Dec. 31
PAKISTAN:
Chishti demands death penalty for ex-generals
President Ex- Servicemen Society and chairman Tameer-e-Pakistan Party, Gen
(R) Faiz Ali Chishti has demanded trial of all those retired army generals
including Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf, who staged coup against the elected
government on October12, 1999.
In an interview with The Nation and Nawa-i-Waqt on Wednesday, Gen Chishti
said that the then army generals which include: Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf,
Lt Gen (R), Saeedul Zafar, Lt Gen (R) Aziz Ahmad Khan, Lt Gen (R) Mahmood
and Lt Gen (R) Usmani, refused to accept the appointment orders of Lt Gen
Ziauddin Butt as army chief and dismissal of Gen Pervez Musharraf by then
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and thus committed rebellion against the
elected set up.
He said Gen Musharraf, who was no more army chief after appointment of Gen
Ziauddin incited his subordinates to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in
defiance of the Constitution.
Gen Chishti demanded judicial trial of these generals, saying that the
punishment prescribed for the act of committing rebellion was death.
Pervez Musharraf should also be held accountable for declaring emergency
on November 3, 2007, as he could not issue such order being a paid servant
of Pakistan, he observed, and added that no assembly has granted him
indemnity for his unconstitutional acts.
Replying to a question about bringing improvement in the institution of
army and extermination of terrorism, the retired general said that
Pakistan army needed re-organisation. He suggested setting up of national
service comprising retired army men and civilians to give back up support
to the army in war times.
He also stressed the need for imparting compulsory army training to female
and male students. The law of 3-year tenure for the army chief should be
implemented in letter and spirit, he further said.
He said government should take necessary measures to end all causes of
terrorism, whereas traditional watch and ward system should be introduced
to overcome the problem.
Giving solution to multiple crises facing the country, he said that
introduction of Islamic system of justice, agriculture reforms and uniform
education system would go a long way in reforming the society as a whole.
He stressed upon the PPP, which stood for supremacy of Constitution, to
ensure that office of President of Pakistan and 4 provincial governors
maintain impartiality.
(source: The Nation)
ST. KITTS:
Public speaks out on issue of hanging
THE most recent hanging to have taken place in the Federation has caused
not only and international stir, but it has also evoked opinions from the
local public and the general consensus points to widespread approval of
the execution of the death penalty.
Charles Elroy Laplace, also known as Al Laplace, was executed in
accordance with the law as punishment for the murder of his wife of 10
years, Diana Laplace. The murder occurred in 2004 and the man was
convicted 2years later and sentenced to death.
At 8:00 on the morning of December 19, 2008, Laplace was hanged within the
walls of Her Majesty' Prison, Basseterre and his remains buried therein.
Prior to the execution there seemed not to be much buzz, but many comments
were made following his death and the majority of them were in support of
the execution.
SKNVibes took to the streets of Basseterre to glean the publics opinion on
the hanging which was the Federation' first after a 10-year lapse.
" think they are doing the right thing about the hanging. I think it would
serve to decrease crime in the Federation. Some people don' want to die
and if they see they start hanging I believe they would change their mind
from killing people,"one woman opined.
Another female, who appeared unyielding in her stance, supported the death
penalty and noted that even if it were her son to be hanged the deed
should be done.
"he person that was hanged was supposed to have been hanged a long time
ago. I believe if he wasn' hanged we would have had another murder. I
realise from time they hanged someone no one else died. All who are
supposed to be hanged let them hang them. It could be my child...once he
does anything wrong, hang him."
As simply expressed by one gentleman, " believe hanging will make the bad
boys frighten and the killings will stop."
Persons who are murdered leave family members, including children, to
mourn their death and one woman expressed that the death penalty would
cause potential wrong-doers to think about all possible consequences of
their actions.
" agree with hanging because why should you take a like and you know you
there are those who will suffer because of your actions? The others on
death row should have been hanged already! They need to hang the others
and those who want to join them, let them get it."
Another citizen explained that with the expiration of a 10-year period
since the last hanging in the Federation, criminals seemed to have gotten
content with the idea of carrying out senseless killings. He further
expressed that if other efforts have failed in lowering the level of crime
in the Federation, the death penalty would bring about some change.
" support the death penalty, definitely! We tried all kinds of things
before and, to be honest, I believe the criminals were becoming content
with the idea of just killing people. I believe knowing now that their
lives would actually be on the line, they would think twice about it. I
honestly believe it would act as a deterrent."
While in support of the death penalty, the gentleman said the execution of
it must be supported by better investigations into criminal activities.
" do support the death penalty but I definitely need the level of crime
investigations to be stepped up, because we need to ensure that we don'
hang the wrong individual because it is a life."
Reflecting on the 23 murders that occurred during this year, another
individual told SKNVibes that this could not be tolerated and the
execution of the death penalty would cause those with mal-intentions to
give serious consideration to all possible outcomes of their actions.
