Nov. 30
PHILIPPINES:
Lower House eyes approval of death penalty by Christmas
House Speaker Pantaleon "Bebot" Alvarez said he's confident the death penalty
will be approved by the Lower House by Christmas.
"Hopefully puwede nang dalhin sa plenary iyon, as soon as i-recommend na ng
committee mismo," Alvarez told The Source on Wednesday.
[Translation: Hopefully it can be brought to plenary as soon as the committee
recommends it.]
When asked about support for the measure in Congress, Alvarez said, "Wala
namang problema [it's no problem], we have the majority."
Alvarez is the co-author of House Bill 01, which seeks to reimpose the death
penalty for heinous crimes. His is just one of seven bills on the issue.
The bill defines heinous crimes to include treason, piracy, qualified bribery,
murder, robbery with violence, plunder, and drug-related crimes.
However, some members of the House are opting to restrict the crimes that merit
death penalty to drug-related ones.
The revival of capital punishment was initiated by President Rodrigo Duterte
after he endorsed it as a measure fight the war on drugs.
House Bill 01 endorses any of the following methods of execution: by hanging,
through a firing squad or lethal injection.
"I would rather let the executive branch decide kung paano yung [how to go
about] execution," said Alvarez. "Sa akin, parehong patay yan e... Kahit ano
[For me, it's all death anyway.. anything will do]."
After the bills will be deliberated on at the Committee on Justice, the
consolidated version will be brought to the plenary for debates.
The bill must pass the House and the Senate before it can be signed into law by
the President.
Similar measures have been filed by Senators Tito Sotto, Panfilo Lacson, and
Manny Pacquiao at the Upper House.
(source: CNN Philippines)
MOROCCO:
UN: Morocco Abstains from Voting on Resolution for International Abolition of
Death Penalty
Morocco abstained from voting for the international abolition of the death
penalty earlier this month, when a resolution on the matter was presented to
the United Nations' Third Committee, which specializes in human rights issues.
Morocco's representative clarified that the country has maintained a de facto
moratorium on the death penalty since 1993, when the last government sanctioned
execution occurred.
The final vote count on the amended draft resolution against the lethal
punishment stood at 115 votes in favor to 38 against, with 30 countries other
than Morocco abstaining, according to the committee's press release.criticized
the country's position in a statement, expressing regret regarding the
kingdom's persistent abstentions from votes in the international arena relating
to the human rights implications of the practice since 2007.
The organization argues that the North African country's position is
incompatible with Articles 20 and 21 of the constitution, which guarantee the
right to life to all human beings and the right to "the security of their
person and of their kin."
CMCPM is composed of eleven national human rights organizations - including
Amnesty Morocco, the Moroccan Human Rights Association and others - that formed
a union in 2003 at the conclusion of the International Death Penalty Seminar in
Casablanca.
"Convinced that capital punishment is not a deterrent, CMCPM believes that this
punishment is simply murdering in the name of the law, referring to the culture
of revenge and retribution, particularly since the International Criminal Court
- which tries criminals of war and genocide - does not implement the death
penalty," the union's official website states.
(source: Morocco World News)
BELARUS:
3 executions feared in as many weeks amid 'sudden and shameful purge' of death
row
As many as 3 of the 4 men on death row in the Belarusian capital Minsk have
been executed in a shameful purge since 5 November, Amnesty International
revealed today after confirming with local activists.
Hard on the heels of this news the organization is launching a new online
petition and video aimed at stamping out the use of the death penalty in
Belarus - the last country in Europe and the former Soviet Union to still carry
out executions.
"Purging death row of its prisoners is an appalling measure for any country to
take. But it is additionally shameful in Belarus, where executions are
typically shrouded in secrecy and carried out at a moment's notice," said Aisha
Jung, Campaigner on Belarus at Amnesty International, who recently returned
from Minsk.
"This sudden spike in executions is especially surprising in Belarus, the death
penalty???s final frontier in Europe, since many believed the country was on
track to eliminate capital punishment for good."
According to the Belarusian NGO Viasna, since 5 November, Siarhei Khmialeuski,
Ivan Kulesh and possibly Hyanadz Yakavitski have all been executed with a
gunshot to the back of the head. The fate of the 4th man on death row, Siarhei
Vostrykau, hangs in the balance following his death sentence on 19 May.
On 29 November, relatives of 31-year-old Siarhei Khmialeuski arrived at the
SIZO No.1 prison in Minsk to visit him on death row, only to be informed he had
been executed on an unknown date in recent weeks. They had not received letters
from him for more than a month, but the prison administration accepted a
payment in his name last week. His death sentence had been upheld by the
Supreme Court on 6 May, for the murder of at least 2 people in the capital
Minsk.
