March 28
ZIMBABWE:
Zimbabwe plans to cut back on hangings, death penalty only for ‘extreme
violence’
In a compromise between human rights groups and traditional supporters of
capital punishment, it will be up to judges to rule on the level of violence
used.
Matinenga said the fate of at least 61 prisoners on death row will be
considered on individual merits if the measure is adopted in a September
constitutional referendum.
No executions have been carried out under the 3-year old coalition government.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s former opposition party has voiced its
disapproval of hanging.
(source: Associated Press)
NORTH KOREA:
Amnesty says Pyongyang ‘keeps on executing’
North Korea carried out at least 30 executions last year, while the number of
inmates on death row in the South increased by 1, according to an annual
Amnesty International (AI) report published yesterday.
However, because of a lack of information coming out of North Korea, the report
noted that many more executions have likely taken place.
“In January 2011, more than 200 officials were detained by the State Security
Agency in a move to consolidate the leadership succession of Kim Jong-un,” the
report said, raising concerns that some, if not all of them, have been
executed.
“Public executions, including those in political prison camps, are believed to
have taken place throughout the year,” despite its penal code banning the
practice, the report added.
Meanwhile, although the South has maintained its moratorium on executions, it
did hand down 1 new death sentence in 2011, the AI report said.
A soldier was sentenced to death by a military court after he killed four
fellow marines in a shooting rampage last July.
(source: cathnews--Philippines)
INDIA:
Life or death? Verdict on 31st
India is set to bring alive the capital punishment debate as it gets ready to
carry out first execution in about eight years. Balwant Singh Rajoana is to be
executed on March 31 for assassinating former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh
in 1995 in the backdrop of feeble protests for clemency.
The country last witnessed hanging of a child rapist on August 14, 2004 when
Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in West Bengal, causing then a bitter debate
for and against capital punishment.
While government has officially stuck to its stand on the controversial issue,
the fact that no hanging has taken place in India during the last 8 years bears
testimony to the fact it has adopted a wait and watch policy.
Indian courts awarded a total of 1,338 death penalties during the last one
decade on a plethora of cases ranging from murder and rape to terror. The award
profile essentially follows the crime graph in the country with Uttar Pradesh
leading the tally at 323. Courts in Bihar and Maharashtra awarded 130 and 122
death penalties respectively during the decade.
Family members of Rajoana have pleaded for converting his death sentence to
life imprisonment. There might be merit in their argument if statistics are any
indication. During the last decade a total of 2806 death penalty cases were
commuted to life imprisonment. Out of these, Delhi reported the maximum 2461
life imprisonment cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with 461 and 339
incidents, respectively.
As if on cue in an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Amnesty
International, the human rights watchdog, said the execution of Rajoana would
be a major step backwards. "Resuming executions after an 8 year hiatus would
place India in opposition to regional and global trends towards abolition of
the death penalty," said Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director Sam Zarifi, in his
March 26 plea.
The government has maintained silence on the issue but should it go through the
March 31 execution, decks would be cleared for the hanging of several other
high profile convicts. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), there
were 18 mercy petitions pending before the President and MHA as of February 14,
2012. The list includes Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
India is not alone that still swears by capital punishment and has US and Iran
for company. Iran, incidentally, boasts of the highest number of 1663
executions in the last 4 years. Saudi Arabia and Iraq follow with 423 and 256
executions each during the period. The United States and Pakistan also reported
220 and 174 hangings in the same period.
On the last count 97 countries had done away with capital punishment preferring
life imprisonment over it.
(source: Zee News)
*****************
Amnesty International writes to PM to stop Rajoana's execution
Amnesty International has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
stop the imminent execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, scheduled to be carried
out on March 31.
"We understand your government has the sole authority to prevent the execution,
since the government in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, where he was awarded
the death sentence, does not have the power to commute that sentence," Sam
Zarifi, director, Amnesty International, Asia-Pacific, has written in a letter
which was sent on March 26.
