Nov. 19
NEW ZEALAND/CHINA:
Minister due to decide on extradition
Justice Minister Amy Adams cannot say when she will make a decision on the fate
of a Korean man who has spent more than three years in an Auckland jail without
charge.
China has requested the extradition of Kyung Yup Kim, who is wanted over the
death of a woman in Shanghai in 2009.
Mr Kim left China and lived in Korea for six months before arriving in New
Zealand in October 2010.
In May 2011, China requested that New Zealand extradite him on a charge of
intentional homicide.
He has spent more than three years on remand in Auckland's Mount Eden jail,
fighting his extradition all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Korean man has twice applied to have the hearing to decide whether he is
eligible for extradition deferred.
In May 2012, Mr Kim applied for a writ of habeas corpus, an ancient legal
remedy which forces the authorities to bring a person before the court to
establish whether they are being held lawfully.
When that was declined by the High Court he appealed to the Court of Appeal and
then the Supreme Court - which dismissed the case in December 2012. Last year,
a judge at the Auckland District Court determined that Mr Kim was eligible for
surrender.
In September, Mr Kim abandoned his appeals, and instead sought a final decision
from the new Justice Minister over whether she should hand him over to Chinese
authorities.
That decision is due this Thursday.
Last week, Mr Kim's lawyer Tony Ellis received a letter from Ms Adams saying
she was considering seeking undertakings from China that his client would not
be sentenced to death or tortured. "The Minister of Justice could have got
those and should have got those 3 years ago," he said.
Dr Ellis said, under international law, such assurances were not worth the
paper they were written on.
"The UN Human Rights Committee has said you need the assurances against
torture, but you need a monitoring mechanism. It's not good [enough] being
given an assurance."
Dr Ellis said if Mr Kim was returned to China, his client might face the death
penalty, was more than likely to be tortured and certainly would not get a fair
trial.
He said his client had been refused bail because he was deemed a flight risk.
But Dr Ellis said that was unlikely, given he had a home in South Auckland with
his two New Zealand-born children and also lived with his mother, father and
brother.
Challenge to legal aid decision
The case was funded by legal aid until it was referred to the Justice Minister,
and Dr Ellis said he had applied for a review of the decision not to grant
legal aid over the surrender decision.
"The most important decision, the Minister's surrending him or not - and then
they deny legal aid," he said.
"There can't be anything more important than determining whether you are going
to be sent back to somewhere you might be put to death and tortured."
Dr Ellis said if he did not receive an answer from Ms Adams by the end of the
week, he would file an application in the High Court for Mr Kim's release.
According to a spokesperson, Ms Adams said she could not comment while the case
was under active consideration.
(source: Radio New Zealand)
SOUTH AFRICA:
Death penalty is not a magic wand for SA
THE unacceptably high incidence of violent crime in SA has resulted in
vociferous demands in the community for the reinstatement of the death penalty
in our country.
Some people regard this penalty as a magic wand that will resolve the very
serious problems that we are confronted with in relation to the criminal
justice system. Furthermore, opinion polls suggest significant support for the
reinstatement of the penalty.
There are cogent arguments against the death penalty:
-- There is, according to research, no conclusive evidence to prove that the
death penalty is more of a deterrent than life imprisonment.
-- The death penalty is an irrevocable punishment. In the US there are about
12 recorded cases in which persons were executed and subsequently it has been
established that they were innocent.
-- The death penalty is a cruel and barbaric punishment that depraves all who
are involved with its application.
-- In heterogeneous countries such as SA and the US, it has been established
that there is invariably a racial bias in the imposition of the death penalty.
This was the position in apartheid SA and it remains the position in the US,
where the majority of those executed are poor and black or persons of colour.
-- The death penalty is an arbitrary punishment since it is not imposed with
any consistency. It depends, inter alia, on the judge???s disposition to the
death penalty and the quality of the defence available to accused persons.
-- The death penalty is morally, philosophically and theologically
questionable.
The most powerful argument in favour of the ultimate penalty is that of
retribution. When unspeakable crimes are committed society demands retribution
and this can only be satisfied, according to proponents of the death penalty,
with the ultimate punishment. The eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
approach. However great the demand for retribution may be, it is my submission
that it is outweighed by the 6 arguments above.
Most informed and perceptive commentators are of the opinion that the
reinstatement of the death penalty would not instantaneously, or even over a
period of time, resolve the serious crime problem in SA. What is required is a
far more effective and resourced criminal justice system and a police force
that is competent and not corrupt, in its fight against crime. There is indeed
no magic solution.
What is also vitally necessary is the socioeconomic upliftment of millions of
South Africans, who are poor, unemployed and live in appalling conditions.
