June 1
BOTSWANA:
When The State Kills----Death Sentence Debated
Last month Botswana rejected pleas from other countries to abolish the death
penalty during the country's appearance before the United Nations Human Rights
Council in Geneva.
The British High Commissioner Nick Tyle added his voice to the abolition of the
death penalty campaign during the recent Ditshwanelo Film Festival when he
stated that there was nothing compassionate about Botswana as a nation when the
country still practised capital punishment.
As if to stick the middle finger in the faces of all those who condemned the
country for upholding the death penalty, on Sunday, death row inmate Modise
Thokamolelo was executed by hanging by the Botswana Prison services.
Tlhokamolelo was a 6 times murder convict. He had pleaded guilty to the murder
of his brother and the brother's entire family of 5 members, including a 4-
month-old baby.
The murdered family members who were killed following a fight over food at a
cattle post near Letlhakane village in 2008 were Tiragalo Thaga, Garemoitatole
Garebone, London Thokamolelo, China London, Oreemetse Lepadile and Kemodiretse
Lepadile.
He was sentenced to death by the Francistown High Court on all six counts in
2010 and appealed the convictions and sentences at the Court of Appeal last
month and lost.
His execution reduces the number of death inmates currently on death row to 5.
Voice Reporters hit the streets of Francistown to have the ordinary citizen
express their views on this topical subject.
Neonyane Madeswi said: she has no problem with the death penalty and would not
want to see it abolished.
"It should be applied to murderers and rapists but not robbers.
It is a way of getting rid of evil and notorious people in our society," said
the 26- year- old.
"Even though death by hanging has not reduced crime, we should uphold it.
Practising the death penalty shouldn???t make other countries think we are an
uncaring nation."
Bashi Lesego, 33, said: "It's fair to hang those who kill other human beings
but the courts should carefully establish if the perpetrator would have
committed the offence on purpose or not.
"If one was provoked, or by mistake hits the other and the blow becomes fatal
it wouldn't be right to hang people for such.
The reason why Botswana hangs killers is to warn others who may be thinking of
committing similar offences. If we abolished it, I bet levels of crimes would
escalating." said the security guard.
Barulaganye Mmolawa, 40, did not mince her words in condemning the death
penalty. She believes that only God should decide who dies and who lives.
"Why doesn't the government sentence murderers to life in prison with hard
labour.
We aren't God! Neither are we above God. God is the one who made us all and He
is the only one who has the right to decide who should live and who dies.
The hangmen too are committing a crime when they hang criminals! They too must
be killed for killing others" she said.
Despite professing to be a devout Christian, Alec Sebotso of Maunatlala said
the death penalty should not be abolished.
"The reasoning behind capital punishment is to make sure that killers do not
get away with murder simply because they would otherwise know that they are
assured of free accommodation in prison and three meals a day for the rest of
their lives for ending someone's life," he pointed out.
"Indeed hanging the killer does not bring the deceased back to life but at
least it reduces the number of killings.
Even when one is provoked there is no justification for taking away another
person's life. Hanging the killer is answering for his sins," said Sebotso.
Another death penalty supporter Kennedy Fungwane said.
"If you mess up in the kitchen , who cleans up? The same principles applies
with the death penalty, you kill someone you are answerable."
Having said that the pensioner went on to point out the Vision 2016 pillar of
'being a just and a caring nation was a joke.
"It was put in there to protect corrupt people in the upper echelons of the
society against prosecution and conviction for their many white collar crimes.
The pillar is not applicable to an ordinary man like me because if I kill they
will surely drag me to court and deal with me accordingly," he said.
Base Mokwena (50) said death by hang was still relevant particularly when
applied to those who carry out brutal murders of innocent people.
"Those who kill for ritual purposes or because their lovers don't want them
anymore should be hanged straight away.
If we abolished the death penalty people would kill as they pleased."
"In cases of self defence and unpremeditated murders I think the law should
consider a lesser sentence," suggested Base.
Meanwhile President Ian Khama was also quoted in the local media stating that
because of capital punishment the crime of murder was not common in the
country.
"Criminals who shoot people think twice before undertaking such a heinous
crime. They are aware that they would be sent to the gallows," he said.
(source: The Voice)
INDIA:
Perarivalan seeks mercy, citing Nalini's case
A.G. Perarivalan, 1 of the 3 convicts on death row in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination case, has written to the Central Information Commission (CIC)
seeking to know why his mercy petition was rejected while the death penalty of
Nalini Sriharan, first accused in the case, was commuted to life imprisonment.
In a written submission sent to the CIC from Vellore Central Prison,
Perarivalan said that going by the case of the prosecution, Nalini was arrayed
as the 1st accused and was present at the place of occurrence (when the bomb
blast took place in Sriperumbudur in May 1991). The death penalty awarded to
her was commuted to life sentence.
