[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, UTAH, FLA., PENN., S.C.
April 5 TEXAS: Son Of Slain Teacher Testifies At Neal's TrialLawyers Begin Mental Retardation Defense The son of slain Alamo Heights teacher Diane Tilly testified Tuesday in the sentencing phase of the capital murder trial of the man convicted of killing the educator. Stephan Tilly, who lives in Austin, told jurors how the death of the beloved teacher has affected his family, especially the victim's daughter. She can't sleep at night, Tilly said on the witness stand. She locks the doors. She checks the doors every time she's in the house. She won't let her sons out of her sight. Stephan Tilly was the last prosecution witness to testify in the punishment phase of the trial of Ronnie James Neal, who was found guilty of capital murder in March of killing Diane Tilly in November 2004. Following Stephan Tilly's testimony, defense lawyers began trying to convince jurors that Neal is mentally retarded, and therefore should not be executed by lethal injection. Joann Murphy, a clinical psychologist, outlined three definitions of mental retardation that are recognized by the state of Texas, including the American Psychological Association, the American Association For Mental Retardation and the State Health and Safety Code. Defense lawyers claim that Neal is mentally retarded, based on an evaluations when he was a teenager. Prosecutors pointed out that a current IQ test has not been administered to Neal and that a psychologist has not visited with the defendant, who refuses to attend the punishment phase of his trial, saying in a letter he wrote to the judge that it don't matter. (source: KSAT News) UTAH: Was killer brain-damaged?Inmate involved in 1991 cabin slayings appeals sentence After Von Lester Taylor and Edward Steven Deli broke into a cabin in 1991 while on the run from a halfway house, Taylor emptied his gun into the backs of Beth Potts, 70, and her daughter, Kaye Tiede, 49. Taylor and Deli also shot Rolf Tiede, 51, kidnapped 2 of his daughters and fled the cabin after setting it on fire. For that crime, a jury found Taylor deserved the death penalty, and he currently awaits execution pending appeal. Before the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday, Taylor's attorney argued that evidence of possible brain damage was never introduced during Taylor's sentencing and argued for Taylor to be resentenced or have a new trial. However, an assistant Utah attorney general cautioned that the state was prepared to also enter its own report with potentially damning evidence that Taylor allegedly took part in Satan worship and drank animal blood. This is the 2nd time Taylor's case has been brought before the Utah Supreme Court. The court affirmed Taylor's death sentence previously. Attorney Richard Mauro argued that several parts of Taylor's sentencing were botched by a Summit County public defender, saying the sentencing went horribly wrong. In addition to not including a mental evaluation that suggested Taylor may have suffered brain damage, Mauro said the defense attorney called death-row inmate James Holland to supposedly testify that there is a chance to reform in prison. However, Holland wound up telling the jury that prison was a place that made people more violent and that there was little hope of reform. Assistant Utah Attorney General Thomas Brunker argued that Taylor's crimes spoke strongly enough to the jury to find him deserving of the death penalty. Brunker also warned that if Taylor sought to introduce his mental evaluation, the state intended to introduce their own evaluation that details Taylor confessing to previous criminal behavior and even documents Taylor's admission that he took part in satanic worship and drank animal blood. Justices said they must determine whether they will consider the mental reports in ruling whether or not Taylor should receive new sentencing or a new trial. A written ruling is expected in the coming months. (source: Deseret News) FLORIDA: Judge rejects death-row appeal In Sanford, a judge has rejected the appeal of death-row inmate Richard Lynch, who said he got bad legal advice when he pleaded guilty to murdering his former mistress and the woman's 13-year-old daughter. Lynch, 52, formerly of Sanford, shot and killed Roseanna Morgan and her daughter, Leah Caday, on March 5, 1999, in their apartment after a standoff with a SWAT team. He had left a suicide note, saying he loved Morgan, though she had dumped him and returned to her husband. Lynch pleaded guilty to both murder counts in 2000. His attorneys told him that would improve his chances of being sentenced to life in prison rather than getting the death penalty. Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr., however, handed down 2 death sentences. Lynch got a new state-appointed attorney and, during a weeklong hearing in July, she asked Eaton to throw out the guilty pleas. Marie-Louise Samuels Parmer alleged that Lynch's original attorneys, Tim Caudill and James Figgatt, had been
