Dec. 15
IRAQ:
UN urges Iraq to treat Saddam-era officials fairly
The top U.N. envoy in Iraq has urged the Shiite-led government to treat
imprisoned Saddam Hussein-era figures fairly after the American military
hands them over as part of a detainee transfer required under a new
security pact.
The stakes are high for Saddam's cousin known as "Chemical Ali" who
already faces two death sentences handed down by an Iraqi court and other
former officials who were captured by U.S. troops years ago and accused of
playing a role in decades of abuse and killings of Shiites and Kurds.
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N.'s special representative in Iraq, called for
the high-profile figures and other detainees to be given due process "if
possible with some international observation."
He also reiterated the U.N.'s opposition to capital punishment.
"The wish of the U.N. is that the death penalty is not applied," he told
The Associated Press on Saturday in a telephone interview.
The fate of Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering
poison gas attacks against the Kurds, former defense minister Sultan
Hashim al-Taie and an ex-deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed
forces Hussein Rashid Mohammed has been in limbo since an appeals court
upheld their death sentences in September.
The 3 men were sentenced to hang for a 1980s crackdown against Kurds. But
the U.S. military refused to relinquish control of the detainees after
Sunni leaders launched a campaign to spare the life of al-Taie, who is
widely viewed as a respected career soldier who was forced to follow
Saddam's orders in the purges.
The security pact, which takes effect on Jan. 1, stipulates that the U.S.
military must transfer the more than 15,000 detainees in its custody to
the Iraqis or release them if the evidence is not sufficient to hold them.
Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, indicated earlier
this month that those would include the former regime officials.
"All of the detainees that we have in our control, we'll work with the
government of Iraq to return those detainees in a safe and orderly
fashion. That includes all of them," he said when asked about the status
of the condemned men at a news conference.
The Americans already have identified detainees to be released next month,
and the Iraqi government will begin reviewing more files on Monday to
determine who should be released or transferred to Iraqi custody starting
on Feb. 1, military spokesman Maj. Neal Fisher said.
The U.S. military has been heavily criticized for its past treatment of
detainees, particularly following the publication of photos of inmates
being humiliated by American guards at the now-closed Abu Ghraib prison.
American authorities have since implemented a series of reforms, although
they still face complaints about prolonged detentions without charges.
Concern is currently focused on the beleaguered Iraqi judicial system,
with the United Nations warning in a recent human rights report about
overcrowding and "grave human rights violations" of detainees in Iraqi
custody.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has been accused by Sunnis of
seeking revenge over justice in its pursuit of the former regime
officials. Human rights groups also denounced the December 2006 execution
of Saddam, who was taunted as he went to the gallows, and the subsequent
hangings of 3 of the dictator's former deputies.
De Mistura said the upcoming transfer of detainees was a chance for Iraqi
authorities to "send a signal that they are joining the human rights
environment" by treating them fairly.
Chemical Ali received a second death sentence on Dec. 2 for his role in
the crushing of a Shiite uprising in the wake of Iraq's defeat in the 1991
Gulf War.
Former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, who was well-known as Saddam's envoy
to the international community, also faces a possible death sentence in
separate proceedings.
The trials have been a major source of sectarian friction that has
threatened to jeopardize security gains.
De Mistura expressed hope that Jan. 31 provincial elections would
enfranchise Sunnis and other minority groups and stem support for the
insurgency.
The U.N. also has decided to delay a report on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk
and other disputed areas that had been due in late November until this
spring to prevent the issue from inflaming an already dangerous situation
ahead of the vote, he said.
A suicide bomber killed at least 55 people Thursday in a restaurant where
Kurdish officials, who are seeking to incorporate the city into their
semiautonomous region, and Arab tribal leaders were holding a
reconciliation meeting.
Iraqi lawmakers agreed on a much-stalled provincial elections law only
after deciding to postpone the vote in Tamim province, which includes
Kirkuk, and instead come up with separate legislation for elections there
by March.
(source: Assoicated Press)
JAMAICA:
Death Penalty Denies Due Process of Law- Senator Meadows
Debate on the death penalty continued in the Senate yesterday (Dec.12)
with Government Senator, Dennis Meadows, arguing that capital punishment
denies due process of law, as it deprives an individual the benefit of new
evidence, or new law, that might warrant the reversal of a conviction or
setting aside of a death sentence.
"The death penalty violates the constitutional guarantee of the equal
protection of the law. It is applied randomly at best and discriminatorily
at worst. It is disproportionate upon those who find the cost of a good
advocate prohibitive," Senate Meadows stated.
He further argued that the death penalty gives society the unmistakeable
message that human life no longer deserves respect and obscures the true
causes of crime.
He proposed proper moral socialisation; equitable distribution of goods
and services including access to education from childhood upwards;
harmonious social development; and first class judicial and rehabilitation
systems, as some of the solutions to solving the crime problem.
Opposition Senator Norman Grant also agreed that hanging will not solve or
reduce the problem of crime in Jamaica.
"What we need to do is to look at the problem and fix it," he stated. "My
real concern as it relates to the murder rate in Jamaica is that we are
not catching them (the criminals). We need to remove them from society,
but we don't have to hang them to remove them from the society," he
pointed out.
According to Senator Grant, the world is turning away from the use of the
death penalty and since 2003 the United States has been the only country
in the Americas to carry out executions. He further informed that 137
countries have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice and only
24 nations carried out executions in 2007.
Meanwhile, Opposition Senator, Basil Waite stated that the death penalty
remains Jamaica's most potent weapon against crime.
"I support the implementation of the death penalty and the retention of
the death penalty on our books, because I believe it is one of the tools
that we can use to tackle the crime that we have in our society," Senator
Waite said.
He noted however that implementing the death penalty by itself will not
stop murders from being committed. "I think more importantly that there
must be an assault on the garrison communities in the sense that we must
implement social, economic and infrastructural improvements in these
communities to improve the lives of these people," he suggested.
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and
Sports, Senator Warren Newby also stated his support of the death penalty.
The debate will continue on December 19.
(source: Jamaica Information Service)
