April 2
SINGAPORE:
Death to The Death Penalty?
The imposition of the death penalty is one that always polarises society, not
just in Singapore but in states where it remains law. Even in states where it
has been repealed (notably the EU), there remain calls for its re-introduction
especially after an act of savagery has occurred.
In Singapore, the death penalty can be pronounced in the following cases:
a) Waging war or mutiny
b) Treason (like espionage)
c) Piracy
d) Attempted murder by a prisoner on a life term.
e) Kidnapping or abduction to murder (it used to be for ransom as well)
f) Abetment of suicide of a juvenile or insane person
g) Perjury (false testimony) resulting in execution of an innocent person
h) Any unlawful discharge of firearms (previously there had to be intention to
cause hurt/death), Of course the unlawful discharge must be accompanied by
unlawful possession.
i) Gang (5 or more) robbery resulting in death of the victim.
And the 2 most common cases of its imposition:
j) Murder
k) Drug trafficking
In some of these cases, the imposition of the death penalty is mandatory
(firearms, murder, drug trafficking) while in others it's left to the judge to
decide. In the former, the decision to charge a person with a capital offence
lies entirely with the Public Prosecutor (and his DPPs). If an accused is
convicted of the charge, he must be sentenced to death. The judge has no
discretion whatsoever. However a person under the age of 18 (at the time of
offence) and pregnant women will not sentenced to death.
For some strange reason, the authorities here are hesitant to provide an up to
date detail of persons under capital punishment, or their impending execution
or list the names of those executed. They will only provide a list of the
number of executions the following year and that's about it. Here's an example:
http://www.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=MjE0Nw%3D%3D-occ0vMiT7bI%3D
In 2012, they indicated that 4 persons were hanged in 2011, the last in July
2011. Since then the Govt has done a review, presumably at the Law Society's
urging:
http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/amendments-proposed-to-3-pieces-of-legislation-dealing-with-death-penalty
As such there have been no executions since then. There are around 34 persons
facing execution who will have their cases reviewed to see if they come under
the new amendments. The amendments in a nutshell allow judges to instead of
imposing the death penalty, substitute it with life imprisonment if they meet
the following:
1) No intent to commit murder for murder charges
2) Some mental disability in drug traffickers
3) Substantive cooperation by drug traffickers who were not involved in
manufacture, supply or distribution of drugs.
For the last category, they have to help in investigations and make a dent to
their bosses operations, before the DPP will issue a Certificate of
Cooperation, and the judge can impose the life sentence upon conviction. (Yeah
I know, uniquely Singapore, even a certificate at sentencing!) Before I go
further, I find this amendment too general or insufficient. What happens if the
courier has no contact with the bosses? Most of them are just mules, facing
some dire economic situation and tempted by unscrupulous traffickers who offer
them fast cash, but themselves remain in the dark. I mean I doubt many of them
will use real names and contacts, or leave a trail that leads back to them or
their backers.
What happens to the mule that is unable to shed any further light on his
trafficking other than his own involvement, because he simply doesn't have
enough or more information to share, not that he is unwilling? How does he
compare to one who has more information and is able to lead authorities here
and abroad to bigger fish? Will he lose his life (not given a certificate)
while the latter gets life instead?
Because of so little by way of information, the public may never really know
how this certificate is given or withheld. We only get to see the statistics a
year later. Will the judge or defense counsel know, if the prosecution doesn't
tender the certificate? The decision whether to tender is theirs to make after
all. Can a judge question that decision? If he can't then obviously, he has to
invoke the death penalty if he finds the accused guilty. Even if he can, can he
order the prosecution to tender it, or must he proceed with the death sentence
if it isn't produced?
We will need to see how this affects cases when a trial comes before the High
Court or an appeal to the Court of Appeal. Until then, with a lack of
transparency all round, we have to wait. To those who oppose the death penalty
altogether, these new amendments at least offers some hope that wasn't
available before, but many feel it doesn't alter the status quo much, with only
a handful of cases that may actually benefit.
Anyway back to the main question: Is it good for Singapore to continue to have
the death penalty? Are the offences listed from (a) to (k) proper and correct
to have a death penalty?
Before we consider this, we must look at the obvious alternative to the death
penalty - life imprisonment. Previously life imprisonment meant 20 years behind
bars, after which the offender would be released. (I can't remember if it was
13 years before this for life terms or was it 20 years all along). Then in the
late 90s, then CJ Yong Pung How decreed that life imprisonment was just that -
life. The practise now I believe is that life imprisonment means a minimum of
20 years to be served, with reviews after that to see the suitability of
returning the offender to society. If he fails these reviews then he will die
in jail.
Some people will argue that the death penalty is a suitable deterrent, that
certain crimes are so heinous or that some offenders so vile, that it must
remain. Then they are some who agree with the above, except that for certain
categories of offenders like drug mules, the death penalty should be spared.
