[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ILL., TENN., MO., S.DAK., NEV., CALIF., ORE., USA
April 10 ILLINOIS: Innocence Project founder seeks 'conviction integrity unit' The co-founder of a group that has cleared a dozen people wrongfully convicted of crimes said Tuesday that the Illinois attorney general should create a "conviction integrity unit" to investigate innocence claims. Bill Clutter, a private investigator who helped create the Illinois Innocence Project in 2001 and now does similar work from Louisville, Kentucky, said he proposed the idea in a letter to Attorney General Kwame Raoul . Illinois has a history of wrongful convictions. Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge was accused of torturing more than 200 criminal suspects into forced confessions in the 1980s. Former Gov. George Ryan labeled the state's system of capital punishment "haunted by the demon of error" when he halted executions in 2000. By the time Illinois abolished the Death Penalty in 2011, wrongful death sentences imposed on 20 people had been reversed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Conviction integrity units have sprung up recently in major metropolitan jurisdictions such as Dallas, New York, and Chicago. But a statewide team in Illinois would be a first nationally. Clutter said that an independent, statewide team of detectives and lawyers to review convicts' claims of innocence would be more effective than a nonprofit organization with limited resources and limited power. He used the example of Karen Slover of Decatur, whose ex-husband and in-laws are serving 60-year sentences for her 1996 murder. Seeking to clear them, Clutter sought an analysis of an unknown fingerprint in the victim's blood at the crime scene, but was rebuffed. "With a conviction integrity unit, you have a prosecutor who has the authority, who wants to know the answer to the question, 'Who left that fingerprint in blood at the crime scene?'" Clutter said at a state Capitol news conference. "They'd have a badge and they could work cooperatively with innocence projects within the state to unlock this evidence." The plan got a cool reception from Raoul, a Democrat who took office in January. "Ensuring the integrity of a conviction by evaluating new evidence, eyewitness testimony or an appellate court decision is the responsibility of every prosecutor," spokeswoman Annie Thompson said. Clutter agrees, but he said it's human nature for a prosecutor to be defensive of suspected errors or omissions. Former Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez created a conviction integrity unit in 2012. Under successor Kim Foxx, it's become an independent unit of the office with publicized policies and standards, spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said. The office receives about 150 applications annually from those convicted of felonies, but many do not meet criteria for review. Since 2017, just after Foxx took office, 70 convictions have been reversed, Simonton said. Staffing the office are a director, supervisor, four assistant state's attorneys who conduct investigations, one who specializes in forensic work, a part-time forensic scientist and an administrative assistant. Clearly, only a jurisdiction the size of Cook County can afford such an outlay, said Clutter, who is currently seeking exoneration for Thomas McMillen in the 1989 abduction and murder of Melissa Koontz of Springfield. Even in Sangamon County, where Springfield is the county seat, "it would be a financial burden for this office to have a truly independent staff of at least one investigator and one attorney to review the claims, and there are not enough claims like this in a county like Sangamon to warrant those resources," Clutter said. "But on a state level, it makes sense to have it housed in the attorney general's office." (source: herald-review.com) TENNESSEE: Tennessee gov signs bill to nix 1 court death penalty review Tennessee is removing one state court's review before executing inmates under legislation signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. With Lee's approval Tuesday, Tennessee in July will begin skipping the state Court of Criminal Appeals and provide automatic state Supreme Court death penalty reviews. Lee spokeswoman Laine Arnold has said the governor was deferring to the Legislature's will on the legislation. Court of Criminal Appeals Judge John Everett Williams has said his court's last four death penalty reviews took 3 to 6 months. Federal courts account for most of sometimes-3-decades in death penalty court reviews. Tennessee executed 3 inmates in 2018. 4 executions are scheduled this year. The law is named for Dickson County Sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Baker, who was killed in May. 2 people are approaching trial over Baker's death. (source: Associated Press) A death chamber is shown. Tennessee officials want to have their cake and eat it, too, a group of death row inmates complains to the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition challenging a state
