[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 30



GLOBAL:

Brazil seeks global abolition of death penalty


Global abolition of the death penalty and other human rights aspirations
could be achieved through mechanisms similar to the Millennium Development
Goals adopted by the United Nations, according to a proposal by the
government of Brazil.

Brazil's special secretary for Human Rights, Paulo Vannuchi, presented a
proposal to the UN Human Rights Council calling for the definition of
concrete human rights goals, with varying deadlines, to eradicate some of
the restrictions on people's freedoms and safeguards.

The Brazilian official pointed out that countries have widely different
legislation on human rights issues.

At a meeting convened in November by the Chinese Society for Human Rights
Studies, Mr. Vannuchi discovered that China, after the triumph of the
revolution led by Mao Zedong in 1949, has envisage abolishing the death
penalty at some time in the future.

Thus China, which liberally employs the death penalty now, and Brazil,
which does not, agree on its long-term eradication although they differ on
immediate abolition, Mr. Vannuchi said.

Therefore, the Human Rights Council, as the highest UN human rights body,
should open a debate on capital punishment with a view to adopting a
decision, in 10 or 20 years if necessary, to "establish a world without
the death penalty," Mr. Vannuchi told IPS.

Brazil and some other countries that do not have the death penalty on
their books "face the very complex problem of extrajudicial killings," or
summary executions perpetrated by police forces or death squads, he said.

In addition to abolition of capital punishment, other goals could be
included to make up a basket of human rights issues, he said.

The first such measure might be the struggle against racism. Beginning
with the UN, it could spread to legislation in every country, following
the example of Brazil and other countries, which have already defined
racism as a crime. Almost half of Brazils population of over 140 million
is Black.

People complaining, for example, "I was the target of aggression because I
am Black," could then demand redress from the law, which would pass
sentence accordingly, the official said.

In February, a convention against such disappearances adopted by the UN
General Assembly was signed in Paris, the expert said. The treaty,
sponsored by France and Argentina, began to be mooted in 1981, when many
Argentines were living in exile in France, he said.

The treaty's aim is not just to address pending issues in Brazil, Chile,
Argentina and other countries where thousands of people fell victim to
disappearance under U.S.-backed military dictatorships in the 1970s and
1980s, but also to create a framework to prevent such human rights
violations in the future, he said.

Mr. Vannuchi proposed that the Human Rights Council, whose 4th session
began this week, create a working group to prepare a plan with specific
human rights targets, to be pursued in parallel to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).

The UN member countries adopted the MDGs in September 2000. The 8 goals to
be fulfilled by 2015 include drastically reducing poverty and hunger,
achieving universal primary education, and promoting gender equality.

Setting specific human rights goals should promote a degree of
international openness that would reinforce the effort to achieve the
MDGs, in Mr. Vannuchi's view.

He said the MDGs were important because, for the 1st time in history,
countries had committed themselves to concrete development goals, even if
they are not all able to achieve them, because of domestic events,
conflict situations or developments in the global economy itself.

The Brazilian proposal is for the new human rights goals to be launched
next year, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948.

Mr. Vannuchi described the case of Brazil, where efforts to reach the MDGs
have resulted in a confluence of purpose between different sectors
committed to their achievement, including trade unions, non-governmental
organizations, the business community and universities.

(source: FCN Publishing)






BANGLADESH----executions

Bangladesh Executes 6 Militants, According to Report


6 top Islamic militants convicted of killing 2 judges in a 2005 bomb
attack in southern Bangladesh were hanged Friday, a television station
reported.

The 6 members of the banned Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh group, which
wants to introduce Islamic Sharia laws in the Muslim-majority country, had
been sentenced to death for the Nov. 14, 2005, slayings in the town of
Jhalakathi.

During their trial, the defendants said they targeted the courts because
they are run by secular law.

The 6 men were hanged early Friday in 4 separate prisons in Bangladesh,
private TV station Channel-i reported.

The executions were kept a secret until security forces delivered the
militants' bodies to their families early Friday. TV footage showed the
relatives signing papers to confirm receipt of the bodies.

Relatives and neighbors gathered gloomily around the wooden coffins, but
there were no protests.

Shaikh Abdur Rahman, known as the supreme commander of the militants, was
executed at a prison in eastern Comilla town, the TV report said.

His sister Atiqua Begum, said security forces brought his body to the
family in the remote farming village of Charsigram in Jamalpur district,
about 80 miles north of the capital, Dhaka.

''We are preparing for the funeral,'' she said, as villagers and reporters
gathered in the village. ''Allah will forgive him.''

The body of Siddiqul Islam, a deputy of Rahman, reached his village home
in northern Bogra district before dawn Friday, local reporter A. K. Azad
said.

Islam's body was brought in a wooden coffin and received by his brother
Rafiqul Islam, Azad told The Associated Press.

Early this month, Bangladesh's president Iajuddin Ahmed rejected appeals
for clemency by the 6 men, paving the way for their execution.

The Supreme Court turned down the militants' appeal against the death
sentence in late November.

Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, has been blamed for a string of bombings
across the nation that have killed 26 people and wounded dozens more since
August 2005, police said.

The wife of slain judge Jagannath Pandey hailed the executions.

''I'll never get my husband back, but I'm happy that justice has
prevailed. The killers have been punished,'' Pallabi Pandey told reporters
at her home in southern Barisal town.

''The extremists have got what was due to them,'' said Abul Kalam, a
rickshaw driver in Dhaka. ''How could they kill the innocent judges?''

(source: New York Times)






PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY:

Arabs Who Sold Home to Hebron Jews Arrested, Face Death Penalty


2 Arabs involved in the sale of a Hebron building to the Jewish community
have been placed under arrest, one by the Palestinian Authority, the other
by Jordon.

The arrested Arabs now face capital punishment, as Palestinian Authority
law dictates the death sentence for anyone found guilty of selling
property to a Jew.

Orit Struk, political activist and member of the Hebron Jewish Committee,
contends that the arrests "prove the sale was legal."

The Beit HaShalom, Peace House, located amongst Arab buildings between the
Jewish enclave in Hebron and the neighboring large Jewish neighborhood of
Kiryat Arba, was purchased 2 weeks ago for the sum of $700,000.

Immediately following the announcement of the transaction, Israeli police
launched an investigation into the legality of the sale, and the Defense
Ministry under the auspices of left-leaning Labor Chairman Amir Peretz
began searching for grounds to expel the new Jewish residents of the
building.

The resulting police investigation could not find any evidence of
wrongdoing in the sale, and many within the police and defense
establishment are acknowledging the sale was legal, albeit off-the-record.

Jewish Community Spokesman David Wilder claimed he does not see the
arrests as proof of the legitimate nature of the sale. "We don't need any
proof that this was done legally, we know that the transaction was
completely legal and the resulting police investigation confirmed this."

The Jewish community in Hebron used numerous available channels to arrange
the purchase. Much of the exchange took place in Jordan.

According to Wilder, at least one of the men involved in the sale did not
know he was selling the building to a Jew.

"It is a disgrace that selling houses is considered a capital offense,"
said Wilder. "This is a regular transaction that takes place everyday
throughout the free world. That someone would be arrested for selling
their home if they choose is preposterous.

"I wonder where all the Human Rights organizations that station themselves
in Hebron contending to look after the rights of Arabs in the city are
now.

"The government of Israel should help these individuals to show that this
type of law cannot continue in a free society," Wilder added. MK Uri Ariel
(National Union) has urged the Israeli government to work for the release
of the Arabs involved in the sale.

(source: Israel National News)