Finally there are those who feel the death penalty is not a suitable deterrent,
especially in drug trafficking, because we still get such cases. When people
are desperate they don't think right and will always take risks.
I am actually among a small percentage of Singaporeans who have been indirectly
or directly touched by the death penalty. It is easy to comment about something
that you are not part off and take a certain stand, but it's a bit different
when you are closer to it, and you wonder about its merits.
I was previously for the death penalty for most cases, notably murder, waging
war and firearms possession. Now after more thought on the matter, I think we
shouldn't use the death penalty as a deterrent because it can never fulfill
that role fully. Rather I think the death penalty should be a proper punishment
for certain offences that justify its use - like waging far, treason and in
certain cases of murder. I don't think the death penalty deters drug
traffickers anymore than a life sentence does. No trafficker wants to spend 20
years or more behind bars anymore than he wants to hang for his offences.
I also think we should not impose strict mandatory sentences that judges must
follow. I think more discretion can and should be allowed. I also think a new
sentence between death and life imprisonment should be enacted - life without
the possibility of parole. I think this provision gives judges more leeway in
sentencing certain offenders guilty of murder, firearm and other offences, and
such cases which they feel do not deserve the imposition of death, but that the
offender shouldn't ever be released to society.
The alternative would be more exercise of the clemency option available to the
President. Malaysia and other Asean countries also have the death penalty and
it's routinely imposed, however it's carried out sparingly, as the Govts
usually advise the Head of State to commute the sentences. After all the the
imposition of the death penalty is purely a legal issue while the issue of
mercy remains an Executive one.
I think that's the fairest way to go about it. We retain the right to use the
death penalty for certain offences, while also retaining the right when not to
carry out, as opposed to the current practise, where it becomes a foregone
conclusion and a matter of routine. It meets both the pro and anti groups
half-way, retaining the deterrent effect the former wants, whilst cutting back
as the latter advocates. But it's not about pandering to 1 or the other, it's
about a fair and just use of a lethal exercise.
Sir Nelspruit
(source: TR Emeritus)
IRAQ:
Iraq Executes Former Al-Qaeda Leader, 3 Others
Al-Qaeda's former Baghdad chief, Munaf Abdul Rahim al-Rawi, and 3 other men
convicted of terror-related offenses have been executed.
The Iraqi Ministry of Justice said that the 4 men were hanged on April 1.
Rawi was once described as the "governor of Baghdad" for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
He was arrested in March 2010 and blamed for 2 major attacks in Baghdad the
previous year that killed 250 people.
The UN mission in Iraq, the European Union, and international human rights
groups have called on Baghdad to stop the use of capital punishment.
The death penalty in Iraq was suspended for more than a year after the U.S.-led
invasion of the country in 2003.
The Iraqi government reinstated it in 2004, saying that it would help curb the
widespread violence.
(source: Radio Free Europe)
TUNISIA:
Ghannouchi backs death penalty
Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party, said he backs
the application of the death penalty, describing it as a "natural law" in a
television interview broadcast on Monday evening.
"We say that capital punishment is a natural law, a soul for a soul. And
whoever threatens the life of another must know that his life is also
threatened," the Ennahda party's veteran chief told news channel France 24.
He was asked in particular about the punishment of rapists, after a number of
incidents in Tunisia, including the case of a 3-year-old girl repeatedly raped
by the caretaker of a children's nursery, which has caused shock and anger.
"This crime must be sanctioned in the severest possible way and I would even
say yes, by capital punishment," Ghannouchi said.
"Rape is like a death sentence for a woman and for the entire family."
Under Tunisia's penal code, rape, murder, acts of terrorism and plotting
against the state are punishable by death, but in practice no executions have
been carried out in Tunisia since 1991.
Amna Guellali, the Tunisian representative of Human Rights Watch, said she
regretted Ghannouchi's comments, which follow efforts by rights groups to get
the death penalty's abolition inscribed in the new constitution currently being
drafted.
"It is a setback, given that Tunisia has a moratorium on the death penalty.
It's a challenge to that and it's quite serious," she told AFP.
Guellali said the Islamist leader was publicly expressing the position of a
number of members of his party, who believe the death penalty is "something
natural, an obligation in Islam and a just penalty for an atrocity that has
been committed".
Ennahda, which heads Tunisia's coalition government, is frequently accused by
the secular opposition and rights activists of seeking to Islamise society and
impose the key provisions of sharia, or Islamic law.
(source: IOL News)
KUWAIT:
Justice, Kuwait-style; Daylight execution ... hanged men were all convicted
killers
The men, all convicted murderers, were blindfolded and allowed to smoke a final
cigarette before they were marched up the steps of the grim metal structure by
hooded executioners.
A noose was tied around their necks and they were simultaneously dropped to
their deaths.
The hangings, which took place in the capital Kuwait City on Easter Monday, are
the 1st in the Gulf State since 2007.
One of the killers, a stateless Arab, was convicted of murdering his wife and 5
children.