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----N. MEX., CALIF., N.C., USA
April 5 NEW MEXICO: Richardson Urges Prosecutors To Seek Death Penalty In Astorga Case In Albuquerque, Gov. Bill Richardson has urged a prosecutor to seek the death penalty in the case of a man accused of fatally shooting a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy. Michael Paul Astorga is accused of fatally shooting Deputy James McGrane on March 22 during a routine traffic stop. Before McGrane's death, a warrant had been issued for Astorga in the Nov. 5 killing of Candido Martinez, of Albuquerque. Police in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, handed over Astorga to the FBI and Bernalillo County authorities in El Paso, Texas, early Tuesday morning. On Tuesday evening, Astorga -- wearing shackles and handcuffs -- was escorted into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. Richardson said Wednesday that in rare situations, the death penalty is the appropriate penalty. (source: TheNewMexicoChannel.com) CALIFORNIA: Suspect in Elk Grove shooting rampage faces death penalty A 28-year-old man who allegedly went on a shooting rampage through the streets of Elk Grove was charged Monday in the murders of 2 men and attempted murders of several others. Aaron Norman Dunn was arraigned in a closed hearing at his bedside in UC Davis Medical Center as he recovered from surgery on gunshot wounds suffered during a police confrontation that ended the March 25 rampage. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Dunn, who was charged with 2 counts of murder, 7 counts of attempted murder and special circumstances of multiple murders and shooting from a vehicle. Killed in the shooting spree were John Johnson, 46, and Michael John Daly, 45. Listed as victims on the attempted murder charges are Adam Wheeler, Stephanie Cartwright, Vincent Marconi and Elk Grove police officers Tisha Smith and Genelle Bestpitch. The charges may change as the investigation continues, said Deputy District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. Authorities said Dunn, of the Yuba City area, showed up on Laguna Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. high on methamphetamine and armed with a 12-gauge shotgun. Dunn allegedly began by shooting Daly in the head while he was sitting in a car with his wife and 2 children in front of a restaurant. Dunn then sped away in his car but crashed down the road, continued on foot and shot Johnson in the face outside another restaurant, authorities said. He continued shooting, shattering the back windshield of a parked police car and shooting a 3rd man in the back, they said. A police officer shot Dunn when the suspect did not give up his weapon. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, and Daly died Friday. Authorities have said Dunn knew none of the victims. He reportedly was distraught over a recent split with his wife. Dunn's next court hearing was scheduled for April 12. (source: Associated Press) ** Judge: Lethal injection hearing still on as scheduled, for now In San Jose, a federal judge on Tuesday set aside a request by attorneys for condemned killer Michael Morales to postpone 2 days of hearings scheduled for next month on the constitutionality of California's lethal injection method. But Judge Jeremy Fogel said he would be willing to grant such an extension if a federal magistrate determined before the hearing dates that state prison officials need to give the defense more background information on how executions have been conducted. It appears that significant disputes have arisen between the parties with respect to the scope and duration of discovery, Fogel said. An appropriate resolution of plaintiff's motion is difficult without a better understanding of the merits of these disputes. Fogel agreed to hold the May 2-3 hearings on whether the state's 3-drug cocktail constitutes cruel and unusual punishment after officials at San Quentin State Prison could not comply with his order either to change the procedure or to call off Morales' execution, which was originally scheduled for Feb. 21. Both state prosecutors and Morales' lawyers originally said they would be ready to present their cases to Fogel within 3 months at the most. Defense attorneys have since asked to have the hearings pushed back, arguing that the state has not fully cooperated with their request for detailed information on the training and experience of the prison personnel who administered lethal injections in the past. Attorney's for the state, meanwhile, reject that claim, calling the defense requests for overbroad and excessive. Morales is on death row for killing 17-year-old Terri Winchell in San Joaquin County 25 years ago. As his scheduled execution date approached, his attorneys filed a lawsuit with Fogel arguing that Morales might feel too much pain if the sedative he was given did not make him unconscious before 2 other drugs - 1 to paralyze him and another to stop his heart - were administered. A week before the scheduled execution, Fogel recommended that California employ 2