According to the South African Survey (2010-11), 36.5% of our population is
unemployed. To make matters worse, 72.3% of people between the ages of 15 and
37 are unemployed. Grinding poverty and people who eke out an existence in the
informal settlements are the metaphorical breeding grounds for violent crime in
SA. The call for the reinstatement of the death penalty is a red herring. The
real problems must be tackled if we are to radically reduce crime in our
society.
(source: George Devenish is professor emeritus and senior research associate at
the University of KwaZulu-Natal----Business Day Live)
PAKISTAN:
Honour killing: Pakistan court awards death penalty to 4 relatives
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan today sentenced to death the father, 2
brothers and former husband of a pregnant woman, who was stoned to death by
them outside Lahore High Court in a case of 'honour killing'.
Judge Haroon Latif awarded death penalty to Farzana Parveen's father Muhammad
Azeem, brother Muhammad Zahid, former husband Mazhar Iqbal and cousin Jumah
Khan.
A fine of Rs 1 Lakh has also been imposed on each of them.
Ghulam Ali, another cousin of her, has been awarded 10 years imprisonment.
Farzana, 25, was killed on May 27 when her father, former husband, 2 brothers
and some other relatives attacked her on Fane Road near the court with bricks.
She was going to the Lahore High Court along with her husband Muhammad Iqbal,
45, to attend hearing in an abduction case.
Farzana, of Nankana Sahib district, some 80 kilometers from Lahore, was
pregnant at that time.
She died on the spot while Iqbal escaped unhurt. The killing sparked a
countrywide debate demanding strict laws and their implementation to check the
'honour killing'.
The Pakistani prime minister, the chief justice and even foreign countries like
the US and the UK condemned her murder.
The government had vowed for speedy justice in this case. Farzana's family had
accused Iqbal of kidnapping her. It also claimed that Farzana was already
married to her cousin Mazhar and Iqbal had lured her into second marriage
without getting divorce from the first husband which is "illegal and
un-Islamic."
Iqbal had killed his 1st wife some 6 years ago but was freed from jail after
his son, the complainant in the case, pardoned him.
Advocate Mansoor Rehman Afridi, a counsel for the accused, told reporters they
would file a review petition in the superior court against the verdict of the
ATC.
The honour killing incidents are on the rise in Pakistan especially in Punjab,
a province of 90-million. Last year, 870 women were killed in the name of
honour here.
(source: Economic Times)
SRI LANKA:
Sri Lanka releases Indian fishermen on death row
The Sri Lankan Government on Wednesday released the 5 Indian fishermen,
sentenced to death in a case of alleged drug trafficking.
An official told The Hindu that the 5 fishermen had been released to the care
of the Indian High Commission in Colombo, before being sent back to India.
It is learnt that they will serve no further jail term in India.
PTI adds:
The release came after Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa commuted their
death penalty.
Prison officials said the 5 fishermen have been handed over to the immigration
authorities for further action.
Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet, all hailing from Tamil
Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 and were sentenced to death by the Colombo High
Court on October 30 for alleged drug trafficking.
The court ruling had triggered fiery protests in parts of Tamil Nadu and
sporadic violence broke out in and around Rameswaram island as a large number
of people staged protests.
India on November 11 had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
against a verdict of the high court awarding death sentence to them.
Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation last
week on the issue.
The issue of fishermen is a very emotive matter for both Sri Lanka and India,
where Tamil Nadu???based parties including AIADMK and DMK have been regularly
pressing the government to take up the matter with the Lankan authorities
seriously and have often resented high - profile visits from the island nation.
(source: The Hindu)
TAIWAN:
MOJ to review case after rapist-murderer escapes death penalty
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said Wednesday that it will review a case in
which a man was sentenced to life imprisonment a day earlier for repeatedly
raping the daughter of his partner and later murdering her.
Amid concerns by lawmakers that the sentence was too lenient, Vice Justice
Minister Tsai Pi-yu said the case is still under legal proceedings and has yet
to receive a final ruling.
After the court hands down its final verdict, the ministry will ask the Taiwan
High Prosecutors Office to weigh the possibility of an appeal or review.
The case revolves around Hsu Chuan, 58, of New Taipei, who lived with the
victim's mother 13 years ago and allegedly began to sexually assault the girl
twice per week since 2006 for a period of five years. She waited until after
her mother's suicide to report the matter to police in the company of her
biological father on Sept. 19, 2011. She also moved out to live with her
biological father.
Hsu, who had been jailed previously for sexually assaulting members of his
family, pleaded with the victim to drop the case, but her father persuaded her
not to.
Hsu then sneaked into the victim's house Nov. 29 and strangled her to death
with a steel wire, arranging the scene so that it looked as if she had
committed suicide.
The district court 1st handed down the death sentence to Hsu in 2013, which the
high court maintained, as well as a single conviction for sexual assault.
The supreme court earlier this year revoked the death sentence and instructed
that a retrial should take place, following which he was handed down the life
sentence.
(source: Focus Taiwan)
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