Feb. 20
ZIMBABWE:
Hangman may be spared unenviable task
Prison officials have said they are not in a hurry to engage the services of a
newly-appointed hangman to execute the 77 inmates on death row and will review
their sentences.
Prisons official Huggins Machingauta said Wednesday that authorities wanted to
give prisoners facing execution a "chance to live."
He said all death sentences will be brought before the Cabinet for a review to
commute them to life.
The hangman's post was vacant for about 7 years since the previous one retired
in 2005, the last year an execution was carried out.
State media reported earlier this month that prison officials said they found a
new hangman.
The development was condemned by rights groups opposed to the death penalty.
"This macabre recruitment is disturbing" said Noel Kututwa, Amnesty
International's southern Africa director.
"(It) suggests that Zimbabwe does not want to join the global trend towards
abolition of this cruel, inhuman and degrading form of punishment.
"We oppose the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the
nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by
the state to kill the prisoner."
The courts can impose the death sentence for serious offences like murder and
treason.
However, a new proposed draft constitution endorsed by the country's main
political parties exempts women, men under 21 and those over 70 from the death
penalty.
The constitution, which will be put to a referendum on March 16, also prohibits
the mandatory imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes.
(source: New Zimbabwe)
**********************************
Zimbabwe prisons to review death sentences
Zimbabwe prison officials said Wednesday that they are not in a hurry to engage
the services of a newly-appointed hangman to execute the 77 inmates on death
row and will review their sentences.
Prison authorities want to give prisoners facing execution a "chance to live,"
official Huggins Machingauta said. He said all death sentences will be brought
before the cabinet of ministers for a review to commute them to life.
"We are in no hurry to hang anyone. It is our wish and hope that they get a
reprieve," Machingauta said.
The hangman's post was vacant for about 7 years since the previous one retired
in 2005. State media reported earlier this month that prison officials said
they found a new hangman.
A new proposed draft constitution endorsed by the country's 2 main political
parties exempts women, men under 21 and those over 70 from the death penalty.
The charter, which will be put to a referendum on March 16, only allows for the
imposition of death penalty for cases of "aggravated murder."
Civic rights groups, however, want the "total abolition" of the death penalty.
Edison Chiota, head of a prisoners' rights group, Zimbabwe Association for
Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender, said Wednesday his group
is against what he called the selective way the law would be applied under the
new constitution.
"People are all the same without taking gender and age differences into
account," Chiota said.
He said if Zimbabwe decides to continue with the executions it must adopt
international best practices of execution such as the lethal injection that do
not cause excessive pain.
Chiota said Zimbabwe uses the oldest method of hanging called "the long drop"
where the prisoner is made to stand on a trap door. The trap door is opened for
the noose to break or dislocate the neck.
"Hangings are outdated," Chiota said.
A prison officer who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity
for fear of losing his job said he is still haunted by several executions he
witnessed in his 20 years of service at Harare's Central Prison.
"The method is gruesome and inhumane, I wouldn't recommend anyone to witness
it," he said. "One only needs to read the log book in which the executions are
entered to have chills run down the spine."
The officer said it was a "harrowing ordeal to have to accompany someone to
such a brutal end."
(source: Huffington Post)
BANGLADESH:
Bachchu to appeal or hang
If he does not appear in court and appeal against his death penalty by
Wednesday, former Jamaat activist Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar will
have to face the gallows.
Justice Obaidul Hassan-led International Crimes Tribunal-2 had pronounced the
verdict against the absconding Azad on Jan 21.
In the 2nd verdict of ICT-2, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader
Molla, popularly known as 'butcher of Mirpur' was given life sentence,
provoking protests across Bangladesh.
According to International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, section 21 (3), an
appeal can be made within 1 month of the verdict.
So, Bachchu Razakar, who has been absconding during the entire duration of
trials, will now have to appear at the court in person to make the appeal.
As he is absconding, Azad or his family could not put a lawyer to fight the
case for him. The Court later appointed lawyer Abdus Shukur Khan to represent
him.
