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

[Rick Halperin]

March 19


GUATEMALA:

A new executioner country?----Guatemalan society plagued by violence. Wave
of violence causes Congress to revive death penalty


In the early morning of June 29, 2000, Toms Cerrate and Amlcar Cetino
received the highest punishment  the death penalty  for having murdered
Isabel Botrn in 1997 while she was kidnapped.

That morning Guatemalans woke up more at ease, imagining that the violence
and series of kidnappings that overwhelmed Guatemala at that moment had
faded away.

Cerrate and Cetino were protagonists in bringing about catharsis in a
population plagued by crime and insecurity. However, the solution was more
complicated than the problem.

Then-President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004) sent his whole family out of
the country for fear of retaliation by kidnapping groups that the recently
executed criminals belonged to. A few weeks later before Congress,
Portillo resigned his duty of deciding whether or not to grant pardons to
those condemned to death.

In 2002, the constitutional court legally suspended the death penalty
after determining that the law authorizing it did not specify who could
give pardon. The executions were overlooked.

Public support

Now, nearly 8 years later, Guatemala once again faces this issue. On Feb.
12, Congress passed a legislation that restores the presidents power of
giving or rejecting pardon petitions presented by those condemned to
death. If the pardon is granted, the convict must serve 50 years  the
maximum prison sentence established in Guatemalan criminal law. The
proposed law directly affected 41 people currently on death row.

Once again, a wave of crime brought about this decision  which many
analysts think is rushed, lacks legal understanding and violates
international compromises. In February in a little over two weeks, 11
public transportation drivers and assistants were murdered for having
denied paying extortion money to gangs operating from prison.

In a telephone survey carried out by local newspaper Prensa Libre, two
days after the law was passed, more than 97 % of Guatemalans said they
backed the death penalty and only 2.6 % disagreed with it.

Nery Rodenas from the Guatemalan Archbishops Human Rights Office said:
"This measure is a step backward for the country since we should find a
new way to face crime with justice and due process that does not force
someone to decide on the life of another person."

On the other hand, Roxana Baldetti, head of the far right-wing Patriot
Party  the party that pushed the legislation, headed by former
presidential candidate Otto Prez Molina  explained that "the application
of the death penalty will alleviate the wave of violence that has
unleashed over the last few weeks, exceeding the few actions the
government has taken to contain it. It will serve to dissuade criminals
who have the country on its knees because now they know that the law will
be strictly applied."

Amnesty International sent an open letter to President lvaro Colom, who
entered office Jan. 8, asking him not to pass the death penalty and to
instead look for "more efficient and lasting" solutions to overcome the
public security crisis that affects Guatemala.

Sebastin Elgueta, of Amnesty International, reminded Colom that in
December Guatemala voted for the abolition of capital punishment in the
United Nations, which contradicts the decision that Congress just made.

Likewise, various political analysts agree that the death penalty violates
the American Convention on Human Rights  signed onto by Guatemala  whose
fourth article establishes that countries who had the death penalty and
then suspended it cannot go back to enforcing it.

Frank La Rue, former secretary of the Presidential Human Rights
Commission, wrote in his Prensa Libre opinion column that to reestablish
the pardon recourse is a necessary step, but only in order to reach a new,
more humanitarian national policy.

In turn, Nineth Montenegro, congresswoman with the center-left Encuentro
por Guatemala party  the only party who voted against the law and who was
represented by Rigoberta Mench in the 2007 presidential elections  asked
the government as well as Guatemalan citizens to reflect on the issue.

"It doesnt serve any purpose to make the punishments harder or to
encourage a culture of death without a justice system, police force or
Attorney Generals Office that function well or that work effectively," she
said.

(source: Latin America Press)






PHILIPPINES/SAUDI ARABIA:

OFW in Saudi death row appeals for financial aid


An overseas Filipino worker jailed and sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia
for killing an Arab man 7 years ago has appealed for financial help from
fellow Filipinos.

In an open letter to Philippine legislators and members of the media,
Rodelio Lanuza has been soliciting money to be able to pay the "blood
money" being asked by the victims family.

"I've been confined here in Dammam Central Jail since August 2000 and my
resources has all turned their backs on me even my family, closest and
considered friends which has helped me for the 7 years. They cannot be
blamed for they also have their own families to support," Lanuza said in a
text message from death row.

He said part of the money he will raise from his solicitations will
finance some of his familys needs.

"Any substantial amount would really be a big help for me and my wife who
is in dire straits as of the moment. My wife is here in KSA (Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia) also but her meager salary can't cope," Lanuza said.

Lanuza was convicted by a Saudi court for killing an Arab man on Aug. 10,
2000.

But Lanuza insisted that he committed the crime in self defense. He said
his victim tried to sexually assault him.

In November 2000, the Philippine embassy officials in Riyadh told Lanuza
that negotiations were ongoing to lift the death sentence in exchange for
"blood money" to settle the murder case.

However, the Lanuzas have difficulty in raising sufficient funds to give
the settlement money as aid only came from some Filipino religious leaders
from the Islamic Cultural Center in Dammam.

(source: ABS-CBN)






INDIA:

Sarabjit's execution deferred till April 30


External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday confirmed that
death row inmate Sarabjit Singh's execution has been deferred by a month,
with the new date of execution set at April 30 this year. "Government of
India is continuing its efforts to save the life of Sarabjit Singh. We
have achieved partial success and we will continue to carry on our
efforts," Mukherjee said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir said
that people at the 'high levels' are working hard to secure reprieve for
him.

Sarabjit Singh was on the death row for his alleged role in serial blasts
across Pakistan, which claimed at least 14 lives, and has been languishing
in a Pakistani jail for 17 years.

Pakistan has admitted to receiving India's request for clemency for
Sarabjit Singh.

On Tuesday, India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated
the Prime Minister's assurance on the man Pakistan calls a spy.

Sarabjit was to be earlier hanged on April 1.

(source: Times of India)






VIETNAM:

Vietnam sentences Australian heroin trafficker to death


An appeal court in Vietnam has sentenced an Vietnamese-Australian woman to
death for heroin trafficking after prosecutors appealed against her
original life sentence, a court clerk said Wednesday.

Jasmine Luong, 34, was handed the death penalty on Tuesday by the court in
Ho Chi Minh City, he said on condition of anonymity.

Luong, who was born in Vietnam, was arrested at Tan Son Nhat airport
outside Ho Chi Minh City in February last year as she preparing to fly to
Sydney with nearly 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of heroin, according to a
police source.

"She had been hired to transport those heroin packs, hidden in her luggage
and shoes," the source said.

Several Australians of Vietnamese origin have been arrested over the past
few years for trafficking heroin from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia. Of
those, some were given life imprisonment or the death penalty.

However, foreigners are rarely executed in the communist state, usually
after intense diplomatic pressure from Western governments.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those caught with more
than 600 grams of heroin or 20 kilograms of opium face the death penalty.

At least 104 people were sentenced to death in Vietnam last year, and 12
since the beginning of the year, according to figures compiled by AFP from
state media and Vietnamese officials.

(source: Agence France Presse)