The copies of the letter have also been sent to the President of India, the
Minister of Home Affairs, the Governor of Punjab and the administrator of the
Union Territory of Chandigarh and the chief minister of Punjab. Zarifi, in the
letter, wrote that, "Amnesty International urges you to take all necessary
measures within your power to stop the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana and
immediately establish an official moratorium on executions; commute the death
sentences of all prisoners in the country; and swiftly abolish the death
penalty in India for all crimes."
While death sentences continue to be given by Indian courts, no executions have
been carried out since 2004 and the debate on the death penalty has intensified
markedly in India in recent years.
(source: The Times of India)
***********************
Execution of Balwant Singh would be a step back for India
The execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana must be halted and an official
moratorium on capital punishment established in India, Amnesty International
said in an open letter to the country’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Balwant
Singh’s execution is scheduled for 31 March 2012, in Punjab state. While death
sentences continue to be imposed by Indian courts, no executions have been
carried out in India since 2004. Amnesty International publishes its new report
Death Sentences and Executions 2011 on Tuesday 27 March. As of 22 March 2012,
more than two-thirds of all countries have abolished the death penalty in law
or practice. Out of 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, 17 have abolished
the death penalty for all crimes and 10 are abolitionist in practice.
“Resuming executions after an 8 year hiatus would place India in opposition to
regional and global trends towards abolition of the death penalty,” said
Bikramjeet Batra, Amnesty International’s Policy Adviser. “We urge Prime
Minister Singh to stop the execution of Balwant Singh and establish an official
moratorium on executions – and ultimately to abolish the death penalty in India
for all crimes.”
Balwant Singh was found guilty in 2007 of the assassination of former Punjab
Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. The death sentence was upheld by the High
Court of Punjab and Haryana in October 2010. Amnesty International opposes the
death penalty in all cases without exception. The death penalty is the ultimate
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. • Interviews with Amnesty
International Death Penalty experts are available.
Please use link for a copy of the open letter to Prime Minister Singh:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA20/011/2012/en
(source: Amnesty International)
*******************
Parliament Should Repeal the Death Penalty
The Indian government should halt the hanging of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has
been on death row since August 2007 for the assassination of Punjab Chief
Minister Beant Singh, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 27, 2012, acourt
in Chandigarh, Punjab refused a request for a stay of execution and ordered
that the hanging proceed on March 31.
On August 31, 2005, Beant Singh and others were killed by a suicide bomber in
Chandigarh. Rajoana admitted being part of the conspiracy, and has refused to
appeal his conviction and death sentence, saying that he does not regret the
killing.
“The death penalty is always wrong and the Indian government should immediately
stop this execution,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human
Rights Watch. “Beyond that, executing Rajoana would merely continue the cycle
of killing and retribution between the Sikh community and the Indian state that
has long divided communities.”
The killing of Beant Singh occurred in the context of abuses by government
security forces and Sikh militants during a secessionist insurgency in Punjab
that began in the 1980s. The militants sought to avenge the 1984 massacres of
Sikhs after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh
bodyguards. The bodyguards in turn were avenging the government assault on the
Sikh Golden Temple in Armritsar, Punjab. Although capital punishment remains
legal in India and the courts frequently impose the death sentence, no
execution has occurred for more than seven years. If Rajoana is executed, he
will be the second person sent to the gallows since 1995. The last person
executed was Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was convicted in a rape and murder case
of a child and hanged in Kolkata in August 2004.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badalhas said that all legal aspects of the
case will need to be examined before his government can consider an execution.
The last hanging in Punjab was in 1989.
A number of appeals have been filed against the Rajoana execution. The petition
seeking deferment of the hanging was filed by the superintendent of Patiala
central jail, saying that although Rajoana had not appealed his conviction, his
fellow accused have challenged their convictions and those appeals are still
pending.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. A majority of countries in the
world have abolished the practice.
“The Indian government has rightly not carried out executions for nearly a
decade,” Ganguly said. “It should now officially declare a moratorium, commute
all existing death sentences, and then abolish the death penalty for all
crimes.”
(source: Human Rights Watch)
************************
Halt execution, says Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch Wednesday demanded that India should not hang terrorist
Balwant Singh Rajoana.
