenced to life in prison.

Bowe was convicted of the murder of Deon Roache in 1998 and sentenced to
death. He served eight years in prison before appealing to the Privy
Council.

Bowe lost his appeal before the Court of Appeal in April 2003 where he was
appealing his death sentence and it was not until late 2005 that the
London-based high court heard their case, which changed the course of how
the death sentence is handed down.

Bowe was also 1 of 4 prisoners involved in that violent prison break from
Her Majestys Prison last year.

(source: The Bahama Journal)






INDIA:

Prosecution seeks death penalty in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case


The prosecution arguing in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, has sought death
penalty for the 3 convicts, held guilty by a trial Court for lynching
three members of a Sikh family.

Terming the gruesome murder as a "rarest of rare" case, Chief Public
Prosecutor, Y P S Ahluwalia said, "This is a triple murder which was
committed with a proper planning and in a gruesome manner," in his
arguments before Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri.

On Monday, the Court had convicted 3 persons.

As per the prosecution, Harminder Kaur's husband Niranjan Singh, a head
constable who was stationed at Shahdara railway station, was lynched by
the rioters.

Her 17-year-old son Gurpal Singh and son-in-law Mahender Singh were killed
a day after.

(source: Daily India)