Siarhei Khmialeuski's execution came swiftly after 2 others in recent weeks.
Ivan Kulesh, who had his death sentence upheld on 29 March for murder and
robbery, was executed on 5 November. Hyanadz Yakavitski, sentenced to death on
5 January for the murder of his partner, is also believed to have been executed
this month - his fate will be revealed in the coming days when his daughter
attempts to visit him on death row.
The sudden string of executions comes after a long hiatus in Belarus. Before
this month, only 1 person had been executed since November 2014 - Siarhei
Ivanou on 18 April 2016.
In Belarus, the relatives of death row prisoners are typically not given
advance warning or granted a final meeting before an execution takes place. In
keeping with Belarusian law, the bodies of the executed are not returned to
relatives for burial and their place of burial is not disclosed.
In many cases, families first learn of their relative's death when they receive
a parcel with the loved one's prison boots and death row uniform. They are
required to collect death certificates from the Belarusian authorities.
Data on the use of the death penalty in Belarus is classified as a state
secret. Secrecy around the use of the death penalty constitutes cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment of the condemned person and their family members.
"Belarusian authorities take the inherent injustice of the death penalty to
appalling extremes. The justice system puts immense psychological strain on the
families of those it puts to death," said Aisha Jung.
"Our campaign is calling on Belarusian authorities to join the rest of Europe
and a majority of countries around the world by introducing an immediate
moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty."
Background
The exact number of executions in Belarus is unknown, but local human rights
defenders and journalists have worked tirelessly to uncover some information
about death sentences and executions.
According to the Ministry of Justice of Belarus, 245 people were sentenced to
death from 1994 to 2014. Human rights NGOs believe that around 400 people have
been executed since the country gained its independence in 1991.
In 2012, the UN Human Rights Committee found that the secrecy surrounding the
death penalty in Belarus amounts to inhuman treatment of the families and is a
violation of Article 7 (the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment) of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Belarus is a state party.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any
circumstances. The death penalty violates the right to life as recognized in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman
and degrading punishment.
(source: Amnesty Internatnional)
TURKEY:
Turkey's death penalty plans are blueprint for future
Turkey's government is pressing on with its plans to bring back the death
penalty despite the risk of dashing EU accession hopes. Tom Stevenson reports
from Istanbul.
When Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) abolished capital
punishment in 2004, the move was widely praised as evidence of the pragmatism
and political maturity of the country's religious conservatives.
Turkey had not carried out a death penalty since 1984 but its legal abolition
was hailed as a symbol of a break from the days of military rule under which
figures such as former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was hanged in 1960, and
prominent left-wing activist Deniz Gezmis in 1971.
Just 12 years later, the same ruling party is in the final stages of preparing
to reinstate capital punishment as part of a radical set of changes to Turkey's
constitution that supporters and critics alike say will be a blueprint for the
country's future.
The government's volte face on reinstating capital punishment has come directly
out of the shifting grounds of Turkish politics that followed the attempted
military coup against the state in July. Immediately after the coup attempt was
thwarted, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim publicly raised the idea of
reinstating the death penalty in law.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since raised the issue on several occasions
and used others as an example. "The US has it, Japan has it, China has it, most
of the world has it. So they are allowed to have it... Sovereignty belongs to
the people, so if the people make this decision I am sure the political parties
will comply," he said at a post-coup rally this summer.
Yet despite the timing of the move, Prime Minister Yildirim has repeatedly made
clear that if the bill is passed, it would not be possible to mete out a death
sentence retroactively and therefore that it could not be applied to the
suspected coup plotters.
'Part of Islam'
Getting people on the street to comment is far from easy these days, but those
that are willing to talk don't mince their words. "Capital punishment is part
of Islam, it is religion. If someone kills another man then he deserves to be
killed too - for me it is that simple," 59-year-old Huseyin Akturan told DW,
outside a traditional cafe in Istanbul's generally conservative Tophane
neighborhood.
The government's main purpose in reintroducing the death penalty debate may be
to whip up popular support among the country's most conservative elements,
according to one academic expert on justice and democracy at a leading Turkish
university who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.
Many fear that the possible reinstatement of the death penalty is just 1 item
on Erdogan's to-do-list
"It looks like the consolidation of one-man rule is the immediate goal of the
new regime that is being established and the ultra-nationalists have always
wanted this; it's playing to their interests as a kind of political
mobilization," the academic told DW.