I believe hanging is a real deterrent, and for persons who normally are
involved in these gang-related activities in which murder is the ultimate
vengeance, they will now have to reconsider the penalty; in that, if they
have to go to court and be prosecuted and convicted, not only would they
spend time in prison but the death penalty could be implemented. This is
especially with the public becoming more vigilant and concerned about
having these guys taken out. As you listen to more and more persons
talking about the death penalty, you realise that the public at large is
in favour of it because we cannot tolerate 23 murders in 1 year and ask
ourselves who is going to be next."
One of the world's most popular human rights activist groups, Amnesty
International issued a press release on Laplaces hanging condemning and
referring to it as a "shameless act".
An article carried by this media house on Amnestys release concerning
Laplace's hanging has caused several to comment registering and or
reiterating their support for the death penalty while expressing their
disapproval of Amnesty's "interference".
"I am totally outraged at Amnesty International for meddling in the
internal affairs of my independent country. They have absolutely no
solutions for the crime problems in the country. Hanging that man was a
just and fair act."
"Amnesty international need to keep out. They don't live here and they are
certainly not providing any assistance to tackle this crime problem in our
Federation. We have tried everything else and the problem keeps getting
worse. Why they don't worry themselves about the innocent people who are
getting killed in these forms of genocide all over the world. They just
talk and we need solutions. The US and other regions carry out capital
punishment & we not going to allow those TALKERS to affect us."
"When a country has reached a certain level of development in which the
state is very financially stable and the resources for proper crime
prevention are present such as forensics, etc. and the rate of crime has
been brought under control, then maybe they can think about abandoning the
death penalty. The Caribbean is not such a region. Crime has been
spiraling out of control due to the mindset that nothing can be done to
the perpetrators. We, unlike Europe, etc., cannot abandon death penalty."
"Where is Amnesty International when our Federation is being plagued by
gang violence, violence against women and such crimes? It is always easy
to judge when you are not in the situation where it affects you directly.
Let Amnesty International come and feel the pain of the families
devastated by the crimes such as this. The victims had rights too and
those were violated by their killers. It is grossly unfair to rush in to
protect those who have no regard for others."
(source: SKNVibes.com)
CANADA/IRAN:
Former Miss World Canada keeps fighting Iran's child executions
About 2 years ago, Vancouver-based human-rights advocate Nazanin
Afshin-Jam started a campaign to stop child executions in Iran.
When the Straight spoke in March 2007 to the former Miss World Canada and
2003 Miss World runner-up, her Web site identified 27 juvenile
offendersthose who had committed crimes before reaching the age of
18languishing on Iran's death row.
As of today (December 31), the organization cofounded by Afshin-Jam, whose
family fled Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution, lists 155 such persons
awaiting execution.
"We are trying to put a permanent end, so were always encouraging people
to sign the petition on our Web site," Afshin-Jam, president of Stop Child
Executions, told the Straight in a recent phone interview.
According to her, Iran executed at least 6 child offenders in 2008.
Iranian Behnoud Shojaee almost made that list.
Shojaee was 17 years old when he was involved in a fight that resulted in
the death of another boy.
According to the Stop Child Executions Web site, Shojaee was scheduled to
face execution on Christmas Eve but he was spared.
"He's still in a dangerous situation but at least he was taken out of the
list of people who were supposed to be executed," Afshin-Jam said.
She said that international pressure could help save more child offenders
from certain death.
Afshin-Jam also said that Iran isn't complying with its obligations under
2 international treaties banning child executions: the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child. The country is a signatory to these agreements.
(source: Straight Talk)
INDONESIA:
Anger after Indonesian spy cleared of murder
Angry protests greeted the acquittal Wednesday of a former Indonesian
intelligence official accused of killing a respected human rights activist
4 years ago.
Muchdi Purwopranojo was accused of plotting the murder of lawyer Munir
Said Thalib.
A court in Jakarta cleared Muchdi Purwopranojo of murder charges in the
September 2004 death of Munir Said Thalib, a lawyer heavily involved in
human rights work. Protesters outside the courthouse chanted, "Who killed
Munir? Muchdi killed Munir."
Munir's widow, Suciwati, said she was angry and disappointed in the
verdict. And Usman Hamid, head of the National Commission on Missing
Persons, said the family "is hurting from the verdict."
"The decision has turned people's faith in the justice system upside
down," said Hamid, who now leads Munir's organization.
Munir died after being poisoned while on a flight to the Netherlands.
Munir's supporters say he was the victim of a conspiracy by Indonesia's
national intelligence agency, the BIN.
Two other people have been charged and convicted in Munir's death -- a
pilot for the national airline Garuda Indonesia who was directly linked to
the poisoning, and a former Garuda official who authorized him to be on
the same flight.
Prosecutors argued that Muchdi gave the orders in the conspiracy. But
Hamid said judges treated the case as a personal vendetta by Muchdi, and
he said more people from the agency should have been implicated.
(source: CNN)
