Aug. 21
GHANA:
Ghana's Yakubu Yahuza of NPP to appeal against death sentence--The opposition
has rejected the president's victory in elections as fraudulent
An opposition party youth activist in Ghana will appeal against a court's
ruling to sentence him to death by hanging, his lawyer has said.
The jury's ruling against Yakubu Yahuza was "notoriously bad", he told the BBC.
Yahuza was sentenced on Tuesday over the 2009 killing of governing party
activist Rashid Alhassan in clashes between rival groups in northern Ghana.
The death penalty has not been used since 1993 in Ghana, often hailed as a
stable democracy in West Africa.
'Appeal for calm'
4 other people tried with Yahuza were sentenced to 36 years in prison.
The lawyer for the 5, Obiri Boahene, told the BBC the seven-member jury's
ruling was "incurably and notoriously bad and a substantial miscarriage of
justice".
"It flies against the evidence on record," he added.
The 5 were arrested in February 2009 following clashes between supporters of
the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party and opposition New
Patriotic Party (NPP) in Ghana's northern regional capital, Tamale.
Several houses, cars and motorbikes in communities were set ablaze, and Mr
Alhassan was killed in the violence.
The sentences comes at a delicate time time, as the Supreme Court is due to
rule next week on an opposition challenge to President John Mahama's narrow
victory in elections last year, reports the BBC's Akwasi Sarpong from the
capital, Accra.
Appeals have been going out to supporters of the NDC and NPP, especially in the
volatile north, to give peace a chance and not to unleash violence once the
Supreme Court gives its verdict, our reporter says.
The court is considering a petition filed by the NPP that the election was
marred by vote-rigging.
Official results gave Mr Mahama 50.7% of the vote and 47.7% for the NPP's Nana
Akufo-Addo.
(source: BBC News)
GLOBAL:
see:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/executions-of-child-offenders-since-1990
(source: Amnesty International)
VIETNAM:
2 foreign drug smugglers face Vietnam death penalty
A Thai drug smuggler has been sentenced to death in Vietnam, state media said
Wednesday, the second such penalty given to a foreigner within a week in the
communist country.
A court in Vietnam, whose drug laws are among the toughest in the world,
sentenced Suracha Chaimongkol to death after she was caught carrying 2
kilograms (4.4 pounds) of cocaine, the official Thanh Nien newspaper said.
The drugs were discovered hidden inside 2 photograph albums when the
31-year-old graduate landed at Ho Chi Minh City's airport in October last year
after taking a flight from Brazil.
On Monday state media said a 31-year-old Nigerian man was sentenced to death by
the same court in the southern business hub for smuggling 3.4 kilograms of
methamphetamines from Qatar to Vietnam.
Vietnam takes a hardline on drugs and anyone found guilty of attempting to
smuggle more than 100 grams of heroin or cocaine can face the death penalty.
Convictions and sentences are revealed only by local media which is strictly
under state control in the communist nation.
Suracha told the court she did not know she was carrying the drugs, but said
she had been paid to bring the photograph albums to Vietnam, according to the
Thanh Nien report.
After a 2-year hiatus in carrying out capital punishment due to problems
procuring chemicals for lethal injections, Vietnam executed its 1st prisoner by
the method in August.
The country currently has more than 586 prisoners on death row, at least 117 of
whom meet all the criteria for immediate execution, media reports have said.
Although the country does not release statistics on executions, rights group
Amnesty International recorded 5 executions in 2011 and said 23 new death
sentences were handed out that year, mainly to drug traffickers.
Foreigners frequently fall foul of the nation's stiff drug laws.
In June last year, a Thai design student was handed a death penalty for
trafficking three kilos of methamphetamine, while in October, a 61-year-old
Filipina received the death penalty for smuggling 5 kilograms of
methamphetamines.
(source: New Straits Times)
INDIA:
Amnesty starts drive to halt execution of Bhullar, 2 others
The Amnesty International India has launched a campaign to halt the death
sentence of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar and Karnataka convicts Shivu and
Jadeswamy. Raising apprehension that the execution of the trio is imminent,
Amnesty has called upon the public to raise its voice against capital
punishment.