"I did my duty without any fear or favour for anyone," said Abdus Shukur Khan.
"The last day to appeal is tomorrow (Wednesday)...Since he has not surrendered
or has been arrested, it is quite certain that he is not getting to appeal"
Khan told bdnews24.com on Tuesday.
Azad will not be able to file an appeal if arrested or if he surrenders after
the 1-month deadline, Khan clarified.
"He has to hang...However, he can pray to the High Court...court will see if it
can be considered or not," said Khan.
On the other hand, the Tribunal laws does not allow a late pardon in case of
appeal, International Crimes Tribunal prosecution team coordinator MK Rahman
told bdnews24.com.
"After 30 days are over, he will be sent to gallows whenever arrested," he
said.
"Bachchu Razakar can file a late pardon according to general laws under
Limitation Act, section 5...but it is not applicable to trials for crimes
against humanity," said Rahman.
Lawyer Shukur Khan told bdnews24.com he was ill treated by Azad's family when
he sought their assistance to represent the abconding under-trial in court.
"I went and talked to them...I had fever...The court had directed me to
go...but they did not even offer me a seat and then flatly refused any help."
Shukur Khan told bdnews24.com that Azad's children had told him that their
father fled because the Jamaat refused to help him in the case.
The police says Azad has fled to Pakistan through India.
ICT prosecution had charged him with loot, rape, murder, mass murder, arson on
Sep 2. Trials began in absentia on Oct 7.
(source: bdnews24.com)
KENYA:
I will abolish death penalty, Omamo tells DCJ interview
The 2nd day of interviews for the Deputy Chief Justice raised the thorny issue
of whether the death penalty should be abolished. Lawyer Rachel Omamo said she
will seek to remove the death penalty if she becomes Deputy CJ and a Supreme
Court judge.
She said that the Supreme Court to be innovative in dealing with the policy and
moral issues around the death penalty.
Omamo, a lawyer for the last 27 years, believes that the constitution should be
interpreted in a pragmatic manner rather than allowing the wording to strictly
dominate her decision making.
She believes in the right to life so she would rule in favor of abolition of
death penalty. She was asked by Attorney-General Githu Muigai on what legal
basis would she peg her decision to abolish death penalty.
"The duty of court is to uphold the bill of rights. Interpret the law in a way
that furthers bill of rights and one of the most important right is right to
life and taking it through statute is not furthering the bill of rights,"
replied Omamo.
She emphasized the need for the Supreme Court to dialogue with the grassroots
level to gauge where to go on questions such as abortion, the death penalty and
homosexuals.
In her view the court should participate in judicial activism insofar as it
leads to human development. "If you are being an activist who lifts the down
trodden to access justice, you are doing something worthwhile," she said.
Omamo has served as an ambassador for Kenya to Portugal and France. She
described herself as a natural thinker who act as a catalyst for deeper
intellectual thinking at the Supreme Court.
Omamo is among 5 candidates shortlisted for deputy CJ. The other 4 are Appeal
Judge Kalpana Rawal and lawyers Joyce Miguda Majiwa, Lucy Muthoni Kambuni and
Okawa Phoebe Nyawade. A total of 13 applied for the job, including 8 High Court
and Appeal judges.
The position became vacant after a tribunal recommended that Nancy Baraza
leaves judiciary for gross misconduct. The former Deputy CJ threatened a
security guard with a gun on December 31, 2011.
(source: The Star)
JAPAN:
Sides weigh in on hangings but mute on death penalty; Discussions under DPJ
rule on executions remain secret
First in a series on hangings
In the execution chamber, a red lamp near the ceiling lights up, the chief
detention officer gives the signal and 5 guards each press a button, one of
which triggers the trapdoor of the gallows.
No one will ever know which button actually opened the door.
On a lower level, the death-row inmate's body dangles from the upper floor, the
rope taut from the ceiling to the noose.