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 5 CHINA: CHINA COURT REVIEWS DEATH PENALTY The issue of capital punishment is getting a closer look in China. According to an official Xinhua report, three newly formed criminal tribunals, created under China's Supreme People's Court, have begun reviewing certain death-sentence cases and will offer their opinions on each. A court consultant was quoted as admitting that the tribunals do not yet formally have the right to review and make final decisions on death sentence cases, and would not say when or if the 3 tribunals will formally be given this power. Tribunal staff have been selected from various regional courts, and have already been through a rigorous series of examinations. They are now in the midst of a 1-month training program in Beijing. The move is seen as a response to recent Chinese media reports, exposing wrongful death penalty sentences. (source: Freemarket News) AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Islamic legal expert defends death penalty for apostasy An Afghan expert on Islamic law on Wednesday defended the death penalty for Muslims who convert to other religions, as debate continued over the case of a Christian convert who fled to Italy. Sher Ali Zarifi, head of religious jurisprudence in the country's Science Academy of leading intellectuals, did not refer to Abdul Rahman by name but told a meeting of scholars that punishment for apostasy under Islam was death unless the convert recanted. Rahman was last month secretly flown to Italy after being released from jail amid pressure from Western countries. They said that his apostasy trial violated the UN Declaration on Human Rights to which Afghanistan is a signatory. Zarifi, whose organization is government-funded, said that the UN declaration did not apply in this case since conversion away from Islam violated a system and not merely the rights of an individual. Converting is not a matter of one person's rights but it is against an administrative structure. Afghanistan's administration is based on Islamic law, he said. The Supreme Court has come in for criticism after suspended its proceedings against 41-year-old Rahman after testimony from his relatives suggested that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. Some religious gatherings and demonstrations have demanded that Abdul Rahman be extradited to face trial. But President Hamid Karzai has said that the court had been correct after reports from Germany showed that his application for asylum 5 years ago had been rejected because of his poor mental health. Citing Islamic teachings, Zarifi said that male converts should also face other punishments, including the seizure of their wealth and nullification of their marriage. (source: Middle East Times) COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui The obsession with the death penalty as the only way to give justice to the victims of terrorism is as sad as it is wrong said Terry Davis in reaction to the federal jury decision on Moussaouis eligibility for capital punishment. You do not honour the memory of the victims by spilling more blood. Moreover, in the context of the fight against terrorism, the death penalty is not only wrong, it is counterproductive. A trial which offers a platform to the ramblings of a delusional extremist and ends by gratifying him with the instant status of martyrdom in the eyes of his fellow fanatics is missing an opportunity - and missing the point concluded the Secretary General. The Council of Europe was created in 1949 to defend and promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Its 46 members are parties to the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 1 of Protocol 6 and Protocol 13 to the Convention read The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed. As a result, no execution has taken place in any of the Council of Europe member states since 1997. The United States of America and Japan are the only observer states to the Council of Europe to continue executing people. (source: noticias.info)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 5 INDIAnew (female) death sentence Woman given death sentence for burning daughter-in-law Delivering quick judgment, a local court today awarded the death penalty on a woman exactly a month after she burnt her daughter-in-law to death in a fit of rage. Based on the victim's dying declaration, Additional Sessions Judge Sukhdev Singh convicted