It has appealed to the public to build a public movement, while calling on the
Indian authorities not to execute Bhullar, Shivu, Jadeswamy or any other
prisoner. Amnesty has also demanded a fresh trial in Bhullar's case, besides
halting further executions, commuting all death sentences to imprisonment and
establishing an official moratorium on executions in order to abolish death
penalty.
"On August 14, the Supreme Court upheld its rejection of Bhullar's commutation
plea. He is now at risk of imminent execution. The mercy petitions of 2 other
men were also rejected by the President in August, and reports suggest they
could be executed on August 22," Amnesty said.
The President has also rejected the mercy petitions of Shivu and Jadeswamy, who
were sentenced to death in July 2005 for a woman's rape and murder in 2001. The
Karnataka High Court upheld the sentence in October 2005 and the Supreme Court
did it in February 2007.
(source: Hindustan Times)
**********************
Kanakaraj death penalty commuted
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of Kanakaraj, the
2nd accused in the sensational Puthur Sheela murder case, to life imprisonment.
A Division Bench of the High Court comprising Justice K T Sankaran and Justice
M L Joseph Francis set aside the order of Palakkad Additional Sessions Court
awarding death sentence to Kanakaraj and observed that even though the guilt of
the accused was proved beyond doubt, the entire facts leading to the death of
Sheela and the 1st accused Sampath have not been brought to light.
The Bench observed that the normal sentence for murder was life imprisonment
and the death sentence.
The Sessions Court should point out specific reasons for awarding death
sentence.
However, the sentence imposed on the 2nd accused Kanakaraj in another offence
by the Sessions Court was confirmed.
The Bench also dismissed the appeal filed by the state government against the
acquittal of third accused Manikandan.
(source: The New Indian Express)
**************************
Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict to have video conference with chief
information commissioner
Perarivalan, 1 of the 3 death convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case,
is set to appear before chief information commissioner KS Sripathi on Wednesday
seeking reasons for the rejection of his 3 queries to the state government
under the Right to Information Act.
The death row convict, who will appear before Sripathi from Vellore prison
through videoconferencing, will want to know why a researcher was denied
permission to meet Rajiv Gandhi death convicts in 2011, details of his medical
records in custody of the jail department, and the status of the several mercy
petitions he had sent to the President.
In 2011, the state home department had denied permission to Reena Mary George,
a researcher from the University of Vienna to meet the 3 Rajiv Gandhi death
convicts for her study titled 'Death Penalty in India: Perception of the
Prisoner on Death Row'. George was reportedly allowed to meet all death row
convicts except those convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
Since 2000, Perarivalan had sent about 6 mercy pleas since 2000 to the
President. Selvaraj Murugaiyan, secretary of the Chennai chapter of People's
%Movement Against Death Penalty, said Perarivalan wanted to know if all his
pleas sent through the state IG (prisons) had reached the President's office.
"The government registered only his 1st plea sent in 2000. But his petitions
after 2004 had more legal grounds and valid claims of innocence. One of those
pleas, relating to the charge that Perarivalan had purchased batteries for the
bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi, included the revelations of K Ragothaman, chief
investigating officer in the case, that the investigation had no clue about who
made that bomb," Murugaiyan said.
It is a fact that death convicts are those most amenable to reform and
rehabilitation, he added. "Yet our law is harsh to them," said Murugaiyan,
whose movement headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice V R Krishna Iyer,
has a slogan which says punishment should be reformatory, not retributory. The
movement has recently launched Perarivalan.com, a website archiving the life
events and writings of the death row convict.
(source: The Times of India)
******************
2 death row convicts say it is 'God's will'; Family members pin their hopes on
Supreme Court
The family members of Shivu Munishetty and Jadeswamy Rangashetty, death row
convicts whose mercy petitions were rejected by the President last week, have
pinned their hopes on the Supreme Court with a prayer for mercy, even as the
writ petition filed on their behalf seeking commutation of death penalty into
life imprisonment is coming up before the court on Wednesday.
'They are innocent'
Their family members still feel that Shivu and Jadeswamy are innocent and were
"fixed by local politicians" hostile to them in a property dispute.
They said Jadeswamy was picked up by the police while he was having lunch at
home and Shivu from the bus-stop. They said that they do not believe in the
evidence collected by the police.
As many as 30 relatives from Badarayanahalli in Kollegal taluk of
Chamarajanagar arrived here to meet the 2 convicts at the Hindalga Central
Prison on Tuesday.