Masahiko Fujita, 66, who served as an executioner in the 1970s while a senior
officer at the Osaka Detention House, recalled the face of 1 executed convict,
noting he was pale but "looked very peaceful."
Once the inmate is pronounced dead by a doctor, the rope is loosened and his
corpse is placed in a coffin.
Fujita said the rope is tied so its noose comes to the side of the neck, making
it look as if like the condemned is bowing toward witnesses when dropped from
the upper floor.
The prisoner's hands and legs are always bound to prevent them from flailing,
he said.
The moment the rope is stretched taut, the noose breaks the neck and the
condemned loses consciousness immediately, Fujita said.
"Some say that hanging is a brutal method of capital punishment, but I think
these are opinions by those who know nothing about how it's done," he said. "We
take extreme care in the execution process so that the dignity of death will
never be undermined."
The Penal Code stipulates that capital punishment be carried out by hanging.
44 out of 78 prisoners on death row who responded to a survey carried out last
fall by a nonpartisan group of Diet members seeking the abolition of capital
punishment called for change, including urging lethal injection. Many
respondents also expressed fear about the noose.
In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that hanging is not unconstitutional, saying
it cannot be considered particularly brutal compared with other methods of
execution.
But many legal experts continue to strongly demand a rethink.
Among them is Sadato Goto, a lawyer who represented a defendant in the 2009
firebombing of an Osaka pachinko parlor that claimed 5 lives.
During the Osaka District Court trial, Goto argued that hanging violates
Article 36 of the Constitution, which bans torture and other cruel punishment
by public servants.
The defense team led by Goto asked the court to summon witnesses, including a
forensic doctor from Austria who told the court that there had been cases in
which hangings decapitated the inmates.
Takeshi Tsuchimoto, a former prosecutor in the Supreme Public Prosecutor's
Office and a witness to several hangings, was also summoned. He told the court
that he believes the method could possibly be considered brutal punishment as
prohibited by the Constitution. Tsuchimoto said he could barely stand to view
the executions. Though he maintained that hangings should be reconsidered, he
added that he backs capital punishment and will not challenge its
constitutionality.
The district court ruled in October 2011 that hangings do not violate Article
36, and the defendant was sentenced to death.
Goto criticized the verdict, saying: "The court came to the judgment only on
the basis of abstract analyses and failed to review crucial information of what
will happen to the body of the condemned as a result of hanging."
Under the previous administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan, the
Justice Ministry spearheaded repeated discussions about execution methods - but
with no major developments and few details publicly reported about the
discussions.
"To change the way executions are carried out, the law will have to be changed.
But I see no such momentum toward this," one Justice Ministry source said.
(source: Japan Times)
PAKISTAN:
Burney demands an end to death sentence
The United Nations former expert adviser on human rights and former federal
minister for human rights, Ansar Burney, has once again requested the president
to consider an appeal of Ansar Burney Trust International to convert death
sentence into life imprisonment as majority of condemned prisoners in the death
cells are innocent or prisoners of circumstances.
Burney, under Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan, once again requested
President Asif Zardari to consider saving necks of thousands of human beings,
most of them innocent, facing death sentences in prisons, before it is too
late, says a press release.
In his fresh mercy appeal in the interest of human dignity to the president,
Ansar Burney Trust International said despite the fact that up to 60 to 65 % of
all condemned prisoners in Pakistan were most likely innocent or victims of a
faulty justice system. It said the government had failed to take any positive
action to save these lives.
"We have no sympathy whatsoever with hardened criminals and terrorists but how
can we allow hanging innocents? I am very much aware that 35 to 40 % death
sentence prisoners are criminals, some of hardened criminals and terrorists,
but only because of them how Ansar Burney Trust can allow government to hang 60
to 65 % of innocents?," it said.
"Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in
April 2010, which was signed by the President in June. While these steps are
welcome, the Ansar Burney Trust believes that it is imperative for the
government to also take immediate steps to ratify the Second Optional Protocol
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the
abolition of the death penalty," Burney added.