Harbans Kaur of Kotisekhan of burning her daughter-in-law Harpreet Kaur to death after pouring kerosene oil on her. Harpreet was rushed to a local hospital with over 90 % burns on March 4 and then referred to a Ferozepur hospital. An assistant sub-inspector of police and a judicial magistrate recorded the statement of Harpreet in the Ferozepur hospital where the victim said she had objected to outsiders visiting their house to meet her mother-in-law. Enraged by doubts being cast on her reputation, Harbans poured kerosene on her daughter-in-law and burnt her, the prosecution said. The court sentenced Harbans Kaur to death, relying on the statement of Harpreet just before her death and rejected the defence plea that the mother-in-law was not in the house at the time of the incident. The victim had stated that the 2 were together. (source: New Kerala) PAKISTAN: Absence of charas might get smuggler off death row * Defendants counsel argues that Narcotics Act doesn't define 'charas' * Court to hear identical cases collectively In Islamabad, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday accepted an appeal challenging a lower court's verdict in a drug smuggling case and said that all identical pending cases would be heard collectively. The petitioner had argued that a charas smuggler could not be sentenced to death because the word 'charas' was not defined in the Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1997 and only a narcotics smuggler could get capital punishment under section 9C of the act. Zar Muhammad, the petitioner, is accused of trying to smuggle 49 kilogrammes of charas that was hidden in his car. Additional Sessions Judge Sohail Nasir sentenced him to death on April 23, 2002, after the report of the chemical examiner confirmed that the substance was charas. The accused then filed a petition against the hearing in the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court and a bench comprising Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha changed his death sentence into life imprisonment on April 12, 2005. He then moved the SC on the assertion that the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had analysed 5 grams of the seized narcotics and on the basis of the result had declared all of it to be charas. Zar Muhammad's counsel said that the Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1997 did not contain any definition of charas. He said that the ANF should check the complete amount of the seized narcotics and then it should be chemically graded. He cited a ruling of a division bench consisting of Justice Raja Fayyaz and Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, in which the appeal of a man accused of charas smuggling was admitted for hearing because the decision of death sentence was based merely on the report of the chemical examiner who had determined the chemical grading of the cache by checking only 5 grams of the seized narcotics. The counsel argued that death penalties under article 9C of the Narcotics Act should be given after taking into consideration all available evidence and facts and not merely relying on the report of the chemical test. He said that in many cases innocent people were arrested and convicted of smuggling narcotics although they had been framed by drug barons. The bench comprising Justice Javed Iqbal and Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi accepted the appeal for further hearing after hearing the preliminary arguments and adjourned the case. (source: Daily Times) INDONESIA: AG: death sentence of three Indonesian Catholics is irrevocable According to the latest statement of Abdul Rahman Saleh, the execution of Tibo and his friends will take place before the month is out. The 3 men were convicted of violence in Poso in 2000. The parish priest in Tentena refuses to accompany the men when they face the firing squad. But the presence of a priest is required by law to carry out the sentence. 3 Indonesian Catholics condemned to death in central Sualwesi, have faced the umpteenth setback. Today, the Attorney General (AG), Abdul Rahman Saleh reiterated that Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus Domi da Silva and Marinus Riwu - convicted of fuelling violence in Poso in 2000 - will be executed possibly in April. His announcement poured cold water on the enthusiasm and hope that greeted previous news of an execution delay because important papers were missing. This had been stated by the Office of the State Attorney General, which also said the execution date had been secretly fixed for last Sunday. Yesterday, the AG told the press that the legal review of the case urged by the PADMA group of lawyers, and the moral support extended by human rights activists and leaders of all religions, would not serve
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEV., FLA., USA, OHIO, PENN.