The party included Chellamma Munishetty, Shivu's mother, and three sisters who
brought him rakhis, and Shivashankaramma, wife of Jadeswamy, her mother,
Rangamma Rangashetty, and sister-in-law Nagamma.
After a meeting that lasted an hour, Shivu and Jadeswamy were quoted as saying
that they were being punished for an offence that they did not commit.
"Yella devara ichhe" (all God's will), they told their relatives, but did not
show any sign of disappointment or fear of death. Meanwhile, the jail
authorities have made all arrangements to carry out the execution.
(source: The Hindu)
*******************
Karnataka: Death row convict attempts suicide day before hanging
A death row convict in a rape and murder case on Wednesday allegedly attempted
suicide at a prison in Belgaum amid preparations by jail authorities to hang
him along with another convict.
Shivu Munishetti slashed his genitals and hand with a blade, officials at
Hindalga jail where he and the other death row convict Jadeswamy Rangashetti
are lodged, said.
Shivu was being treated at the jail and might be shifted to district hospital,
the officials said.
Jail officials had said earlier that they had made all arrangements to hang
both of them most likely on 22 August after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected
their mercy petitions on 13 August.
A writ petition filed on behalf of Shivu and Jadeswamy seeking commutation of
death penalty is coming up before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
In a letter purportedly written by Shivu, he claimed that he came from a
respectable family and was innocent.
He was falsely implicated in the case and wanted justice, Shivu said in a
letter to the media released by one of his relatives.
Shivu and Jadeswamy were sentenced to death in 2005 for raping and murdering an
18-year-old girl at Bhadranhalli of Chamarajnagar district.
Their conviction by the District and Sessions court was upheld by the High
Court and Supreme Court. After the apex court confirmed the death sentence in
2007, both had sought Presidential mercy.
Shivu and Jadeswamy were brought to Hindalga prison here in November 2005. The
last execution at the jail was carried out 30 years ago.
36 persons are awaiting gallows in the jail, including 5 associates of
sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, who had struck terror in the forests bordering
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu before he was shot dead in a joint operation by the 2
states.
(source: Firstpost.com)
***************************
Protesters outside court seek death penalty for Tunda
The 1st appearance of top LeT bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda in a Delhi court on
tuesday saw a group of protesters shouting slogans in the premises, demanding
death penalty for him.
Tunda, touted as a prized catch by security agencies, was earlier produced at a
judge's residence and consequently, did not face the public and the media. He
was also assaulted by one of the protesters.
Tunda, wearing a white Pathan suit and a skull cap, was brought inside the
court complex in a police jeep escorted by four vehicles. The moment he stepped
out, a person, claiming to be a member of 'Hindu Sena', started shouting
slogans.
The protester was seeking death penalty for Tunda on the ground that he has
been involved in anti-India activities.
The police immediately detained the protester, who later identified himself as
Vishnu Gupta and claimed to be the president of the 'Hindu Sena'.
However, Shiv Kumar Raghav, who was sitting outside the court room, tried to
attack Tunda. He first tried to kick him and then slap him but as he was
overpowered by police personnel, he hit Tunda on his back.
Raghav, a resident of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Gupta, who resides in
Delhi, were detained and taken to Tilak Marg police station then.Both were seen
shouting slogans when they were taken to the police station. They also said
that around 20-30 people have already been detained in the morning.
(source: Zee News)
SCOTLAND/BELARUS:
Belarusians at Edinburgh Festival: Trash Cuisine and Give a Body Back
The Belarus Free Theatre held a performance "Give a Body Back" as part of the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest theatre festival.
The Edinburgh Festival held during August attracts about 1 million spectators.
The Belarus Free Theatre plays its Trash Cuisine, which had been triumphantly
staged at London's Young Vic, at one of the main festival venues Pleasance
Grand.
The performance "Give a Body Back" involved Free Theatre actors, staff of
London-based Oberon publisher, lawyers, professors of the University of
Edinburgh and Falmouth University as well as volunteers.
The performance was covered by the Scottish and English media.
The campaign "Give a Body Back" was launched last October after the 1st
performance of Trash Cuisine in Amsterdam. The play tells about the hideous
practice of using the death penalty in Belarus and in the world.