"The death penalty is always wrong and the Indian government should immediately
stop this execution," a Human Rights Watch South Asia director Meenakshi
Ganguly.
"Executing Rajoana would merely continue the cycle of distrust between members
of the Sikh community and the Indian state," she added.
Rajoana has been on death row since August 2007 for the assassination of Punjab
Chief Minister Beant Singh.
On Tuesday, a Chandigarh court refused a request for a stay of execution and
ordered that the hanging proceed Saturday.
On Aug 31, 2005, Beant Singh and others were killed by a suicide bomber in
Chandigarh.
Rajoana admitted being part of the conspiracy. He has refused to appeal his
conviction and death sentence, saying he does not regret the killing.
The last person executed in India was Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was convicted
in a rape and murder case of a child and hanged in Kolkata in August 2004. The
last hanging in Punjab was in 1989.
Human Rights Watch said it opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently irreversible and inhumane punishment.
"The Indian government has rightly not carried out executions for nearly a
decade," Ganguly said.
"It should now officially declare a moratorium, commute all existing death
sentences, and then abolish the death penalty for all crimes."
(source: New Kerala)
NIGERIA:
CJN, AGF Differ On Death Penalty Abolition
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, and Attorney
General of the Federation AGF), Mohammed Adoke, has taken different positions
over retention or abolition of death penalty in the country.
While the CJN disagreed on the abolition of death penalty, saying it must be
retained in the constitution, in spite of mounting pressure against it, the AGF
was undecided, saying he could not say whether it is good or bad.
The number-1 Nigerian judge stressed that in a constitutional democracy,
neither the legislature nor the judiciary is supreme over the constitution,
adding that unless the National Assembly amends the law, there is nothing
anybody can do about it.
Justice Musdapher stated this yesterday in Abuja at a one-day programme
organised by an NGO, Lawyers Without Borders based in France, which canvassed
for the abolition of death penalty in Nigeria.
Musdapher, who was represented by Special Assistant, Hadiza Sontali Sa'eed,
held that it is not the responsibility of the judiciary to abolish death
sentence in Nigerian laws, but the work of the legislature.
'The constitution specifically provides for death penalty in section 33.1 that
every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of
his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal
offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria,' he said.
He explained that, 'In addition, the Supreme Court has in, a plethora of cases,
upheld the constitutionality of death sentence in Nigeria. 'Indeed, in a
constitutional democracy, neither the legislature nor the judiciary is supreme.
Only the constitution is supreme. When a constitution is adopted, the
legislature is obliged to uphold its provisions. The task of the court is to
protect the provisions of the constitution and ensure that the legislature
fulfills its obligation.'
Speaking in the same vein, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) described as
premature a call for the abolition of death penalty in the country.
The NBA President, Joseph B. Daudu (SAN) told the organisers that the call is
premature, adding that what is needed is institutional advocacy on issues of
criminal justice system in Nigeria.
'NBA has taken a stance on this issue of death penalty. At our NBA NEC meeting
in Gombe, two issues were discussed; one of the issues was death penalty and
that of same-sex marriage and our stance on death penalty was that it is
premature. But we condemned same-sex marriage and called for any legislation
that will forbid it,' he said.
'We are principal partners with the Lawyers Without Borders and we will
continue our partnership, but what is important is whether our justice system,
particularly criminal justice, is mature enough to abolish death penalty.
We must concentrate or find a way of fine-tuning a criminal justice system. We
need much enlightenment than begin to think of abolition of death penalty in
our criminal justice sector,' Daudu stressed.
The NBA president condemned torture outright, stressing that anywhere that
torture manifests itself must be condemned.
In his remarks, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of
Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) said he could not take a position on
whether death penalty should be abolished or not, a position supported by the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Instead, the AGF, who was represented at the event by an assistant Director in
the Justice Ministry, Chidinma Ukelonu, emphasised that death penalty is a
constitutional matter, decrying that the judiciary has been reluctant in its
application.
'Therefore, we cannot say it is right or wrong. We look forward to receiving
the report of this conference with a view that it will help reshape our
criminal justice system. I have already put a justice reform committee, and the
result of this conference will be of great assistance to us,' he said.
