Nov. 26
GERMANY:
1 in 3 law students backs death penalty
Professor Franz Streng at the University of Erlangen in Bavaria asked his
1st-year law students the same set of questions every year from 1989 to 2012.
"At the beginning of their studies, they've still only had their opinions
formed by school, their parents and the media," Streng said.
He found that despite the young people feeling less at risk from crime from
year to year, they became more and more positive about harsher punishments for
criminals.
Asked to decide on a sentence in a fictitious case of manslaughter after a
couple broke up, the average grew from 6 years in 1989 to 9 1/2 in 2012.
And in stark contrast to 1989, when more than 1 in 3 students wanted to abolish
life sentences altogether, only 2 % were for ending them in 2012.
Streng notes that the effect is completely unlinked to violent crime
statistics, which have been sinking since 2007.
"The people I survey feel more secure than they ever have," he said.
He adds that these beginner lawyers aren't yet prepared for the questions
they're being asked - and that isn't necessarily fixed during their studies.
"Young lawyers aren't trained enough to deal with sentencing. They know the
criminal law itself, but they don't get any knowledge about psychology,
sociology and psychiatry."
Lawyers starting work as judges and prosecutors should have to receive
compulsory training in criminology, Streng said.
Stefan Caspari of the Magistrates' Federation suggested that differences are
ironed out by the time lawyers qualify, saying that "there is no difference to
be found between young and old [judges] in terms of the sentences they request
or hand down"
Every age group has stricter and harsher judges according to individual
personalities, Caspari said.
But Streng suspects that societal factors are at play in the students'
hardening attitudes.
He welcomes the focus on victims that has developed in recent years, but says
it has "problematic side effects" - along with crime sensationalism in the
media which leads to people feeling generally less safe.
"If you push for victims' interests, you'll tend towards higher sentences,"
Streng believes - and the same goes for those who watch a lot of crime movies.
As for the death sentence, its reintroduction is completely out of the
question.
"It's abolished by our Constitution, and at the same time it's unthinkable that
it could be reintroduced because of international treaties and the context of
the European Union."
(source: The Local)
INDIA:
India Votes against UNGA Resolution on Death Penalty
India has voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution calling for
moratorium on the use of death penalty, saying it fails to recognise each
nation's "sovereign right" to determine its legal system and punish criminals
according to its laws.
The draft resolution on 'Moratorium on the use of the death penalty' was
approved last week in the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with
social, humanitarian and cultural issues. India was among the 36 nations that
voted against the resolution, which got 114 votes in favour and 34 abstentions.
By the terms of the resolution, the General Assembly would urge Member States
to progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and not impose capital
punishment for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age, on pregnant
women and on persons with mental or intellectual disabilities.
In its explanation of vote, India said the resolution seeks to promote a
moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
India voted against the resolution as it goes "against our statutory law, First
Secretary in the Indian Mission to the UN Mayank Joshi said.
"The resolution fails to recognise the basic principle that each State has the
sovereign right to determine its legal system and to punish criminals as per
its laws," he said.
Joshi said in India the death penalty is exercised in the "rarest of rare"
cases, where the crime committed is "so heinous as to shock the conscience of
society."
He said Indian law provides for all requisite procedural safeguards, including
the right to a fair hearing by an independent court, the presumption of
innocence, the minimum guarantees for the defence and the right to review by a
higher court. India reiterated that its laws have specific provisions for
suspension of the death penalty in the case of pregnant women and has rulings
that prohibited executions of persons with mental or intellectual disabilities,
while juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to death under any circumstances.
Joshi added that death sentences in India must also be confirmed by a superior
court and an accused has the right to appeal to a High Court or the Supreme
Court.
Human rights groups have criticised India's use of death penalty and have
repeatedly asked India to end the "distressing" use of executions and move
towards abolishing the death penalty.
Last year, India executed Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru just three
months after it hanged the lone surviving 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab in a Pune
jail.
In September last year, 4 men were sentenced to death for raping and murdering
a young woman in New Delhi in December 2012, a tragedy that sparked wide-spread
protests and anger across the country and united its citizens in seeking
justice for the student, who died in a Singapore hospital.
A related draft amendment tabled in the third committee was rejected by a vote
of 55 in favour, 85 against, with 22 abstentions.