"On the other hand, being the 18 accused in the case, my mercy petition has
been rejected without assigning any reason. It is well settled law that the
death penalty shall be inflicted only in 'rarest of rare cases'. In other
words, those awarded death penalty are considered to fall under one category.
In such case, I want to know whether the fact of commutation of the sentence of
the 1st accused [Nalini] was considered before disposing my mercy petition and
if it was considered, I would like to know the basis for treating me on a
different platform," he asked.
Perarivalan had a 30-minute video conference with Central Information
Commissioner Sushma Singh and Joint Secretary (Judicial), Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA), J.L. Chugh on May 9, 2013. He was advised by the CIC to make a
written submission of his prayer.
Pointing out that he was in prison since June 12, 1999 as a death row convict,
Perarivalan said his mercy plea was rejected by the President. "However, I have
been placed in complete darkness with regard to the reasons behind the
rejection of my clemency petition...it is a duty cast upon every public
authority under Section 4(1) (d) of the RTI Act to proactively communicate the
reasons for any administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to the affected
party."
He said neither the MHA nor the President's Secretariat provided him with the
reasons for the rejection of his mercy plea. Since his execution was
temporarily stayed and that he was at the verge of being hanged, the convict
emphasised that the information sought by him directly pertained to his life
and liberty.
Referring to a statement made by Justice K.T. Thomas, who headed the 3-member
Bench of the Supreme Court that awarded the death penalty, Perarivalan said the
former judge had said the judgment had "errors" and that the antecedents,
nature and character of the persons involved in the case were not considered
and hence any decision to hang them could be termed constitutionally incorrect.
By law, the advice of the Council of Ministers to the President on the clemency
issue could not be inquired into by any court. But that does not mean that the
citizens or the affected person would not have the right know the reasons for
the rejection of the mercy plea.
Perarivalan appealed to the CIC to furnish the copies of all documents that
were considered for taking a decision on his mercy petition.
(source: The Hindu)
AFGHANISTAN/IRAN:
Afghans protest Iranian regime meddling and executions
Afghans have burnt the Iranian regime's flag on Thursday outside the regime's
embassy in Kabul in a mass protest against the mullahs' meddling in the
country's affairs.
They also demanded an end to the soaring number of executions of Afghan
immigrants in Iran.
A report by Amnesty International said there were currently 5,630 Afghan in
prison in Iran, with 3,000 of them sentenced to death. The most recent
execution was last Wednesday.
Many have been sentenced for drug-trafficking - an activity mainly controlled
by IRGC commanders and the regime's intelligence agents.
The French news agency Agents Pre-preference also quoted an Afghan Foreign
Ministry spokesman on May 10 as saying: "The Iranian regime's border guards
have killed 10 Afghans and injured 12 others. In recent months, 23 other
Afghans have been killed at Iran-Afghanistan border."
(source: National Council of Resistance of Iran)
LIBYA:
International Criminal Court rejects Libyan government request to try Saif
al-Islam Gaddafi
International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have rejected Libya's request to
annul the international arrest warrant for the son of the late Moammar Gaddafi
and let the country's new government try him in Tripoli.
The ICC ruled that the Libyan government is not yet capable of holding a fair
trial for Seif al-Islam Gaddafi by itself, and judges said the country's new
leaders are obliged under international law to hand him over to the court in
The Hague.
Whether the government in Tripoli will be willing - or able - to transfer
Gaddafi to The Hague are both open questions. Gadhafi was captured by a militia
group as he was trying to flee to neighbouring Niger in the aftermath of
Libya's 2011 civil war.
With no national army or police in place since the fall of Gaddafi's regime,
successive governments have been too weak to secure Seif al-Islam's transfer to
Tripoli.
Seif is jailed in the town of Zintan, and the Abu Bakr al-Sadek militia group
has itself begun trial proceedings against Seif for charges including insulting
the new country's flag and "harming state security."
The Hague court wants him for alleged crimes against humanity in the murder and
persecution of protesters in the uprising that ultimately toppled his father's
regime in 2011. The Libyan government wants him for somewhat similar charges,
though judges also said Friday the charges aren't similar enough to warrant
cancelling the international case.
Gaddafi says he is innocent of wrongdoing.
"The Libyan state continues to face substantial difficulties in exercising
fully its judicial powers across the entire territory," presiding judge Silvia
Fernandez de Gurmendi said in a written summary of Friday's decision.
He added that "Libyan authorities have not been able to secure the transfer of
(Gaddafi) into state custody and impediments remain to obtain the necessary
evidence, and secure legal representation."
Salah al-Marghani, Libya's justice minister, commenting on the ICC decision,
said the disagreement about where to try Seif al-Islam amounts to "a conflict
between national and international law."