Lawyers Without Borders, France and the European Union (EU), are strongly
against death penalty and have since been going from one country to the other,
canvassing the abolition.
They vowed to support lawyers handling cases of people who are either on death
row or faced with the death sentence.
Although the Vice President of the NGO and Team Leader, Nigeria Project, Ivan
Paneff, acknowledged that Nigeria is one of the major countries in Africa where
death penalty is still enforced and legally authorised, he emphasised that a
suspension on the execution of death sentences was imposed in 2004.
'It was meant to pave way for the abolition of the death penalty. The
moratorium is still in place,' Paneff reminded.
'Our mission is to launch a new project called Saving Lives (SALI), which has
to do with those who are condemned to death or could be condemned with death
penalty. Avocats San Frontiers (ASF) France and its partners wish to improve
conditions of people currently waiting on death row and increase public
awareness of the death penalty,' he said.
Paneff, who is the Attorney at Law, said the expected results are that civil
society, political and judicial stakeholders are committed to a restrictive
pronouncement of the death sentence.
'Lawyers' competences improved to defend capital punishment cases, particularly
the 20 lawyers working to provide legal assistance. Prisoners faced with the
death penalty are provided with free judicial assistance, and that about 900 to
1000 lawyers, judicial and political stakeholders, and the civil society are
sensitised on death penalty through communication and advocacy tools,' he
stated.
(source: All Africa News)
CHINA----new death sentence
China sentences Uyghur man to death after violence
A local court in the far western Chinese province of Xinjiang has sentenced to
death a Uyghur man who it says led an attack in a busy street last month that
left 15 people dead, Chinese state media reported.
The World Uyghur Congress, an exile group, condemned the sentence and contested
the Chinese authorities' account of the violence. It also questioned whether
the defendant, Abdukerem Mamut, received a fair trial.
The court in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region convicted Mamut of
"organizing and heading a terrorist group, and intentional killing" and
sentenced him to death on Monday, the Global Times, an English-language
newspaper run by the Communist Party, reported.
It said Mamut and other members of the group killed 15 people and wounded 14
others "with axes and knives" in Yecheng County on February 28. The police
detained Mamut at the scene and shot dead the other attackers, according to the
report.
The Chinese authorities said 4 policemen were wounded and one local security
officer was killed in the clash.
But the World Uyghur Congress offered a different version of events, saying
that according to unidentified local people, the violence left 10 Uyghurs, 7
members of the security forces and 5 other people dead, as well as 11 Uyghurs
wounded.
The Chinese authorities have often blamed militants of Uyghur descent for
outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang in recent years, labeling them terrorists.
Uyghurs are ethnic Turks who are linguistically, culturally and religiously
distinct from China's majority Han population.
The quick conviction and sentencing of Mamut in connection with the violence
"casts serious doubts on the legitimacy of the trial, and we do not believe
that it met international legal standards," Rebiya Kadeer, the president of the
congress, said in a statement published Tuesday on the organization's website.
""The death sentence is not only used arbitrarily against Uyghurs who dare to
stand up for their basic human rights, but also to intimidate the Uyghur
population," Kadeer said.
Xinjiang was rocked by the worst violence in decades in July 2009 when rioting
between Uyghurs and Han Chinese left nearly 200 people dead and 1,700 wounded
in the regional capital, Urumqi.
Last year, the authorities carried out a two-month security operation, which
ended in October, against violence, terrorism and radical Islam across
Xinjiang, a resource-rich region, which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and
several Central Asian states.
The tightened security measures included 24-hour security patrols of troubled
areas, identity checks and random street searches of people and vehicles.
The crackdowns on Uyghurs in the region have continued, the Uyghur congress
said Tuesday, reporting a rise in arbitrary detentions and noting a string of
clashes between the authorities and the local population. The Chinese
authorities in Xinjiang said in January that they planned to recruit 8,000
extra police officers.
Uyghur activists say the crackdowns heighten anger among local Uyghurs who
already accuse the government of religious and political repression.
Uyghurs also say they feel economically disadvantaged as a thriving Han
population continues to move into the region.
(source: CNN)
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