By that text, the General Assembly would reaffirm the sovereign right of all
countries to develop their own legal systems, including determining appropriate
legal penalties, in accordance with their international law obligations.
India voted in favour of the amendment.
(source: The New Indian Express)
******************
Is India preparing to hang an innocent 'untouchable'?
Should the court rule against Koli and were he to be hanged, it would be the
second consecutive execution in India of a most likely, or almost entirely,
innocent person.
Surinder Koli is a member of a Dalit, or oppressed (formerly known as
'untouchable'), caste in imminent risk of execution for horrific crimes he may
well not have committed.
He has been convicted of murdering a 14-year-old named Rimpa Haldar based
entirely on his confession obtained under torture some 2 months after his
arrest in December 2006. His confession statement, which mentioned several
other murders, mutilation, cannibalism and worse, specifically stated that he
was tortured and tutored during detention.
In most civilised jurisdictions, confession under torture is automatically
ignored. The Indian Evidence Act bars a confession made due to inducement,
threat or promise. Moreover the Supreme Court of India has ruled against it,
also observing that prolonged custody prior to a confession is sufficient to
deem it involuntary. There is no other evidence against Koli than his
confession under torture during detention by the Central Bureau of
Investigations (CBI).
Moreover, Koli's confession details stretch credibility. According to his
repetitive and near identical statements, all the killings took place during
the day in Moninder Singh Pandher's house where Koli was a domestic servant. He
carried out the killing in the drawing room, stripped the clothes off, carried
the bodies to the bathroom to be mutilated, got to the kitchen and cooked and
ate some body parts. Some hours later he would clean the house. Not once did
anyone surprise him in the acts, nor observe them.
15 more cases are pending against Koli - 11 in the trial court stage and 4 in
the appeal stage in Allahabad High Court in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was
poorly represented by legal aid lawyers whereas his employer Pandher, who was
also convicted in the Rimpa Haldar case, went from death penalty to outright
acquittal by the high court.
The killings and mutilations took place in Nithari village close to New Delhi
but in the jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2007, India's Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) set up an expert
committee of senior officials to look into the "Nithari Killings". The
committee made a damning indictment of the investigations by the police and the
CBI (thus raising serious doubts about Koli's role in the killings). The
committee noted scientific information supplied by a senior medical expert, Dr
Vinod Kumar, MD, who had carried out autopsies and who pointed out that the
middle parts (torsos) of all the bodies were missing, giving rise to the
suspicion that they were being used in the organ trade.
Dr Vinod Kumar noted the surgical precision with which they had been handled.
He disfavoured the theory of cannibalism as that could have been a ruse to
divert attention from the organ trade. In its report, the WCD committee cast
doubts over the prosecution theory about the motive for the killings and noted
its failure to investigate the organ trade trail. The house next to the one
where Koli worked was occupied by a Dr Naveen Chaudhury, who had been charged
previously in a case of organ trading.
The WCD report was never given to Koli's lawyers or to the trial or appeal
courts. Dr Vinod Kumar's observations would have had a crucial bearing on the
case against Koli. The prosecution failed to examine his report, record his
statement or call the autopsy surgeon as a witness. A highly unusual lapse in a
murder case.
Moreover, the WCD report pointed out that there was no pattern in the choice of
victims which is generally the hallmark of serial killers: the victims were
both male and female and ranged in age from 3 to young women. The method of
disposal of the body - around the house in broad daylight - seems not to have
aroused the courts' suspicion. Crucial witnesses such as other employees of
Pandher were never called. Koli's guilt, in other words, has never been proven
beyond reasonable doubt.
Assuming for the sake of argument that Koli did indeed do what his confession
statements claim, he needs psychiatric and medical help, not the hangman's
noose. Sparing mentally ill convicts the death penalty is the least amount of
decency that retentionist states can show.
The Supreme Court, while dismissing Koli's review petition on 28 October 2014,
was reported to have said that "in future the trial court will ensure that the
accused in other cases by given proper legal assistance by a lawyer of
expertise and who can devote time,". How absurdly bizarre is that? It amounts
to saying: you have a point that Koli was not given proper legal representation
but we'll nevertheless let this poorly represented chap hang even if he's
innocent as he claims to be.
Following the Supreme Court's unfortunate decision, the People's Union for
Democratic Rights went back to the Allahabad High Court, seeking commutation to
a life sentence on the ground that there had been considerable delay in his
case. The court set 25 November to hear the government's response.