"We don't know the details of the decision yet," he said.
According to filings by defence lawyers at the ICC, Seif al-Islam has said he
wants to be tried for alleged war crimes in the Netherlands, not Libya.
"I am not afraid to die, but if you execute me after such a trial, you should
just call it murder," he said.
The Hague court does not have a death penalty.
Although Libya is not a member of the ICC, the case was referred to the court
by the U.N. Security Council.
"Libya has until now operated according to the ICC's procedures, as the U.N.
Security Council required," said Richard Dicker, international justice director
at Human Rights Watch. He urged the Libyan government to extradite Seif
al-Islam. "By respecting the ICC's judicial process, the authorities will send
an important message about their commitment to the rule of law."
Moammar Gaddafi was killed in Sirte, Libya, in October 2011 by victorious rebel
forces. Seif was captured a month later in a southern desert region and later
moved to Zintan, in the western coastal mountains.
The rest of Seif al-Islam's family, including his mother, his sister, 2
brothers and others, were granted asylum in Oman in March, moving there from
Algeria, where they found refuge during the civil war.
(source: The Telegraph)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
Rights group petitions to stop PNG death penalty plans
Amnesty International is running an international campaign to urge the Papua
New Guinea government to drop the re-introduction of the death penalty.
The human rights advocacy organisation's campaign encourages people to send
messages to PNG leaders urging them not to bring back the death penalty.
Amnesty's Pacific Researcher Kate Schutze has told Radio Australia's Pacific
Beat they have launched a petition in response to concerns that PNG is taking a
backward step from acknowledging human rights.
"We've started an online petition calling for those people who support keeping
the Pacific death penalty-free because we haven't seen any executions in the
Pacific for nearly 30 years," Ms Schutze said.
"This is a massive retrograde step by Papua New Guinea to say that they plan to
implement the death penalty again when they haven't done so there for nearly 60
years."
The PNG government has approved the carrying out of death sentences following
an outcry over recent violent crimes, including gang-rapes and the beheading
and burning of women accused of practising sorcery.
Ms Schutze has called the death penalty "state-sanctioned violence" and
believes it isn't an effective means to address violent crimes.
"Statistics from around the world show the death penalty isn't an effective
deterrent in terms of crime rates," she said.
"One of the things that concerns us about these moves by governments is it
comes after the National Haus Krai movement, which saw thousands of people
protest within Papua New Guinea and other parts of the world.
"The major driver for that was to end violence in Papua New Guinea,
particularly violence against women, and the people signing those petitions
that were handed to governments said that they did not support the death
penalty."
Ms Schutze says Amnesty International is engaging with local and regional
groups to stop the re-introduction of the death penalty.
"The petition can be signed by people within Papua New Guinea, as well as those
outside," she said.
"We have consulted with local partners and there have been regional partners
who have come out speaking against the death penalty recently, so we are
engaging with what people want."
Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty anywhere, under any
circumstances.
"What we're calling for is a more humane and effective way of dealing with
those crimes and penalties," Ms Schutze said.
(source: Radio Australia)
***********************
UN human rights office regrets Papua New Guinea's decision to resume death
penalty
The United Nations human rights office today said that Papua New Guinea had
taken "a step backwards" with legislative action towards resuming the use of
the death penalty.
The country has maintained a long-standing de facto moratorium since 1954 which
was subsequently passed into law in 1970. However, amendments to the Criminal
Code passed by Parliament earlier this week provide for 5 methods of execution
and extend the application of the death penalty to three additional crimes:
sorcery-related killings, aggravated rape and robbery with violence.
"Given the global trend toward abolition of the death penalty, the latest move
by the Government marks a significant step backwards," Rupert Colville,
spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),
told reporters in Geneva.
"We strongly urge the Government not to proceed with any executions under the
new law without first undertaking inclusive and meaningful consultations on the
whole issue of the death penalty," he stated.
"We also categorically reject calls by some political leaders in Papua New
Guinea for the introduction of other cruel and inhuman punishments such as
castration or amputation."
Mr. Colville said the use of capital punishment has never been proved to be a
more effective deterrent than other forms of punishment.
"While recognizing the Government's commitment to achieving a safer and more
secure society, we urge it to consider other alternatives in line with
international human rights standards," he stated, adding that such efforts must
address the root causes of the "rampant" violence and corruption reported in
the country, including through the creation of awareness.
The UN General Assembly has adopted four resolutions calling on States to
establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to
abolition. Today about 150 of the UN's 193 Member States have either abolished
the death penalty or no longer practice it.
"We strongly urge the Government of Papua New Guinea once more to maintain its
moratorium and subsequently join the growing number of Member States that have
abolished the practice altogether, including 11 States in the Pacific," stated
Mr. Colville.
(source: UN News Centre)
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