The campaign "Give a Body Back" demands to:
1. Abolish the death penalty in Belarus.
2. Complete the investigation in cases of the kidnapped people and release
their bodies to families.
3. Release the bodies of executed people to their families.
4. Free political prisoners.
(source: Charter 97)
GAZA:
Hamas justice under scrutiny over Gaza executions
Gaza's Hamas government is sticking to plans to carry out more executions and
to do so in public for the first time, despite new protests by human rights
groups Tuesday.
Among those facing death by hanging in coming days is Hani Abu Aliyan, 28,
convicted of 2 killings, including sexually assaulting and bludgeoning to death
a boy when he himself was only 14. His lawyer alleged Abu Aliyan confessed to
that killing under torture.
The international group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged all upcoming
executions halted, saying Gaza's justice system is badly tainted, including by
forced confessions, and that executing a child offender is "especially
atrocious."
A Gaza rights group, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, said inviting
spectators to executions adds cruelty to an already inhumane punishment.
In all, Hamas authorities have executed 16 prisoners since 2010, most convicted
of killings or spying for Israel, according to the New York-based Human Rights
Watch. 16 more await execution, including Abu Aliyan and another prisoner who
are first in line because they have exhausted all appeals.
Abu Aliyan's father, Mohammed, a 55-year-old farmer from the southern town of
Khan Younis, pleaded for his son's life, saying he has shown remorse, has
turned to religion and should get a chance to see his own 5-year-old son grow
up.
"They can keep him in jail forever," the elder Abu Aliyan said in a phone
interview Tuesday. "At least let his son know his father."
Executions have aroused little public opposition in conservative Gaza, where
tribal customs and Islamic religious law, or Sharia, call for putting to death
convicted killers.
As an Islamic militant group bound by Sharia, Hamas would have ideological
difficulties halting executions, said Ahmed Ali, a sociologist at Gaza's Al
Quds University. Carrying out executions also prevents revenge killings by
angry relatives that can quickly spiral into long-running blood feuds, he said.
Hamas seized Gaza in a violent takeover in 2007 and has firmly entrenched its
hold on the territory, home to about 1.7 million people, sidelining its
opponents.
The Hamas-run justice system and past executions have repeatedly been
criticized by human rights groups.
Last week, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the
Gaza government must halt all executions, arguing that a fair trial is not
possible there, either legally or practically. She said she was concerned about
allegations of ill-treatment and torture during interrogations of people who
were later sentenced to death.
Gaza's attorney general, Ismail Jaber, said he would not back down. "The death
sentence will be carried out against a number of criminals in the presence of
the families of victims and dignitaries," Jaber said in remarks on the Interior
Ministry's website. "The objective of these public executions is to deter
others from committing similar offenses. The law will take its course and no
criminal will escape punishment."
Ehab Ghussein, a Gaza government spokesman, denied allegations that defendants
were denied due process, including being tortured during interrogation.
He said the government's recent approval to go ahead with Abu Aliyan's
execution came after all legal proceedings were exhausted.
The case against Abu Aliyan began in 2009, when he turned himself in to Khan
Younis police after stabbing to death an acquaintance, Hazem Borhum, during a
dispute over money. At the time, he was newly married and worked as a food
merchant, his father said.
His former lawyer, Ghazi Abu Warda, alleged that during interrogation, Abu
Aliyan was tortured and confessed to sexually assaulting and killing a young
boy in 2000.
In May 2010, Abu Aliyan was sentenced separately for the 2000 and the 2009
killings, in the latter case for "involuntary murder," and received a life term
for each crime, Human Rights Watch said.
The prosecutor's office appealed the sentences as too lenient, and an appeals
court imposed the death penalty in both cases in September, Human Rights Watch
said. Gaza's highest court upheld the decision in July.
The families of the 2 victims have refused to negotiate compensation according
to tribal customs, which are still strong in Gaza and serve as a parallel legal
system, the elder Abu Aliyan said.
"They wanted him to be killed," Mohammed Abu Aliyan said, adding that he and is
other sons have been shunned by his own clan since the legal proceedings began.
'
Raed Borhum, 34, a cousin of the 2nd victim, said nothing short of execution
will appease the family. "This is the only thing that will cool our anger and
will make the soul of Hazem rest in peace," he said. "Islam says for killers to
be killed."
Amid such sentiments, appeals by human rights activists to stop executions seem
bound to fall on deaf ears.