April 5 NEVADA: Daryl Mack, NV - April 23-28 Do Not Execute Daryl Mack! Take action at www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/ campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=3339 Daryl Mack April 23-28, 2006 Nevada Daryl Linnie Mack, a black man, faces execution the week of April 23-28, 2006 for the Oct. 28, 1988 murder of Betty May in Reno, Nevada. After a night of drinking, a neighbor, Steven Floyd, went to borrow money from Betty May and found her body. Mack has waived his right to appeals, although he has maintained his innocence since he was accused. Mack suffers from anxiety and psychotic disorders. According to the Supreme Court of Nevada, A correctional casework specialist from Ely State Prison testified at Mack's hearing that she did not consider Mack to be a violent inmate and that any disciplinary problems appeared related to changes in medication he was taking to maintain his mental stability. However the court still upheld his death sentence. Mack has shown signs of rehabilitation in prison. He has stopped using drugs which he had abused since 1990. He has helped other inmates with their adjustment to incarceration and with their rehabilitation efforts. Mack has been cooperative with both institutional and court personnel. While maintaining his innocence, Mack has offered condolences to May's family. He has also apologized to his own family. Clearly Daryl Mack is not an appropriate candidate for the death penalty. He suffers from mental disorders that could arguably affect his judgment, yet the Supreme Court of Nevada has ruled that Mack's waiver of his right to appeal was both intentional and voluntary. Furthermore, he is capable of being an asset to society while serving a life sentence without opportunity for parole by helping other inmates adjust to prison. Finally, while maintaining his innocence, Mack has shown sorrow for any pain that has occurred to May's family and his own. Please write to Gov. Kenny Guinn on behalf of Daryl Mack! (source: NCADP) FLORIDA: House fires back at court on death penalty rules The Florida Supreme Court sent the legislature a clear message last year: Fix the state's death penalty structure or risk the courts doing it for you. Now the state House is sending a message back: No thanks, our death penalty structure is just fine. In a strongly worded opinion, Justice Raoul Cantero wrote in October that Florida was the only state in the country that does not require a unanimous jury verdict to either determine whether a case rises to the level of the death penalty or to then impose the death sentence. In Florida, both determinations are simply majority recommendations to a judge, who then has the final say. Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, and Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, filed bills this year that would have changed that, joining Florida with other states that have changed their death penalty structure following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that found such death penalty structures to be constitutionally flawed. But those bills now appear to be dead, replaced instead with a House resolution passed by the Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday that states: The House of Representatives believes that the public policy of this state should be that unanimous jury recommendations not be required in death penalty cases. A resolution is only a statement of belief by a chamber and does not have the force of law. It faces another committee before going to the House floor, and there is not a similar resolution before the Senate. Why the switch in the House? It was a combination of politics and some election-year campaigning, Seiler said. That combination may be the struggle between Villalobos and Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, over who will become the Senate president for the 2009-10 sessions. The favoritism usually afforded incoming chamber leaders has not been evident for Villalobos, the onetime owner of enough pledge cards to become the next Senate president. His version of the bill, which would have required a unanimous jury verdict before imposing a death sentence, has stalled in the Senate, which prompted Seiler to withdraw his version of the bill. Villalobos said he was upset that such a politically charged environment has defeated a bill that he felt was placing Florida's death penalty structure in a safer environment constitutionally. By not doing this bill, the death penalty is in danger, Villalobos said. We will live to see the day when the Supreme Court strikes it down. That's going to throw the criminal justice system into chaos, but that's what they did to our bill. Rep. Bruce Kyle, R-Fort Myers and chairman of the Justice Council, is sponsoring the House resolution defending Florida's death penalty structure. He said Florida's system is fine and that he has no problems with Florida being the only state with such a structure. I don't think that there's anything wrong with being the only one, Kyle said. There's
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., N.Y., DEL., ALA., PENN.