Another, a Pakistani national, was sentenced for strangling a couple to death.
The 3rd man, from Saudi Arabia, was accused of killing a friend.
(source: The Scottish Sun)
*******************************************
Deplorable resumption of executions
The execution of 3 men in Kuwait on 1 April marks a real setback in a region
where many countries show a shocking disregard for the right to life.
"These are the 1st executions carried out in Kuwait since 2007 and mark a
deplorable setback for human rights in the country," said Ann Harrison, Amnesty
International's Deputy Programme Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"In a region where executions are sadly all too commonplace, Kuwait marked a
beacon of hope by declining to execute people for almost 6 years. That hope has
been extinguished today. We deplore this resumption of executions, regardless
of the crime."
"Kuwait should halt any further executions and should commute all death
sentences and revise the law to exclude this most final of penalties."
The 3 men executed were convicted of murder and included 1 Pakistani and 1
Saudi national, as well as 1 Bidun ('without' in Arabic), one of the stateless
minority in Kuwait. A news report had suggested that the executions would be
shown live on TV but that does not appear to have happened.
More than 44 people are currently reported to be on death row in Kuwait.
4 countries - Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - account for 99% of all
executions in the region.
"By carrying out these death sentences, Kuwait has chosen to align themselves
with an isolated group of executioners regionally and globally."
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,
as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment.
More than 2/3 of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in
law or practice.
(source: Amnesty International)
TUNISIA:
Ghannouchi backs death penalty
Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party, said he backs
the application of the death penalty, describing it as a "natural law" in a
television interview broadcast on Monday evening.
"We say that capital punishment is a natural law, a soul for a soul. And
whoever threatens the life of another must know that his life is also
threatened," the Ennahda party's veteran chief told news channel France 24.
He was asked in particular about the punishment of rapists, after a number of
incidents in Tunisia, including the case of a 3-year-old girl repeatedly raped
by the caretaker of a children's nursery, which has caused shock and anger.
"This crime must be sanctioned in the severest possible way and I would even
say yes, by capital punishment," Ghannouchi said.
"Rape is like a death sentence for a woman and for the entire family."
Under Tunisia's penal code, rape, murder, acts of terrorism and plotting
against the state are punishable by death, but in practice no executions have
been carried out in Tunisia since 1991.
Amna Guellali, the Tunisian representative of Human Rights Watch, said she
regretted Ghannouchi's comments, which follow efforts by rights groups to get
the death penalty's abolition inscribed in the new constitution currently being
drafted.
"It is a setback, given that Tunisia has a moratorium on the death penalty.
It's a challenge to that and it's quite serious," she told AFP.
Guellali said the Islamist leader was publicly expressing the position of a
number of members of his party, who believe the death penalty is "something
natural, an obligation in Islam and a just penalty for an atrocity that has
been committed".
Ennahda, which heads Tunisia's coalition government, is frequently accused by
the secular opposition and rights activists of seeking to Islamise society and
impose the key provisions of sharia, or Islamic law.
(source: IOL News)
KUWAIT:
Justice, Kuwait-style; Daylight execution ... hanged men were all convicted
killers
The men, all convicted murderers, were blindfolded and allowed to smoke a final
cigarette before they were marched up the steps of the grim metal structure by
hooded executioners.
A noose was tied around their necks and they were simultaneously dropped to
their deaths.
The hangings, which took place in the capital Kuwait City on Easter Monday, are
the 1st in the Gulf State since 2007.
One of the killers, a stateless Arab, was convicted of murdering his wife and 5
children.
Another, a Pakistani national, was sentenced for strangling a couple to death.
The 3rd man, from Saudi Arabia, was accused of killing a friend.
(source: The Scottish Sun)
*******************************************
Deplorable resumption of executions
The execution of 3 men in Kuwait on 1 April marks a real setback in a region
where many countries show a shocking disregard for the right to life.
"These are the 1st executions carried out in Kuwait since 2007 and mark a
deplorable setback for human rights in the country," said Ann Harrison, Amnesty
International's Deputy Programme Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"In a region where executions are sadly all too commonplace, Kuwait marked a
beacon of hope by declining to execute people for almost 6 years. That hope has
been extinguished today. We deplore this resumption of executions, regardless
of the crime."
"Kuwait should halt any further executions and should commute all death
sentences and revise the law to exclude this most final of penalties."
The 3 men executed were convicted of murder and included 1 Pakistani and 1
Saudi national, as well as 1 Bidun ('without' in Arabic), one of the stateless
minority in Kuwait. A news report had suggested that the executions would be
shown live on TV but that does not appear to have happened.
More than 44 people are currently reported to be on death row in Kuwait.
4 countries - Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - account for 99% of all
executions in the region.
"By carrying out these death sentences, Kuwait has chosen to align themselves
with an isolated group of executioners regionally and globally."
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,
as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment.
More than 2/3 of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in
law or practice.
(source: Amnesty International)
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