According to Ansar Burney Trust, there were over 40 women and 2 children lodged
in death cells in Pakistan and waiting to be hanged. Legislators also did not
attempt to commute the death sentence in the 18th Amendment, allegedly because
of pressure by Islamic fundamentalist parties. Burney, in his letter,
questioned the President that how the government can hang "those who are in
death cells waiting to be hanged from 1, 2 and in some cases 3 decades or even
completed their life sentences twice in a death cells or those who became
crippled or mentally ill in death cells only because of injustices?"
(source: The News)
******************************
Death penalty: the only panacea for all ills?
Afzal Guru's hanging raises many unpalatable questions. This event has once
again sparked debate about the use of death penalty to appease public anger and
resentment. Death penalty or capital punishment is indeed, quite a
controversial issue and it requires a certain kind of chutzpah to condemn such
an outrageous and egregious act. Recently, Arundhati Roy penned down her
thoughts on Guru's case, declaring the act as a stain on India's democracy and
raising a conscience-awakening question, asking if now India's collective
morality is satisfied or is its cup of blood still only half full?
The belief that the death penalty or capital punishment entails inhumane
treatment is gaining ground. One feels sorry for the victims of the death
penalty as they are increasingly subjected to traumatising acts of stoning,
beheadings, gas chambers, electrocution and lethal injections. It forces human
rights advocates to raise questions about why the world is killing an
individual, when he can be punished through life imprisonment as well.
Though the European Court of Human Rights does not talk about completely doing
away with the death penalty, it does believe that the manner of conducting
public executions should be compatible with human dignity. In response to
atrocious incidents of execution, the United Nations called for a moratorium on
them. The moratorium, for a while, did play its role in curtailing painful
executions, but with the passage of time, some countries, in spite of it, chose
to revert to the odious practice of sending people back to the gallows, once
again, leading to a major setback to the human rights discourse.
The most convincing and compelling argument against the death penalty is that
it is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. There have been
instances where innocent people have been hanged. Being a Muslim, I certainly
advocate the Islamic position with regard to the ethics of capital punishment.
Islam, in a nutshell, does accept capital punishment but even though the death
penalty is allowed, forgiveness is preferable. Peace, forgiveness, valuing
human life, these are the principles that govern Islam.
Like it or not, but Iraq and Pakistan are among the countries with the largest
populations of prisoners and inmates on death row. It is believed that there
are about 8,000 people currently on the death row in Pakistan. Such countries
need to reform their criminal justice systems and introduce legislation
proposing an end to the death penalty. The legal system in many countries is
the only harbinger of justice, hence, it must allow recourse to fair trial to
an individual, in a court of law. In a death penalty case, the aim should be to
stay execution and to commute the sentence from death to life imprisonment
without the possibility of parole. The death penalty not only fails as a
solution but it is enormously expensive. A majority of the studies on the cost
of capital punishment, conducted by various experts, conclude that it is much
more expensive than a system with life sentences as the maximum penalty.
If a country like Pakistan surrenders the death penalty, the economy will be
relieved of this financial burden, as for the implementation of death penalty,
a lot of funds are needed to support pre-trial and trial costs, appeals and
state habeas corpus petitions, federal habeas corpus appeals and finally
incarceration.
The current government in Pakistan must look into reforming the death penalty
laws before its term ends this year. Such a reform is mandatory for not only
Pakistan but all other countries who are seeking membership of the European
Union General Scheme of Preference in order to improve trade and their ties
with the western world.
The prevailing scenario in most of the less-developed countries manifests that
the death penalty is inflicted on the poor and the marginalised, is arbitrary
and unfair and the penalty claims innocent lives. Above all, it not only defies
international human rights standards but also fails to deter crimes, the sole
purpose for which it is executed.
(source: The writer, Sara Ali, is a lawyer and a researcher in a think tank
based in Lahore and holds a law degree from the University of London; The
Pakistan Tribune)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
