Sept. 17
NIGERIA:
Appeal for death penalty to halt abductions
The Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has called for the death sentence
to be imposed on kidnappers. This comes amid a spate of abductions that has
rocked the country.
"It has become very clear that the piecemeal legal approaches by the different
states within the federation of Nigeria to tackle armed criminality of
kidnapping hasn't worked therefore demanding that a national mechanism be put
in place to make kidnapping a grave offence only punishable with the death
penalty," said HURIWA's National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the
National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf.
The officials urged President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a team to probe
the spate of kidnappings.
"We urge the Nigerian Government to constitute an action team made up of few
but versatile legal scholars to work in partnership with the hierarchies of the
Legislature and the judiciary to articulate actionable positions on strategies
for amending all relevant criminal laws relating to kidnapping with a view to
make kidnapping a capital offence punishable by death."
The rights group likened the abductions to the reign of terror by the Boko
Haram sect.
"Kidnappers are as bad as terrorists and therefore the harsher the punishment
meted out to them the better."
(source: news24nigeria)
*************
'NLC, TUC Call for Death Penalty On Corrupt Govt Officials Ridiculous'
Former Commissioner of Police, Chief Ikechukwu Aduba (retd), has described as
bizarre and unrefined the call by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade
Union Congress, TUC, for death penalty on treasury looters to check official
corruption.
Aduba, who noted that some Nigerians often disparage well-meaning citizens for
making forthright appraisal, said capital punishment has not tamed corruption
in countries as China and India referred to by the unions, maintaining that
what were required were practical and precautionary measures.
He asserted, "It is truism that Nigerians' expertise in corruption is
unparalleled the world over and corruption has destroyed every fabric of the
Nigerian society... However, in my view, the call for death penalty by NLC and
TUC is empirically absurd."
"Emotions aside, they ought to call for immediate reform of the court system
for a speedy conviction of the corrupt, strengthening of the apparatus of
detection and investigation for quick arraignment of the corrupt and
restructuring of the prison system to aid timely justice delivery in corruption
cases.
"These would serve as more effective deterrence than imposition of death
penalty. Without touching these critical areas, death penalty for corruption
would not have a salutary effect, it would hardly check corruption just as it
has been ineffective in checking armed robbery and lately kidnapping," the
ex-commissioner said.
Aduba stated, "Globally, advance economies had been able to combat official
corruption through other proactive and preventable measures. None had used the
medium of death penalty, which in itself is reactive to and already consummated
action."
He said that China, currently acclaimed universally as having the stiffest
punishment for official corruption "cannot match decent countries such as
Sweden, Switzerland and Namibia in the corruption index," adding, "These other
countries used other proactive tools and preventive measures to achieve
milestones and not death penalty."
His words, "In conclusion, I wish to state equivocally that deterrence,
retribution (restitution) and reformation are the 3 essence of punishment.
Death penalty as a form of punishment was initially thought to achieve
deterrence, NLC should note that these were in primordial crude society, yet
that goal was never achieved as savagery still characterized those societies."
(source: Vanguard)
INDIA:
Amroha murders: Guv rejects mercy plea of Shabnam & Saleem
The office of the governer have also sent the copy of the mercy plea rejection
order to the President of India. The governor has rejected the couple`s mercy
petition. The other mercy petition that was sent to the President is pending.
Uttar Pradesh Governer Ram Naik has rejected the mercy petitions of Shabnam and
her lover Saleem, convicted of murdering 7 people of the woman's family,
including a 10-month-old infant, at Bahman Garhi in Amroha on April 2008 to
remove the hurdles to their relationship. In May 2015, the Supreme Court had
dismissed the appeals of Shabnam and Saleem and upheld the death penalty
imposed on them by a sessions court, which was confirmed by the Allahabad High
Court. The office of the governer have also sent the copy of the mercy plea
rejection order to the President of India. Speaking to TOI, B D Panday, jailor
of Moradabad prison, said, "Shabnam and Saleem had filed the mercy petitions
through the jail authorities before the governer of the state and the President
of India simultaneously soon after their death penalty was upheld by the
Supreme Court on May 15. The governor has rejected the couple's mercy petition.
The other mercy petition that was sent to the President is pending.
(source: nyoooz.com)
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