Should the court rule against Koli and were he to be hanged, it would be the
second consecutive execution in India of a most likely, or almost entirely,
innocent person. In February last year, a Kashmiri named Afzal Guru was hanged
in secret and his body buried inside the jail without informing his family
beforehand in connection with the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament. The
Supreme Court had almost conceded there was little merit in the case, but said:
"The collective conscience of the society will be satisfied only if the death
penalty is awarded to Afzal Guru."
India's political class, judiciary, police and prosecution are packed with
members of upper or oppressor castes as is the media. Inside Indian jails, it
is the Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis (indigenous peoples), who make up the
majority. Officials and media people from upper classes and castes have little
sympathy for the latter. The Supreme Court's callous dismissal of the review
petition by Koli, an indigent Dalit, and its abominable verdict in the Afzal
Guru case are but 2 examples.
Equally crucially, if Koli were to be hanged, a possible witness in what the
report of the committee constituted by the Ministry of Women and Child
Development points to a much larger criminal network would be lost forever. The
Pandhers and their neighbours can sleep in peace, basking in the caste, class
and communal prejudices of the institutions that fail(ed) to bring them to
justice.
Is that what the Indian state wants?
(source: opendemocracy.net)
************************
SC awards death penalty to man for raping 4-yr-old girl, stoning her to death
SC has awarded death sentence to a 47-year-old man from Maharashtra after
finding him guilty of raping a 4-year-old girl and then stoning her to death.
The apex court said the case fell in the rarest of rare category as the child
had always referred to the man from neighbourhood as an uncle and trusted him.
SC said the way the man betrayed the child's trust and brutally raped and
murdered her, he deserved nothing but death penalty.
The 3-judge bench in a unanimous decision said the depraved man deserved death
penalty as he was a threat to young girls and the balance in society.
(source: The Times of India)
VANUATU:
Vanuatu MP says black magic 'getting out of control'
A Vanuatu opposition MP who believes in 'black magic' says those who use it
should face the death penalty.
Willie Jimmy says if he is in Government again he will push for legislation to
punish those who practise black magic and protect those who stop people using
it.
His comments follow the arrest of a group of church pastors and custom chiefs
in Malekula for allegedly ordering the hanging of 2 men who they claimed were
practising black magic.
The police have described the killings as brutal and unlawful.
In a controversial move, Mr Jimmy is defending the killings, saying he believes
black magic is getting out of control.
"It is good for the people of the village, it is good for the people of the
area, because they will now walk around freely without being intimidated by
somebody through the use of black magic."
Willie Jimmy says he does not consider the death penalty an extreme measure.
(source: Radio New Zealand)
UGANDA:
A petition to have the death penalty abolished
A group of Americans is planning to petition the Ugandan parliament in efforts
to have the death penalty abolished.
Bill Pelke, the president of Journey of Hope, says they plan to challenge the
death penalty although he did not specify when exactly they will do so.
He says their move will help to sensitize Ugandan MPs on the cruelty of the
death sentence - something that he believes should ultimately lead the
legislators into advocating for the abolition of the punishment.
Uganda is one of the few countries in the world with the death penalty,
although no execution has been carried out since 1999, when Haji Mustapha
Sebirumbi was hanged.
Following a global campaign, 139 countries - including 13 in Africa - have
abolished the death penalty in the last 12 years.
Presently, Uganda's prisons accommodate 393 inmates on death row. Of these, 357
are male while 36 are female.
Pelke says the death penalty is "cruel, inhumane, degrading and traumatizing
for the people who carry out executions".
He says that being missionaries, they came up with the idea of visiting
countries that retain the death penalty so as to sensitize citizens on the
cruelty of the sentence and therefore persuade them to think of other options.
He gives an example of a case where a US court sentenced a 15-year-old girl to
death after she was deemed to be a ring leader in the killing of Pelke's
grandmother. He says there is need for human beings to forgive whoever offends
them.
"You don't have to be a Christian to forgive. Forgiveness is the cornerstone of
all major religions. Forgiveness is letting go of the desire for revenge and
moving forward, in all areas of your life."
His organization - Journey of Hope - is one led by family members of murder
victims who are opposed to the death penalty.
Established in 1982, it has promoted forgiveness and reconciliation to death
row inmates and the families they offended.