Still, they keep trying.
Last week, Raji Sourani of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights wrote to
Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, urging him to halt executions.
Sourani told Haniyeh he was also worried about the decision to make them
public.
Hanging prisoners in front of an audience "constitutes a form of humiliation
that aggravates the cruelty of this inhumane penalty," Sourani said.
(source: Associated Press)
IRAN----execution
Iranian regime executes teenager in Kermanshah
The Iranian regime's henchmen have hanged a 18-year old boy in the western city
of Kermanshah on Tuesday for alleged crime committed when he was 12.
Arman Mohammadi, a resident of the city of Ravansar in western Iran was hanged
in Dizel-abad prison in city of Kermanshah.
A relative of the prisoner has said that Arman had been arrested when he was
only 12 and he had spent 6 years in prison before execution, Kurdpa.net
reported.
Since Hassan Rouhani has become the Iranian regime's president over 100
prisoners have been executed in Iran including three prisoner in public in 3
locations of a city in the same day.
(source: NCR-Iran)
PAKISTAN:
Death penalty compulsory
All successful governments around the world work according to systems,
procedures and policy which is why despite change of governments, such
countries keep proceeding on the set path to progress. Unfortunately, that is
not so in our beloved country, which is mostly run on the whims and fancies of
individuals at the helm, who often turn out to be suitable for any position
except the one they are in, and that happens to be our greatest misfortune.
Also, while federal and provincial parliaments as well as the Senate exist,
important decisions are on occasions made just by 1 or 2 persons, without the
matter being discussed in depth by the parliamentarians, there seems to me
minimum contribution from our national and provincial members, maybe because
they come from a class that does not believe in giving any privileges or
concessions to the poor masses. There certainly are no debates held where
informed people discuss a subject!
Recently, the government announced the execution of few convicts for whom all
legal remedies had been exhausted. Even the names of the convicts and dates of
hanging had been announced, after signing of the Black (death) Warrant by the
Acting President in the absence of President Zardari, who had maintained a
moratorium on executions for nearly 5 years, during which time only one convict
was hanged, and that, too, because both the murderer and the victim belonged to
the armed forces, and the civilian government chose not to interfere in that.
Perhaps President Zardari was influenced by European states and other
international organisations which have been running a campaign against death
penalty, which they consider inhuman, but they what they do not understand is
that is a rouge society, such as ours, we badly need to see some capital
punishments take place to put the fear of Allah in the hearts of hardened
criminals who take the law into their own hands. Islam dictates an eye for an
eye, and I believe it is a just and great religion if we ignore the dictates of
our religion we will perish.
There could be some slight justification for holding back some executions,
provided that it was done as part of a deal, whereby militants agreed to
surrender and to discontinue their activities. However, with militants stepping
up their operations and threatening yet more, our 1-sided concessions do not
particularly appeal to me because in my view, and I believe in those of all
right-thinking people, they will amount to nothing but a retreat, and a very
shameful one for that matter, which will work out to our own disadvantage.
S.R.H. HASHMI,
Karachi, August 19.
(source: Letter to the Editor, The Nation)
********************
MNAs rap govt over death penalty suspension
The National Assembly, on the 1st private member day of its 4th session,
Tuesday witnessed severe criticism of the PML-N government???s recent move over
suspension of death penalty.
Some lawmakers, both from treasury and opposition, raising serious concerns
over the government's action, sought proper laws to halt death penalty in the
country.
The house with thin presence of legislators from both the sides deferred record
17 agenda items out of 19, and most of the time was spent on point of orders.
PTI legislator Engineer Ali Muhammad, on a point of order, drew attention of
the House towards capital punishment, demanding the government to explain
reasons for suspending it.
"Under which law Islamic punishment was suspended," he questioned. He was of
the view that this punishment, if implemented properly, could help minimise
even terrorism in the country. "Islam pleads death penalty to murderers, but
implementation on it has been stopped in Pakistan," he added. Another lawmaker
from JUI-F, Amir Zaman, said the government should consider this issue properly
as the Quranic laws could not be changed. "No Islamic law could be changed. The
government cannot change the law of Qisas," he asserted.