A national referendum on a new constitution that would expand president
Erdogan's constitutional power is expected to be held as early as this coming
spring and the argument posits that recent, highly conservative government
policies on the reinstatement of capital punishment and the liberalization of
child marriage are fodder for the far-right in advance of the referendum.
"Ahead of that time they would like to foment and politically mobilize all
sectors of society that are happy to see blood: nationalists, racists, lumpen
elements within the society because their votes are going to be needed again,"
the academic said.
Should the plans to reintroduce the death penalty make it into law, there will
be wide-ranging effects on Turkey's economy and its relations with Europe,
particularly on the stymied EU accession process.
Anti EU-sentiment
However European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's pledge that "if
Turkey should bring back the death penalty, we will immediately stop the
negotiation process" currently carries little weight in Ankara, where anti-EU
sentiment has been growing rapidly since the failed coup attempt.
More pressing for Turkish officials is the concern that reintroducing the death
penalty now would damage the extradition request that the government has filed
in the United States for Pennsylvania-based Turkish preacher Fetullah Gulen,
whom the Turkish government believes was the prime suspect behind the July coup
attempt.
"The government would like to get rid of the political constraints implied in
the EU accession process and international law, it cares less and less about
these things and I think the death penalty will be reintroduced, because the
AKP also has an ideological commitment to it," said the academic expert on
justice and democracy.
Emel Kurma, the general coordinator of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly human
rights group in Turkey, says all the talk about the death penalty is a useful
distraction for Erdogan and his party.
"Stirring up a debate to re-install capital punishment serves Erdogan and the
government in diverting public attention from the actual political/economic
challenges as concretely experienced in practical daily life," she told DW.
Kurma also argues that the AKP is using capital punishment in order to further
cement its alliance with the MHP nationalist party and thereby increase its
influence in parliament.
"On a much more practical basis, the capital punishment card provides good
leverage to attain the support of MHP, the nationalist conservatives. Thus, it
is aimed to weld their support to that of the traditional AKP electorate: the
religious conservatives," she said. "The stirring up of capital punishment is a
symptom of increasing adoption of authoritarian policies and practices, as the
world at large is shifting into populist or authoritarian regimes and illiberal
democracies."
(source: Deutsche Welle)
EUROPE:
230 Years Since The Death Penalty Was Abolished for the 1st Time
In 2016 90 countries and 2 territories retain the death penalty for certain
crimes, with retentionist countries spread across the globe in Europe, Africa,
North and South America, and Asia. Amnesty International claims that roughly
2/3 of the world's countries have abolished capital punishment, stating that in
the course of the last decade an average of 3 countries a year "abolished the
death penalty in law or, having done so for ordinary offences, have gone on to
abolish it for all offences."
Undoubtedly the trend seems to be that capital punishment is in decline.
Exactly when and where this trend started however, is perhaps a surprise.
Since ancient times the death penalty has been a punishment for certain crimes.
In the 18th century BCE the Code of Babylonian king Hammurabi listed the death
penalty as punishment for 25 different offences, although not for murder.
Capital punishment was used in Ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, and by the
medieval period it was well established in European, African and Asian
societies. The execution methods themselves took on a variety of ghastly forms,
from drowning to being hanged, drawn and quartered.
30th November 1786 marked the 1st time in European history that a country
permanently abolished the death penalty. At a time just a few years before
Europe was changed irrevocably by the explosion of the French Revolution and
other popular uprisings in the name of progress, it is perhaps surprising that
this groundbreaking reform actually came from a member of the Habsburg Dynasty.
Leopold II served as Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790, before inheriting
the title of Holy Roman Emperor following the death of his brother: Joseph II.
His time as ruler of Tuscany saw him implement a host of changes, removing
restrictions on personal freedoms that had been put in place by his
predecessors: the Medici, and lowering the rates of taxation to a fairer,
rational system. Most shocking of his reforms however, was the abolition of
capital punishment.
Aristotle at Forgotten Books
Prior to 1786, Leopold had blocked any executions in Tuscany, meaning the death
penalty hadn???t been exercised there since 1769, the year before he took
power. In 1786 he moved to make the change permanent, reforming the penal code
to see capital punishment abolished and having all equipment that could be used
for execution destroyed. Torture was also outlawed in one of the most striking
examples of enlightened absolutism - a period in European history when rulers
from Charles III of Spain to Catherine the Great of Russia attempted to govern
with the inspiration of the Enlightenment.
