[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
September 9 SOUTH AFRICA: Death penalty debate re-ignites Amnesty International says use of the death penalty is on the decline and by the end of last year, 142 countries had abolished it. However, there were still 993 executions recorded in 2017, in 23 countries which practise capital punishment, with China still believed to be the world's biggest executioner. In South Africa, the IFP wants a discussion on the death penalty. India recently passed a bill allowing for the death sentence for anyone convicted of raping a child. The move comes after nationwide protests over the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl. Countries carrying out the penalty last year used methods ranging from decapitation to hanging, and lethal injection. The United States has been divided on the issue of the death penalty for decades. According to the latest poll, today 54 % are in favour of sending convicted murderers to death row, while 39 % oppose this. In Uganda, human rights groups want to scrap the death penalty but President Yoweri Museveni is rejecting the move, saying crime will rise. A recent report by rights group Amnesty International applauded some Sub-Saharan African countries for abolishing the death penalty. But with reports of Botswana and Sudan resuming executions this year, Amnesty says there are fears the death sentence may gain popularity across Africa. Back home, the IFP is calling for renewed debate on the death penalty, saying crime is out of control but is it a solution? The Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders doesn't think so. "Nicro is very clear that this is a knee-jerk reaction," said Soraya Solomon from NICRO. "It's been shown, especially in America where some states have the death penalty - others don't and research was done by very renowned criminologists and they found over a 10-year period those states that had the death penalty the crime rate actually spiked, compared to those states that did not have the death penalty." The South African Institute for Violence Prevention says there is no scientific evidence that capital punishment deters violence. In a tweet, it says the IFP should rather focus on poverty alleviation and reducing inequality because the latter breeds violence. (source: enca.com) SINGAPORE: Penal Code set to undergo overhaul, to better protect vulnerable victims against abuse and sexual crimes The 1st major review of the Penal Code in more than a decade has yielded calls for sweeping changes - 169 to be exact - with a key focus on beefing up laws on sexual and abuse offences to protect women and vulnerable victims including children. On top of that, the wide-ranging review covered other areas, and most notably suggested a repeal of 2 laws: removing marital immunity for rape to provide equal access to protection for sexually abused wives, and decriminalising attempted suicide to recognise that treatment, and not prosecution, is the appropriate response. Among other things, the committee also proposed creating a new offence of fraud, which focuses more on the intent of the offender than the effects of deception on the victim. 2 years after it was convened in 2016, the Penal Code Review Committee has submitted its 500-page report to the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Home Affairs on Aug 31. The committee's report was released on Sunday (Sept 9), and a 3-week public consultation will begin the following day, with the proposed changes expected to be tabled in Parliament in November. In calling for a substantive review, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had emphasised the need to ensure the 150-year-old Penal Code remains relevant and to protect Singaporeans from emerging threats. In a letter - dated Sept 3 - thanking the committee, Mr Shanmugam said that since the last substantive review in 2007, there have been "many societal and economic changes which have been accelerated by technological advancements". "Changes in society also mean that once-relevant provisions are now outdated," he said. "It is my hope that this process will culminate in a revised Penal Code that is principled, proportionate, and practical; one which will continue to serve Singapore well in the years to come." The changes were proposed in light of recent high profile cases which involved the abuse of vulnerable victims. Speaking to reporters on Friday, following a media briefing on the review, Mr Shanmugam said, "In general we try and keep our laws current, but it???s not possible to predict all the different possible arguments and different situations that might arise. And when you learn something, then you change them too." The committee, co-chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health Amrin Amin, comprised 14 other legal industry experts. Among the proposals
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., S.DAK., US MIL.
September 9 FLORIDA: Florida prosecutor sets up unit for wrongful convictions A Florida prosecutor who got into a legal fight with the governor for her refusal to seek the death penalty is setting up a unit to look at possible wrongful convictions. State Attorney Aramis Ayala said this week that the unit will review claims of innocence by individuals convicted of crimes in her circuit which makes up most of metro Orlando. Ayala says she hopes there have been no wrongful convictions but past exonerations around the nation show wrongful convictions happen. Ayala's declaration last year that she would no longer seek the death penalty triggered a fight with Gov. Rick Scott, who took away cases from her office. Earlier this year, she said her office will no longer request monetary bail bonds for defendants accused of low-level crimes. (source: Associated Press) SOUTH DAKOTA: Gay man sentenced to death by reported homophobic jurors will not get his appeal A divided 3-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday refused to hear the appeal of Charles Rhines, a gay man on death row in South Dakota, who argued that he should be allowed to present new evidence showing that anti-gay bias may have motivated the jury to sentence him to death. Several jurors came forward saying that other jurors were making comments about Rhines's sexuality. One juror recalled that there was "a lot of disgust" during deliberations about how Rhines was gay. Another said that a juror said that Rhines wouldn't mind life in prison. "It was not a joke," she said. A juror recalled someone saying, "if he's gay, we'd be sending him where he wants to go," referring to life in prison. 6 civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, Lambda Legal, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and National LGBT Bar Association, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in August following the discovery of comments from jurors suggesting that sentencing Rhines to life in prison with other men would be "sending him where he wants to go." The brief provided information about the long and painful history of discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in the United States and asked the court to issues a certificate of appealability to Rhines to allow him to present evidence of juror bias. "There is compelling new evidence that some of the jurors who sentenced Charles Rhines to death in South Dakota were motivated by anti-gay bias. Statements from 3 jurors show that the jury sentenced Mr. Rhines to death because some thought that, as a gay man, he would enjoy life in prison with other men," Rhines' attorney, Shawn Nolan, said. "The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2017, Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, applies to Mr. Rhines's case and requires that a court review his evidence of anti-gay bias before his execution can proceed," Nolan added. "Anti-gay stereotypes and animus should have no role in our criminal justice system and certainly should never be a reason to impose a death sentence. We are gratified that one of the judges on the panel, Judge Kelly, voted to review this important issue," he added. "Our judicial system has safeguards to prevent bias based on sexual orientation," said Ria Tabacco Mar, senior staff attorney for the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project. "Those safeguards failed for Mr. Rhines." Mar added, "We appreciate that Judge Kelly voted to consider Mr. Rhines's petition for the opportunity to show whether his death sentence was the result of anti-gay bias." Ethan Rice, Lambda Legal Fair Courts Project attorney, said, "Mr. Rhines's case represents one of the most extreme forms anti-LGBT bias can take. Evidence suggests that he has been on death row for the past 25 years because he is a gay man." Rice added, "We are deeply disappointed that the court has chosen not to allow for review of this case when it is clear that Mr. Rhines may have been denied the constitutional right to a fair trial because the jury deliberations included bias." Today, the federal government and 28 states do not have laws that expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, leaving lesbian, gay, and bisexual people at risk for discrimination in jobs, housing, education, credit, health care, jury service, retail stores, and other aspects of public life. In 2017, 46 % of LGBTQ employees reported remaining closeted at work and 2016 was the deadliest year on record for hate crimes against the LGBTQ community with more than 1,000 incidents of hate violence reported. Additional information regarding the case can be found in the amicus brief filed by the 6 organizations on August 2, 2018. (source: lgbtqnation.com) US MILITARY: High hopes for new judge of 9/11 tribunalVictim's sister decries delay A new judge taking over
