[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
August 23 SAUDI ARABIA: Outrageous ongoing detention of women's rights defenders reaches 100 days The ongoing arbitrary detention of several women's rights defenders in Saudi Arabia is outrageous, Amnesty International said today, as 3 prominent activists reach 100 days of being held without charge. Since May, at least 12 leading human rights activists in Saudi Arabia have been detained without charge. Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef were all imprisoned on 15 May and today (23 August) marks 100 days since their detention. "It is absolutely outrageous that so many brave human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia are still being held without charge - apparently for simply speaking out against injustice," Samah Hadid, Amnesty International's Middle East Director of Campaigns "They have been detained without charge and with no legal representation for more than three months. This must not go on any longer. The world cannot carry on looking the other way as this relentless persecution of those who stand up for human rights in Saudi Arabia continues." To mark the 100 day anniversary, Amnesty International is today mobilising its supporters worldwide to stand with the detained human rights defenders. As part of the campaign, Amnesty International supporters are gathering in multiple cities around the world to protest outside of Saudi Arabian embassies. They will be putting pressure on the Saudi Arabian authorities, as well as their own governments, to take action to secure the release of the women human rights defenders and all prisoners of conscience who have been detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights in Saudi Arabia. Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef have faced accusations in state-aligned media which include forming a "cell" and posing a threat to state security for their "contact with foreign entities with the aim of undermining the country's stability and social fabric". Amnesty International understands that the three women may be charged and tried by the country's notorious counter-terror court, which has been used in other instances to try human rights defenders and deliver harsh prison sentences. Earlier this month, 2 more prominent women human rights activists - Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada - were also detained. Others detained recently include women's rights activists Nouf Abdulaziz and Maya'a al-Zahrani, and activists who have previously been persecuted for their human rights work, such as Mohammed al-Bajadi and Khalid al-Omeir. Hatoon al-Fassi, a prominent women's rights activist and academic was also reportedly detained a few days after Saudi Arabia lifted the driving ban in June. So far, a total of 12 human rights defenders have been detained: 8 women and 4 men. The crackdown began shortly before Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on women driving in the country. Many of the activists detained campaigned for the right to drive and the end of the repressive male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia for many years. "The international community must push the Saudi Arabian authorities to end this targeted repression of activists in the country. States with significant influence in Saudi Arabia - such as the USA, UK and France - should do much more to campaign for their release," said Samah Hadid. "Saudi Arabia must release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally, and end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression in the country." Background The crackdown on activists and women human rights defenders comes despite Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman presenting himself as a 'reformer' in recent months. His international public relations campaign contrasts sharply with an intensifying crackdown on dissenting voices, including those campaigning for equal rights for women. Amnesty International is also calling for an end to all forms of discrimination against women, including the guardianship system. Earlier this month, the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia was expelled after a tweet from Canadian Foreign Policy account said: "Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi's sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi". Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry accused Canada of "overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs" of the country. Amnesty International is calling on other governments to join Canada in increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to end the crackdown on freedom of expression in the country. ** Appalling plan to execute female activist must be stopped Responding to news that Saudi Arabia is seeking the death penalty for 5 individuals who face trial before Saudi Arabia's counter-terror court, including Israa al-Ghomgham, who
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., FLA., LA., MO., OKLA., NEB., COLO., CALIF., USA
August 23 TEXAS: Texas Can Keep Supplier of Execution Drug Secret To ensure Texas can keep executing prisoners, it does not have to reveal the supplier of its lethal injection drug to a group of Arkansas death-row inmates, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Since Texas adopted lethal injection as its method of capital punishment in 1982, it has executed several hundred prisoners, far more than any other state. The supply of lethal injection drugs has dwindled in recent years, as anti-death penalty advocates have pushed manufacturers to stop supplying them for executions. Due to the dearth, Texas changed its execution protocol in 2009 from a 3-drug cocktail to a single dose of pentobarbital. 2 grams of the sedative, which is used to treat epilepsy and relax patients before surgery, is fatal. Texas kills prisoners with 5-gram doses. The backlash slapped Texas in 2013 when a public information request outed the compounding pharmacy supplying its pentobarbital. Wilting under a firestorm of media coverage, protests and death threats, the Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy's owner asked Texas to return the pentobarbital. Texas now gets the drug from another in-state supplier. Identified in court records as "Pharmacy X," it stated in a declaration that it too will stop selling pentobarbital to Texas if its identity is revealed. "Pharmacy X did not and will not supply lethal injection chemicals to any state other than Texas under any circumstances," the declaration states. The statement opposed a bid by 5 Arkansas death-row inmates to get the identity of Texas' supplier. In a motion to compel, the inmates said Arkansas' use of the anesthetic midazolam in its 3-drug execution cocktail could subject them to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. "Pentobarbital is a more humane alternative to Arkansas' current use of midazolam, which has been associated with several executions in which inmates suffered prolonged, tortured deaths," the motion states. The 5 Arkansas inmates sought information from Texas for a federal lawsuit they filed challenging their state's lethal injection protocol after Governor Asa Hutchinson scheduled 8 executions for a 10-day period in spring 2017 because the state's midazolam had an April 30, 2017 expiration date. A federal judge issued an injunction staying the executions, but the Eighth Circuit lifted the stay. Arkansas has not executed anyone since April 2017. It has not set death dates for the 5 inmates who subpoenaed Texas, 1 of whom has been granted clemency. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake in Houston granted Texas' motion to quash the subpoena Tuesday. Lake said that to succeed on an Eighth Amendment lethal injection challenge, inmates must show a "substantial risk of serious harm" and that there are readily available alternative drugs that will reduce that risk of severe pain, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent from the 2008 decision in Baze v. Rees. Lake found the lack of availability of pentobarbital doomed the subpoena, focusing on Texas' supplier's statement that it will not provide pentobarbital to any other state. The Arkansas inmates argued that a protective order would resolve any fears the supplier's name would get out. But Lake decided the strong possibility its identity would surface despite the protective order would make it hard for Texas to get pentobarbital, creating an undue burden for the state. "Most persuasively, [the Texas Department of Criminal Justice] argues that the disclosure of information about its supplier of pentobarbital, even with the protective order in place, would end their ability to procure compounded pentobarbital," the Ronald Reagan appointee wrote in a 34-page order. The Arkansas inmates are represented by attorneys with the firm Fish and Richardson, who did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment on the order. Texas state attorneys refused to weigh in because the "order is not final and may be subject to appellate review." Texas leads the nation with 8 executions so far this year. 7 more Texas inmates are set to die in 2018. (source: Courthouse News) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Repeal the death penalty To the Editor: Both the New Hampshire House and Senate voted to end the death penalty. This was long overdue. Unfortunately, it appears the ugly head of political considerations pushed Gov. Chris Sununu to veto the bill. Three questions need to be asked: Will it be a deterrence? Will the victims' family feel justice was done? At what cost to the state? Then there is the morality of the state killing a killer. There are many other justifiable questions, but in the end, the job of our government is to do what is best for the state. In most cases, it takes years and more than $5 million to prosecute and carry out such a judgment. The costs are too large unless there are corresponding benefits to the citizens of