April 5 TENNESSEE: Hill Advances Bill To Give Child Rapists Death Penalty A House Subcommittee voted unanimously on Tuesday for legislation by State Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) to make child rape a capital offense punishable by death or life imprisonment. It now heads to the House Judiciary Committee. This crime has a devastating effect on children, said Rep. Hill. Statistics show that by the time a child sexual offender is caught for the 1st time, they have usually molested 6 to 8 children. The monsters who commit this crime deserve the most severe punishment meted out by our justice system. The bill elevates child rape to a Class A felony and stipulates that sentencing be conducted using the same procedure provided for offense of murder in the 1st degree. Rep. Hill represents the 7th House District, which includes Jonesborough, Teleford, Leesburg and a portion of Johnson City. He is a member of the House Republican Caucus Whip Leadership Team and sits on the House Committee on Children and Family Affairs and the House Transportation Committee. (source: The Chattanoogan) NEW YORK: Feds drop death penalty request for N.Y. kingpin's co-defendants Federal prosecutors have abruptly reversed themselves and withdrawn a request to seek the death penalty against four co-defendants in the murder conspiracy case against a notorious crack kingpin with ties to the rap music industry. In a 2-line letter sent to U.S. District Judge Frederic Block on Tuesday, prosecutors wrote they would still seek death for Kenneth Supreme McGriff at a trial to begin April 17 in Brooklyn. The prosecutors said the new position was authorized by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. On March 22, they had notified the judge that Gonzales had endorsed death penalty cases against all 5 defendants after a careful review in Washington, D.C. Attorneys for McGriff - who have accused prosecutors of using the death penalty as a stall tactic - demanded an explanation. It is difficult to believe that Attorney General Gonzales sincerely believed that a death sentence was justified as to all 5 defendants 13 days ago but now believes it's only justified to one, the lawyers wrote in a letter to the judge dated Tuesday. A call to the Department of Justice on Wednesday was not immediately returned. The lawyers have asked the judge to deny the death notice for McGriff because it was filed too late. A hearing was set for Friday. McGriff was founder of the Supreme Team, once one of the city's most violent drug crews. Investigators allege that after he finished serving about 9 years for drug conspiracy in 1997 he set about reviving his drug-dealing operation. Cooperating witnesses have told investigators McGriff admitted killing a rapper known as E-Money Bags in Queens in 2001. He also allegedly arranged the Baltimore slaying a month later of a suspected informant in his drug organization. McGriff originally was indicted along with his friend Irving Lorenzo, founder of Murder Inc. and the producer of chart-topping acts like Ja Rule and Ashanti. After being granted a separate trial, Lorenzo and his brother Christopher Lorenzo were acquitted late last year of money laundering charges. Prosecutors had said McGriff funneled more than $1 million in drug proceeds, much of it from Baltimore, through Murder Inc. in return for serving as the Lorenzos' protector and enforcer. (source: Newsday) DELAWARE: Prosecutor debates philosopher on death penalty Philosopher Jeffrey Reiman: We don't have the right to exact the full measure of retribution when we are responsible for the uneven playing field. 4:40 p.m., April 5, 2006--A philosopher and state prosecutor came to campus to debate capital punishment Monday, April 3, hours after a federal grand jury ruled al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible to be executed. Jeffrey Reiman, professor of philosophy at American University and author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, said he believes there are probably some criminals who deserve the death penalty but the U.S. should not impose it: It's not about the murderers; it's about us. It's about what kind of people we want to be, he said. Reiman said a disproportionate percentage of those on death row are poor and have fewer incentives for staying out of trouble than middle-class Americans and college students. We don't have the right to exact the full measure of retribution when we are responsible for the uneven playing field, he said. Reiman said pollution, occupational hazards and other business decisions cause far more deaths than murderers but the businesspeople who cause those deaths are not held responsible in the same way. He told the crowd of more than 200 at Mitchell Hall that the law creates a right to punish but not a duty to punish, and asked, Is it a better deterrent than less harsh punishment, such as life imprisonment without possibility of parole? Reiman said polls show support for
