July 3
MALAWI:
Malawian president drafts new law to deal with Albino killers----Malawi
President, Peter Mutharika, Friday announced that he will introduce a new law
to deal with "evil-minded" people involved in the killings of persons with
albinism in the country.
Muntharika announced this at a development rally held in the former Malawi
capital, Zomba.
The president's announcement follows a series of abductions and killings of
people with albinism in the country for ritual practices.
The Malawi leader denounced the trend and described as "total nonsense" the
notion of hoping to get rich by killing persons with albinism for their body
parts.
"Next week I'm introducing a new law amending the Penal Code," said Mutharika.
"You'll see what is waiting for them. There's going to be stiff sentences for
anyone found with body parts or bones of human beings," the president added.
Malawi's laws stipulate death sentence as a maximum penalty to those convicted
of murder but no president has ever endorsed one before.
In the wake of the albino killings in Malawi, some sectors of the society have
been pushing the authorities to put the death penalty into effect.
Recently, parliamentarian for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),
Bon Kalindo conducted demonstration urging Malawi parliament currently sitting
in the capital Lilongwe to bring into effect the death penalty to any albino
killer in the country.
Calls for death penalty to anyone convicted of murder have been watered down by
Malawi government and Amnesty International.
Amnesty International Media Manager, Robert Shivambu, told journalists at a
press briefing held in Lilongwe prior to the meeting with Mutharika that the
organization believed that there were other ways of dealing with the matter
than death sentence.
Malawi Government Spokesperson, Patricia Kaliati, also told state radio MBC,
recently that the maximum sentence for murder convicts remained life
imprisonment and that Mutharika would not commit himself to be the 1st leader
of the country to endorse death sentence.
With President Mutharika's announcement of the introduction of a new stiffer
law on the matter, it remains to be seen what the Malawi leader has in store
for the perpetrators of the infamous killings of people with albinism.
Meanwhile, close to 20 cases of cold-blood killings of people with albinism
have been reported since 2015 and over 65 cases of abuse and exhumation of
graves keeping remains of the body have been reported during the same period.
(source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh)
INDIA:
UP minister seeks death penalty for corrupt engineers
Senior Uttar Pradesh Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Azam
Khan courted controversy after he demanded "death penalty" for "corrupt"
engineers.
Azam Khan, who had, a few days ago, slapped a senior engineer in his Assembly
constituency of Rampur, said that engineers, who indulged in corrupt practices
and compromised with the quality should be prosecuted under the National
Security Act (NSA) and given death penalty.
The minister, while referring to the construction of a flyover in his Assembly
constituency, charged that the slabs of the structure had collapsed several
times and at least 2 labourers had died and many injured in 1 such incident.
He also charged that the UP Bridge Corporation, the nodal agency for the
construction of the flyover, tried to bury the incidents under the carpet and
shielded "corrupt" engineers.
On the threat of the engineers that they would proceed on strike if he did not
tender an apology, Azam said that they (engineers) would lose their commission
if they carried out their threat.
Azam, known to be a temperamental person, had caught an executive engineer by
his collar, during an inspection in Rampur a few days ago and then slapped him.
The aggrieved engineer lodged a written complaint with the engineers'
association in the regard. Ashok Tewari, a leader of the association here, had
threatened that engineers would go on strike if the minister did not tender an
apology.
Azam Khan had once publicly used derogatory words for the cops and had also
abused an IAS officer. He had then referred to them as "dogs".
(source: Deccan Herald)
PHILIPPINES:
Zero judicial executions under Duterte? Pro-life lawmaker says lawmaking
process may take 5 years
Despite President Rodrigo Duterte's wish to hang hardened convicts by the neck
until they are dead, it is very unlikely that any judicial executions would
actually be carried out during his term, simply due to lack of material time,
Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said in a news release Sunday.
"Since it is very doubtful that the President would actually see any judicial
killings while he is in office, we should just concentrate on effectively
suppressing rampant crime by stamping out endemic corruption in law
enforcement, the prosecution service, the courts, and in prisons," Atienza
said.
"Instead of reviving the death penalty, it would be better for the new Congress
to push for criminal justice system reforms - to ensure that every felon is
instantly nabbed, successfully prosecuted, convicted, and caged forever. This
is our best strategy to fight crime -- to dissuade other would-be offenders,"
Atienza said.
No place in civilized society
The death penalty has absolutely no place in a civilized and modern nation
wholly devoted to the value and dignity of human life, the lawmaker said.
"Let us forget about reinstating capital punishment. The best criminologists
around the world have long established that the death penalty does not serve
any purpose that is not already being served by lifelong imprisonment,"
Atienza, former 3-term mayor of Manila, said.
Duterte has said he wants Congress to restore the death penalty inside six
months not necessarily to help deter crime, but as "retribution."
But Atienza said even the desire for "payback" is precisely already being
served by the permanent incarceration of convicts.
Even assuming Congress passes a new law reintroducing the death penalty by
yearend, Atienza said it would take another 5 years for new death penalty cases
to go through "due process" - from the time a felony is committed until final
judgment and execution.
"If we look at the cases of the seven convicts put to death by lethal injection
during President (Joseph) Estrada's term, they were all executed around 5 years
after they committed their crimes," the lawmaker said.
He said the Bureau of Corrections killed convicts Leo Echegaray, Eduardo
Agbayani, Dante Piandiong, Archie Bulan, Jesus Morallos, Pablito Andan, and
Alex Bartolome an average of 61 months after they did the crimes for which they
were convicted.
Except for Bartolome who was executed in 2000 for a felony committed in 1995,
the rest of the convicts were put to death in 1999 for offenses done in 1994.
'Reality check'
Atienza said Estrada was able to carry out judicial executions in 1999 because
by then the 1993 law that imposed capital punishment for 13 heinous crimes had
been in force for 5 years, and death row inmates with final judgments had
already started to arrive.
Congress formally abolished the death penalty in 2006 after a 6-year halt to
judicial executions.
"Based on our reckoning, even assuming Congress railroads the revival of the
death penalty so that it would take effect by early 2017, the initial convicts
with final verdicts would start coming in only by the 1st half of 2022, or
toward the last 6 months of the President's term," Atienza said.
"5 years of waiting is actually a best case scenario that does not include such
factors as potential lawsuits questioning before the Supreme Court the
constitutionality of judicial executions by hanging," he said.
While the 1987 Constitution gives Congress some leeway to reimpose the death
penalty, Atienza said the charter also forbids "cruel, degrading, or inhuman
punishment."
Section 19 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, states: "Excessive fines
shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted.
Neither shall the death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons
involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for it. Any death
penalty already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion perpetua."
(source: interaksyon.com)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