PPP legislator Azra Fazal Pechuho, taking the floor, said there was dire need
to review laws in this matter as investigation process needed to be made
better. "Terrorists should be punished, but what is the fault of those who had
no legal aid to defend their cases?" she said, adding there should be
difference between innocent and guilty.
It is relevant to mention here that the PML-N government has not made any
change in the law of capital punishment and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not
passed any orders in this connection.
(source: The Nation)
*******************
Govt blasted for putting death penalty on hold; PTI and JUI-F question govt
under what law it had suspended capital punishment
The suspension of death penalty by the government drew criticism in the lower
house of parliament on Tuesday when lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) and Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) voiced concern over government's
move to put on hold the capital punishment.
Lawmakers from Pakistan People's Party (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement
(MQM), however, stressed for improving the investigation process before going
for death penalty to save 'innocent lives'.
The atmosphere of the house remained lacklustre due to thin presence from both
opposition and treasury sides particularly the ministers, receiving criticism
from the members for exhibiting non-seriousness towards the proceedings.
Mohammd Ali Khan of PTI, speaking on a point of order, diverted attention of
the house towards suspension of death penalty by the government and questioned
under what law the government had put on hold this penalty.
JUI-F Maulana Amir Zaman noted that government could not put on hold this
penalty as it was ordained in the holy Quran and if not implemented, it would
amount to committing a sin. PPP's Dr Afzal Peecho, however called for bringing
improvement in the investigation system so that no innocent person could lose
his life because of poor investigation system. "The militants should be hanged.
But innocent ones should not fall pray to it due to shortcomings in the
investigation", she urged. MQM's Salman Mujahid Baloch also talked about death
penalty and said no sentences including life imprisonment and death penalty
could be granted simultaneously.
(source: The Daily Times)
**********************
Death row
The 1st possible tussle between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Asif
Zardari may be over the 5-year moratorium that the PPP government introduced on
carrying out the death penalty. It is believed that the prime minister wants to
reintroduce capital punishment but the presidency, though largely toothless,
still retains the power to pardon prisoners or commute any sentence. For now,
Nawaz Sharif has thus had to back down on the issue, at least till September 8
when president-elect Mamnoon Hussain takes office. As a result, the scheduled
execution of two LeJ militants will now be postponed. There are some who
believe that PM Nawaz Sharif only agreed to continue the moratorium because of
threats from militant groups over the execution of their men but this seems to
be a simple case of the president holding all the cards. Although the PML-N
will soon have the power to decide whether it wants to bring back the death
penalty, the government should ponder the issue before coming to a final
decision. Our justice system right now is so flawed that carrying out an
irreversible punishment seems morally untenable. A life spent rotting in prison
is no picnic but at least the government can then correct the invariable
mistakes that creep in.
The main argument presented in favour of the death penalty in Pakistan is that
it will be the most effective deterrent against terrorists. This, however, does
not hold up to scrutiny. As we see on a nearly daily basis, militants have so
widely embraced the cult of death that they were willing to blow themselves up.
It is not clear how the prospect of the hangman will deter such people from
their suicidal mission. In cases other than those of terrorism, the death
penalty is not always handed down equitably. The richer a convicted murderer is
the more likely he is to escape the gallows. On top of that, our policing
techniques are not advanced enough to ensure that all convictions are just and
the use of DNA testing, which has exonerated countless people around the world,
has not yet been widely accepted and used in the country. There are moral
arguments to be made against doing away with capital punishment even when we
are certain that all convictions are correct but until we reach that stage
there is simply no question that the death penalty moratorium should continue.
(source: Editorial, The News)
IRAQ:
Iraq Executes 17 Despite Human Rights Condemnation
Ignoring an international outcry for a moratorium on capital punishment, Iraq's
Justice Ministry announced on Monday that 17 people were executed, without
specifying when the hangings actually occurred.
16 of those put to death were convicted under Iraq's anti-terrorism law. Other
than a single Egyptian national, all the people on death row were Iraqi.
So far in 2013, the government has carried out 67 executions, compared to 129
for all of last year.
It wasn't known if any of the people put to death might have been escapees who
were recaptured after a massive prison break last July, in which hundreds of
detainees with ties to al Qaeda got away.
The United Nations, the European Union and a number of human rights groups have
condemned Iraq's use of the death penalty, charging that many confessions were
obtained under torture, while decrying the court system as often being
inadequate.
(source: ABC News)
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