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide
April 5 KYRGYZSTAN: Death Row Protest in Kyrgyzstan -- Convicts ask for review of cases as they await final decision on death penalty ban. Prisoners on death row in Kyrgyzstan are calling on the authorities to review their sentences, arguing that the cases against them were fabricated by the government of former president Askar Akaev. The protest is just the latest of many that have taken place in Kyrgyzstan over the last year since the March revolution, as people in all walks of life press the government of President Kurmanbek Bakiev to right past - and current - wrongs. Kyrgyzstan has not executed anyone since 1998, but convicts complain that the conditions in which they are kept are tantamount to a slow death sentence. In a letter to the president dated March 26, a group of 20 people on death row asked him to set up a commission with representatives from the prosecutor's office, the judiciary, lawyers and non-government organisations, NGOs, to review their cases and deliver fresh rulings. During the investigations, every method was used to obtain confessions, from torture and forgery to false witnesses, said the letter. It was a cover-up for the real criminals, who continue to do their dirty deeds. The convictions - for a range of serious crimes including contract killings - were passed by Akaev's venal judges on the basis of this manufactured evidence, the convicts said in their letter. One convict called Marat spoke of the methods he said were used on him and his fellow-inmates. They used gas masks, broke fingers and toes, and after [I regained] consciousness, they got [me] to sign a blank sheet of paper, which they then filled out however they wanted, he said. Marat alleges that on the orders of a powerful rival businessman, he was sentenced to death 8 years ago for a contract killing he says he did not commit. The revolutionary regime should correct the mistakes and sins of the judicial system of the Akaev administration. Many of us imprisoned here were set up, especially for contract killings, he said. 2 inmates interviewed by IWPR were convicted for an explosion in 1997 which killed 3 passengers in a minibus taxi in the southern city of Osh. One man, a citizen of Uzbekistan, says he and 2 others convicted in the case were framed. We were arrested as terrorists and a big case was opened. But I only met my accomplices in court, he said. Justice Minister Marat Kayipov is not unsympathetic to the prisoners' demands, although he says all their convictions must stand until otherwise proven. A Supreme Court sentence is not subject to appeal, and can only be examined if some new circumstances arise, he told IWPR. At the moment we cannot say whether we will create a commission; we need to look at that. But a state commission could be created, there would be no harm in that. If the state is sentencing them to death, then there must be a guarantee of their guilt. Parliamentary deputy Kubatbek Baibolov disagrees, saying it would be unlawful to review these cases. We must not forget that there are victims in every case. What happens if they protest as well? he asked. Kyrgyzstan introduced a moratorium on executions eight years ago, in line with a trend for former Soviet states to impose a temporary ban ahead of final abolition. The justice minister backs the current moratorium, on the grounds that convictions are never 100 % certain. Internationally, there have been cases where prisoners who've been in jail for 20 years are proved innocent after DNA testing, said Kayipov. But as a consequence, convicts remain in a sort of limbo, living for years in the conditions reserved for death penalty prisoners rather than being transferred to a general prison. Currently there are about 200, living 2 or 3 to a cell averaging 4 square metres with insufficient air and light, and lacking food and medical treatment. The letter says, during the 8-year moratorium, 72 people have died of illness or suicide, and it claims another 70 are vulnerable. Many people here kill themselves. At first I too wanted to die, but my cellmates stopped me and helped me learn how to survive, said one inmate who would not give his name, adding that a 76-year-old died recently after 9 years confinement, and a young man died of tuberculosis a few days prior to the interview. I don't understand why the state declares a moratorium if we are all going to die here anyway, he said. Parliamentary deputy Azimbek Beknazarov says conditions for death row inmates are inhumane. The situation needs to be changed urgently. What humanity can we talk about when we have being torturing them for 8 years? he asked. The Kyrgyz authorities are currently making plans to abolish the death penalty entirely, and those currently on death row will probably have their sentences commuted to life. But convicts say this will make little difference unless conditions change. It doesn't make our lives any easier, said another inmate who asked