Every year, the group travels to various organisations to spread the message of
non-violence and forgiveness and has so far traveled to 16 African countries
and 40 states in the US.
"Death row family members and other activists join our traveling journey tours
as we strive to put a human face on the issue of the death penalty."
(source: New Vision)
SYRIA:
IS stones to death 2 alleged gay men in Syria
Islamic State (IS) militants stoned to death 2 young men in Syria's eastern
province of Deir al-Zour on charges of having "unlawful" sexual intercourse
with other males, a monitoring group has reported.
The 1st man, 20-year-old, was stoned to death at the al-Bakara roundabout in
the city of Mayadeen in Deir al-Zour and his execution was attended by crowds
of civilians, including children, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
(SOHR) Tuesday.
It added that the man was arrested by the IS fighters earlier and a video of
him having sex with another male was allegedly found stored in his cellphone.
Another young man, said SOHR, was also stoned to death at the al-Takya Street
in the neighbourhood of Hamidyeh in Deir al-Zour on the same charges.
After the execution, the bodies of the 2 men were taken by the IS fighters
without handing them over to their parents.
The IS applied the "stone to death" penalty for the 1st time Oct 21 this year
in the city of Bukamal in Deir al-Zour on a man who was charged of committing
adultery.
The extremist group has applied strict rules in areas under its control,
banning smoking or drinking alcohol as well as prohibiting women from walking
on streets without veils.
(source: The Times of India)
IRAN:
Illegal Addition of New Charges Makes Death Sentence for Soheil Arabi More
Likely; New Charges Seem Aimed at Avoiding Commutation of Sentence
In an arbitrary and illegal act, new charges that carry a death sentence and
which do not allow a pardon were added and the death sentence of Facebook user
Soheil Arabi was confirmed by the Supreme Court in Iran.
"In a surprising act, the charge of 'corruption on earth' which was not
included in the indictment, was illegally added to the case in Branch 41 of the
Supreme Court, and [Soheil Arabi's] death sentence was confirmed and sent to
the Enforcement Unit of the Judiciary [to carry out the death sentence]," a
source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
The source stated that on November 25, 2014, Arabi's lawyers requested a stay
of execution and a retrial for him. "Enforcement of the death sentence will be
suspended over the next few days. Currently, his lawyers only hope to buy time
and to delay the execution," said the source.
"Regrettably, the charge of 'corruption on earth' cannot receive a pardon,
according to [Iranian] law. Therefore, at this stage there is only room for
hoping that the Judge in Branch 41 of the Supreme Court announces that this
charge was added by mistake and to eliminate it, sending the case to a lateral
court for review. Otherwise, Mr. Arabi will be executed."
Soheil Arabi was arrested in November 2013, and was sentenced to death on
charge of "insulting the Prophet" (sabb-al-nabi) by Branch 76 of Tehran Penal
Court for his writings on Facebook. His lawyers had hoped, however, that the
Supreme Court would dismiss the charges based on Article 263 of the Islamic
Penal Code [which explicitly states that if a suspect claims in court that he
said the insulting words in anger, in quoting someone, or by mistake, his death
sentence will be converted to 74 lashes] and the defense provided by the
suspect [which stated this claim], but he has now been sentenced to death for a
2nd time on charges of "corruption on earth."
When asked on what basis the charge of "corruption on earth" was added to
Arabi's case, the source told the Campaign, "It says in the case that because
Mr. Arabi had several Facebook pages with different names, and that he
repeatedly insulted the Prophet on these pages, his charges are no longer just
'insulting the prophet.' This means that if he had only one insulting Facebook
page, his charge would have been 'insulting the Prophet,' but because he had
multiple pages, his charge is 'corruption on earth.' Such a justification is
legally faulty."
"If the Supreme Court had determined that the charge of 'corruption on earth'
should have been added to this case, they should have ordered the case to
return to the court to inform the suspect of his new charges, instead of adding
the charge outside of the indictment and issuing a verdict," said the source.
Agents from the Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) Sarallah Base arrested
Soheil Arabi, 30, and his wife in November 2013. Arabi's wife was released a
few hours later, but he was kept in solitary confinement for 2 months inside
IRGC's Ward 2-A at Evin Prison, before he was transferred to Evin's General
Ward 350. Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court, under Judge Khorasani, found
Arabi guilty of "sabb al-nabi" (insulting the Prophet) on August 30, 2014.
(source: iranhumanrights.org)
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