Tuscany proved to be the exception rather than the rule. The French Revolution
and its aftermath saw a massive upsurge in executions as the Guillotine went to
work. In Britain meanwhile, some 220 crimes were punishable by death by the
late 1700s, although the severity of the punishment meant juries would often
acquit if they felt it excessive for the crime. In 1823, 5 laws were passed to
exempt roughly a hundred crimes from the death penalty. Between 1832 and 1837
further reforms saw capital punishment removed as the punishment from more
crimes, though in 1840 an attempt to completely abolish the death penalty was
blocked.
Throughout Europe campaigns continued for the abolition of capital punishment,
yet change was slow to come about. Britain, France and Germany all retained the
death sentence until long after the 2nd World War. In the case of Britain,
although 1965 legislation saw capital punishment no longer applied in murder
trials, one could officially be executed for treason as late as 1998. West
Germany officially abolished capital punishment in 1987 (although the last
execution had taken place in 1949). In France, the last execution took place in
1977, the death penalty itself abolished in 1981.
Capital punishment is now exceedingly rare in Europe. In Russia the death
penalty has been indefinitely suspended, meaning the country is abolitionist in
practice. As such, Belarus is the only country on the continent that still
practices it.
(source: newhistorian.com)
BAHAMAS:
Death Penalty Sought For Double Murder In Andros
A judge was asked yesterday to impose the death penalty on two men convicted of
the murder and kidnapping of a Department of Immigration officer and his
girlfriend in Andros.
Zintworn Duncombe, 28, and James Johnson, 22, appeared before Justice Indra
Charles for the continuation of the penalty phase of their trial for their
respective roles in the murder and kidnapping of Shane Gardiner and his
girlfriend, Tishka Braynen, in 2013.
Gardiner and Braynen were allegedly killed after a failed plot to take $8,000
in gambling winnings from the immigration officer. Braynen, of Cargill Creek,
and Gardiner, who lived in Love Hill, both in Central Andros, were reported
missing around 1.45pm on November 24, 2013. Gardiner had recently been assigned
to the island. On December 21, 2013, police in Andros discovered the remains of
a man with "items related to a female."
Duncombe, Johnson, Daniel Coakley, 28, and Cordero Saunders, 26, were
unanimously convicted of double kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery
and attempted armed robbery.
The Crown is seeking the death penalty for Duncombe and Johnson.
Darnell Dorsett, Crown prosecutor, made submissions on behalf of the Crown's
request that the case met the "worst of the worst" threshold set out in law for
the discretionary death penalty to be imposed.
The 2011 amendment to the Penal Code notes that only certain types of
aggravated murder are currently punishable by death: murder of a law
enforcement officer such as a police officer or a prison guard; murder of a
judicial officer, including judges, registrars and prosecutors; murder of a
witness or juror; murder of more than 1 person; murder committed by a defendant
who has a prior murder conviction; and murder in exchange for value.
The only 2 possible sentences are either death or life without parole. Any
other type of murder carries a term of imprisonment of 30 to 60 years.
The amendment further provides that any murder committed in the course of/or in
furtherance of a robbery, rape, kidnapping, terrorist act, or any other felony
is punishable by death, with no explicit requirement of intent to cause death.
A felony is defined as any offence that is punishable by at least 3 years'
imprisonment.
"This is a fitting case for the imposing of the death penalty," Ms Dorsett said
yesterday.
The prosecutor noted that Duncombe and Johnson were convicted of all of the
offences brought against them.
She said the victims, based on the testimony of Terrel Mackey, were taken to
Newbold Farms where Duncombe and Johnson, armed with handguns, demanded money
from Gardiner.
"Duncombe shot Shane Gardiner in the head when Gardiner maintained that he had
no money. Braynen started screaming and Duncombe shot her to the head execution
style," the prosecutor added.
Ms Dorsett reminded the judge that the pathologist said that based on
Gardiner's wound, his death was not immediate and so there was evidence of
suffering.
Relying on the case authorities of Forrester Bowe vs the Crown and Ernest
Lockhart vs the Queen, the prosecutor said the court has the discretion to
impose the death penalty in the most extreme and exceptional cases.
"We say that the heinous murder of the senior immigration officer and his
girlfriend falls within the 'worst of the worst' threshold when we compare
other murders like the case of Simeon Bain," Ms Dorsett argued.
In the case of Bain, the 44-year-old had his life sentence reduced to 55 years
by the Court of Appeal for the throat-slashing murder of former Burger King
restaurant manager Rashad Morris after a failed plot to obtain money from the
victim.
