[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
October 20 IRAQexecutions Death sentences against 6 convicts involved in terrorism carried out: Ministry The Iraqi Justice Ministry has carried out death sentences against 6 convicts involved in terrorism charges. A statement by the ministry on Wednesday said "death sentences were carried out against 6 convicts in accordance with counter-terrorism law." The ministry highlighted working on implementing the law. Iraqi courts have recently issued death sentences against convicts involved in explosions and killing of civilians and security personnel that have occurred over the past few years. On Sunday, the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad sentenced a man to death as he was caught supplying the Islamic State with explosive materials. Many Islamic State members were detained during liberation battles that freed cities, which were recaptured by the militant group in 2014. 2 Islamic State members were sentenced, in September, to death over killing 12 people in Anbar. In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country. The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014. (source: Iraqi News) PAKISTAN: Peshawar High Court sets aside military court sentences of 74 convicts The Peshawar High Court set aside on Thursday the sentences of 74 people convicted by the military courts. In a short order, the 2-member bench, comprising PHC Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth and Justice Lal Jan Khattak, ordered the release of the convicts. The court is yet to release a detailed order. 50 convicts were awarded death sentences, while the remaining 24 were serving prison time. Relatives of the convicts had challenged the convictions under Article 199 of the Constitution, which deals with the jurisdiction of high courts. The details of 2 of the 74 convicts have been released. Zorawar Khan, a resident of Dir, had challenged the death sentence of his uncle, Gul Faraz, by the military court. The applicant's lawyer, Shabbir Hussain, said that 28 people, including an MPA, were killed in an explosion at a funeral ground in Mardan on June 19, 2013. Faraz was convicted of facilitating and planning the explosion. The counsel said that the military court did not have single evidence against his client, except his confession. Even the statement was recoded years after he was taken into custody, the lawyer said. Hussain also represented another convict from Hangu, Jannat Karim. The lawyer said that Karim was given death penalty by the military court solely on the basis of his confessional statement. The convict's nephew, Ahsanullah, had challenged the conviction. Karim was convicted of facilitating suicide attacks in 2009 and 2010, and other attacks on policemen. (source: samaa.tv) * Quick government action needed to save Pakistanis on death row abroad: JPP The Lahore High Court on Friday heard a petition pertaining to Pakistanis on death row in various middle eastern countries who are in urgent need of diplomatic assistance. The hearing, presided over by Justice Ayesha A. Malik, reviewed an application filed by Justice Project Pakistan's Asma Shafi to highlight the issue. Shafi has underscored the need for quick action in her petition, which states that Pakistanis in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, are being executed at an increasing rate. Over the past few weeks alone, nine Pakistanis have been executed, according to the petition. The application further highlights that it is the responsibility of the government to keep an eye on the trial proceedings of Pakistanis convicted abroad and assure they are carried out transparently. It is the fundamental right of every Pakistani prisoner to receive assistance on a diplomatic level, Shafi has asserted. Shafi has pleaded to the court to issue orders to the government to provide diplomatic assistance to Pakistanis jailed abroad and to take into consideration their trial proceedings. The hearing was adjourned until December 12. (source: dawn.com) MALAYSIA: Death penalty: To abolish or not? Malaysia once again made it to the international headlines when the Government announced that Malaysia is in the process of abolishing the death penalty. With the moratorium already in place, it seems that the government is not merely being rhetorical with this progress but is serious about the direction that they are taking. This policy will likely be heavily scrutinised amongst the lawmakers and citizens of Malaysia. In Malaysia, the death penalty is provided by the acts of Parliament including the Firearms Act 1971, Penal Code, and Dangerous Drugs Act 1959. Some of the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, LA., TENN., ARK.
October 20 TEXASstays of 2 impending executions Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halts execution of Kwame RockwellIt was the 2nd time the appellate court has stopped an execution this month. For the 2nd time this month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has halted an execution days before it was set to proceed. Kwame Rockwell, 42, was set for execution Wednesday, Oct. 24. In a late appeal, his lawyers asked the high court to stop his execution, claiming he was incompetent for the punishment due to his schizophrenia. To be executed, an inmate must be able to understand his death is imminent and link it to the murder in which he was convicted. Rockwell was convicted in the 2010 deaths of a gas station clerk and delivery man in Fort Worth, according to court records. Rockwell and 2 other men robbed the store and shot the 2 men, killing Daniel Rojas instantly and causing the death of Jerry Burnett 10 days later. Though it wasn't brought up at his trial, Rockwell was later diagnosed with schizophrenia in prison. His attorneys raised the issue in Tarrant County early this month, but the court ruled that Rockwell hadn't shown a substantial doubt regarding his competency. On Friday, a majority of the judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed, sending the case back to the trial court and ordering the judge to appoint at least 2 mental health experts and re-examine Rockwell's competency for execution. Three judges, Sharon Keller, Michael Keasler and Barbary Hervey, voted to proceed with the execution. On an early March morning in 2010, Rockwell and 2 other men, dressed in black and ski masks, entered the Valero gas station next to Rockwell's used car business, according to a court opinion. Rockwell had decided to rob the gas station because he was in danger of losing his lease. A co-defendant, Chance Smith - who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for the crime - testified at trial that Rockwell was the brains behind the operation and the one who was carrying the gun. He shot Burnett, the delivery man, in an aisle, and then, after taking money from the register and office, killed Rojas, the clerk, according to the opinion. Rockwell was arrested in San Antonio 4 days later, when police barged into a convenience store bathroom he had barricaded himself in and found him threatening to kill himself with a broken piece of glass. After he was convicted and sentenced to death in January 2012, the prison system diagnosed Rockwell with schizophrenia, and his appellate attorneys sought relief based on this new development. They claimed that Rockwell had told his trial attorneys that he'd suffered from paranoia and hallucinations at one point, but they thought it was a ruse and told him to "cease and desist the crazy talk," according to a court filing. The prosecuting office pointed out that Rockwell had earlier told his lawyers that he had no mental health problems, and the courts rejected his appeal. But competency for execution is a question that is raised when execution is imminent since it relies on an inmate's current mental state, and Rockwell's lawyers objected when the trial court ruled against stopping his scheduled execution earlier this month. They pointed to a psychologist's sworn statement that said within the last 3 months, Rockwell said he believed he was God and that demons built the walls of his incarceration. (source: Texas Tribune) *** Execution date called off for Fort Worth man convicted of murdering bus rider A Tarrant County judge called off the upcoming execution of Emanuel Kemp, a Fort Worth killer once deemed too insane to be put to death. But his scheduled punishment was canceled not over concerns about his sanity, but in light of a need for further DNA testing, according to court filings. Kemp was scheduled to die on Nov. 7 for a decades-old crime. The high-school dropout had been out of prison for just 5 days when he hijacked a public transit bus at knifepoint in 1987, forcing the driver to drive around town while he raped and murdered the only passenger, Johnnie Mae Gray. The 34-year-old died from nine stab wounds to the chest and throat according to Texas prison records. The driver was stabbed in the neck but lived. Kemp was arrested three days later and sent to death row the following year after a whirlwind 6-day trial. In the years after his conviction, Kemp was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, according to his attorney, Greg Westfall. "He has been very psychotic to entirely utterly out there since about 1990," Westfall said. By the mid-90s, 1 court deemed Kemp incompetent for execution, though a higher court later reversed that decision after years of medication. Since then, his attorneys raised claims of bad lawyering, violations of due process, questions about jury selection and denial of funds to get mental health experts.
