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

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 14



CHINA:

China reiterates prudent use of death penalty


China has reiterated the need to apply the death penalty to only a small
number of serious offenders.

The Supreme People's Court on Thursday publicized a document on improving
criminal trials which reiterated, "All criminals that can be handed down a
death sentence without the need for immediate execution should be given a
death sentence with a 2-year reprieve."

"Death sentences with a reprieve since can not only punish the guilty but
also reduce the number of death penalties," the decision said.

It also said murders triggered by disputes among family members and
neighbors should not necessarily lead to capital punishment if the murder
arose from the victim's own fault and the victim's families are
financially compensated, the decision said.

The document also required all courts to properly balance the prudent use
of the death penalty and the need to ruthlessly punish criminals who have
committed serious crimes.

"We must fully consider the need to safeguard social stability and not
hesitate in giving death sentences with immediate execution to criminals
whose crimes have caused extremely serious consequences to society," it
reads.

On Jan. 1, 2007, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) regained the right to
review all death penalty decisions made by lower courts, ending its
24-year absence in approving China's execution verdicts.

Early this month, Jiang Xingchang, vice president of the SPC said, "As
people's courts across China have been strictly controlling and cautiously
applying death penalty over the past dozen years, the number of death
penalties have kept declining and reached its lowest point last year," he
said.

"In the first half of 2007, the number of death sentences continued to
drop compared with the figure of 2006," he said.

(source: Xinhua)

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

Orders to Use Death Penalty Less


China has ordered judges to use the death penalty more sparingly by
showing leniency for murderers who cooperate with authorities and white
collar criminals who help recoup their ill-gotten gains, the government
said Friday.

The order is the latest effort by Beijing to reform capital punishment in
China, which is believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than
the rest of the world combined.

"Capital punishment should only be given to an extremely small number of
serious offenders," said a statement posted Friday on the Supreme Court's
Web site explaining the new order. The order was issued to provincial
courts on Wednesday, it said, without releasing the full text.

When possible, the statement said, judges should sentence an offender to
death but with a two-year reprieve -- a penalty often commuted to life in
prison if they behave well in jail.

The order said crimes of passion, such as the murder of a family member or
neighbor, should not automatically result in the death penalty if
compensation is paid to the victim's family. Those convicted of economic
crimes should also receive lighter penalties if they help authorities
recover the money, it said.

China regularly executes people for economic, nonviolent and political
crimes.

On Tuesday, a former official with the Agriculture Bank of China was
executed for taking bribes and embezzling bank funds worth about $2
million, according to local media.

In July, the country's former top drug regulator was executed for taking
millions of dollars in bribes to approve substandard medicines, including
an antibiotic that killed at least 10 people.

China doesn't officially release death sentence figures.

Amnesty International says China executed at least 1,770 people in 2005 --
about 80 % of the world's total. But the true number is thought to be many
times higher.

While the Supreme Court order called for greater restraint in ordering
executions, it still upheld the use of the death penalty as a deterrent.

"We must hand down and carry out immediate capital punishment in regard to
heinous cases, with ironclad evidence that result in serious social
damage," it said.

An amendment to China's capital punishment law, enacted in November,
requires the Supreme People's Court to approve all death sentences, ending
a 23-year-old practice of giving the final review to provincial courts.

The change followed reports of executions of wrongly convicted people and
criticism that lower courts arbitrarily impose the death sentence.

(source: Associated Press)






GABON:

Gabon to scrap death penalty


Gabon on Friday became the latest country to move towards scrapping the
death penalty ahead of a resolution on a global moratorium to be put
before the UN General Assembly.

Gabon's cabinet said it decided to scrap the death penalty after noting
that no executions have been carried out in the west African country for
more than 20 years, and following a request from President Omar bongo
Ondimba.

At the urging of the Spanish and French governments and the European
Union, Gabon will co-sponsor a resolution on a global moratorium on
executions to be introduced at the UN General Assembly later this month,
it said.

(source: Agence Frnace Presse)