"In this case, in the middle of the night, a young neighbour heard a gunshot
from Shane Gardiner's house. We ask the court to infer that Shane Gardiner
(was) home in a relaxed state. They were taken in the dead of night to a very
eerie place of Newbold Farms. There's no lighting at all in that area. We urge
the court to take into consideration these 2 contributing members of society
were taken hostage and 1 month later, hog hunters happened upon their remains.
But for the grace of God, their remains may have not been found, leaving the
affected families without closure," the prosecutor said.
She said the court also had to consider whether there was a prospect of reform
for the convicts.
She stressed that there has been no expression of remorse from either Duncombe
or Johnson which, according to psychiatrist Dr John Dillard, is the 1st step to
rehabilitation.
"We say that because they've expressed no remorse, they still pose a
significant danger to society," Ms Dorsett added.
Jerone Roberts, Duncombe's 2nd lawyer, countered that this case did not warrant
the imposition of the death penalty as it did not fall within the "worst of the
worst" threshold set out in prior rulings by the Privy Council.
Mr Roberts stressed that the psychiatrist could not definitively say that the 2
convicts were beyond reform, which is a hurdle the Crown must get over in order
for their application to succeed.
"This is a case which unfortunately occurs often not only in the Bahamas but
around the world," Mr Roberts said, adding that even terrorist bombings have
become daily occurrences.
Duncombe, Saunders, Johnson and Coakley, who all maintain their innocence, were
each represented by lawyers Ian Cargill, Moses Bain, Donna Major and Terrel
Butler.
Mrs Dorsett and Patrick Sweeting prosecuted the case.
A decision is expected to be handed down on December 12.
(source: tribune242.com)
IRAN:
Momentum Growing to End Iran's Death Sentences for Drug Offenses
On November 23, 2016, Iran's Parliament agreed to speed up deliberation on an
amendment which, if passed, would drastically decrease the number of executions
for drug-related crimes.
The proposal will first be debated with top priority in the Legal and Social
Affairs Committee and then in a full session of Parliament.
The proposal calls for an amendment to Article 46 of the Law Against Drug
Trafficking which would limit the death penalty to "organized drug lords,"
"armed trafficking," "repeat offenders" and "bulk drug distributors" and reduce
punishment for minor drug crimes to life imprisonment or less.
Iran has the highest per capita execution rate in the world, and 1 of the
highest absolute numbers of executions carried out annually. Last year more
than 1,000 prisoners were executed, the vast majority of them for drug-related
crimes.
The United Nations has repeatedly criticized Iran's use of the death penalty
for drug offenses that do not meet the criteria for the "most serious crimes."
According to Hassan Norouzi, a Member of Parliament who supports the amendment,
there are about 5,000 prisoners currently on death row and "90 % of them are
between 20 and 30-years old who are 1st-time offenders," the parliamentary news
agency ICANA reported on November 23.
The decision to expedite deliberation on the amendment was approved with 147
yes votes. Only 21 opposed and 4 abstained, raising optimism that the number of
executions could be sharply reduced, if the amendment is approved by the full
Parliament and then the Council of Guardians, the clerical body which must
approve all legislation.
"The situation we're currently facing is that the majority of executions are
for drug-trafficking crimes and the Western countries and international
organizations are taking political advantage of it. This is extremely costly
for our country. Those who are being condemned to death are not traffickers in
the true sense. The real traffickers are those who are managing the drug trade
from hotels rooms in Ankara and Istanbul," said MP Ezatollah Yousefian in a
debate on the open session of Parliament on November 23.
In recent months, proponents and opponents of Iran's policy against drug
offenders have debated the issue at the highest levels. Judiciary Chief
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani has not only opposed amending laws to reduce
executions but also urged executions to be carried out at a faster pace.
"We don't think that the laws concerning drug trafficking are revelations from
God. They are man-made laws that have not had perfect results. But it's wrong
to say that executions have had no effect," Larijani said on September 29,
2016. "If the Judiciary had not been strict, we would have been in a far worse
situation."
However, the Judiciary Chief's own brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani, who heads
the Judiciary's Human Rights Council, said on October 8, "I am in favor of
changing the law, but that does not mean we should stop the fight against
drug-trafficking."
The Judiciary Chief's position has been further weakened by the hardline
Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who said on October 29, "We are looking
to see what punishments can replace executions with greater effectiveness for
certain criminals. Of course, the death penalty will still be enforced, but not
to the extent we have today."
(source: Iran Human Rights)
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