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 10 GLOBAL: Death penalty in 2018: Facts and figures Amnesty International recorded at least 690 executions in 20 countries in 2018, a decrease of 31% compared to 2017 (at least 993). This figure represents the lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in the past decade. Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq – in that order. China remained the world’s leading executioner – but the true extent of the use of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figure of at least 690 excludes the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China. The authorities of Viet Nam indicated in November that 85 executions had been carried out during 2018, placing the country among the world’s top 5 executioners. Excluding China, 78% of all reported executions took place in just four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq. Botswana, Sudan, Taiwan and Thailand all resumed executions last year. Amnesty International did not report any executions in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Palestine (State of) and United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite having done so in 2017. Executions in Iran dropped from at least 507 in 2017 to at least 253 in 2018 – a decrease of 50%. Executions in Iraq decreased from at least 125 in 2017 to at least 52 in 2018, while in Pakistan, executions fell from at least 60 in 2017 to at least 14 in 2018. Somalia halved its executions, down from 24 in 2017 to 13 in 2018. Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty in its new penal code in June. In February and July respectively, Gambia and Malaysia both declared an official moratorium on executions. In the US, the death penalty statute in the state of Washington was declared unconstitutional in October. At the end of 2018, 106 countries (a majority of the world’s states) had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes, and 142 countries (more than 2/3) had abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Amnesty International recorded commutations or pardons of death sentences in 29 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, China, Egypt, Guyana, India, Iran, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco/Western Sahara, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe. 8 exonerations of prisoners under sentence of death were recorded in four countries: Egypt, Kuwait, Malawi and USA. Amnesty International recorded at least 2,531 death sentences in 54 countries, a slight decrease from the total of 2,591 reported in 2017. At least 19,336 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the end of 2018. The following methods of execution were used across the world in 2018: beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. Two new death sentences by stoning were known to have been imposed in Iran. Reports from 2018 indicated seven people were executed in Iran for crimes committed when they were younger than 18 years of age. At least 98 executions were known to have been carried out for drug-related offences in 4 countries – 14% of the global total and down from 28% in 2017. At least 226 of such death sentences were known to have been imposed in 14 countries. Death sentences were known to have been imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards in countries including Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Viet Nam. Regional death penalty analysis Americas For the 10th consecutive year, the USA remained the only country to carry out executions in the region. The number of executions (25) and death sentences (45) reported in the US slightly increased compared to 2017. The state of Texas nearly doubled its figure compared to 2017 (from 7 to 13), accounting for just over 1/2 of the country’s total. Nebraska carried out its 1st execution since 1997; South Dakota since 2012; and Tennessee since 2009. Only 2 countries, USA and Guyana, imposed death sentences – the lowest recorded number since Amnesty International began keeping records in 1979. The death penalty statute in the US state of Washington was declared unconstitutional in October. Asia-Pacific At least 136 executions in countries were known to have been carried out throughout the region in 2018, compared to at least 93 in 2017. This increase was mostly due to the rare 9 disclosure of a figure from the authorities of Viet Nam. It does not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believed were carried out in China. Thailand resumed executions for the 1st time since 2009. Japan more than tripled its annual figure (from 4 to 15), after the hanging of 13 men involved in a high-profile ca
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 10 ABKHASIA: Abkhazia reintroduces death penalty for drug dealingA moratorium was placed on the death penalty back in 1993 Abkhazia has passed a law reintroducing the death penalty for drug dealing. The law also provides for life-imprisonment, and will come into force on 1 January 2020. Abkhazia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty back in 1993. Currently, there are only 3 convicts serving life sentences in Abkhazia. The public has responded ambiguously to the news, with roughly half the public supportive of the idea and half against it. Comments from social media: “I would be surprised at this decision had our legislators not banned abortions several years ago. After the ban, they are staying the course for Saudi Arabia.” “Our children are killed every day, and they earn on their lives. Maybe if at least 2 drug dealers are deprived of their own, someone will come to their senses and be frightened?” In the post-Soviet space, the death penalty is only allowed by law in Belarus. In other places, it has either been abolished or a moratorium imposed on it. (source: jam-news.net) MALAYSIA: Malaysia continues to grapple with death penalty abolition The number of global executions fell by 1/3 last year, making it the lowest number of executions in at least a decade, according to a report released on Wednesday by human rights group Amnesty International. The report comes as the Malaysian government continues to grapple with whether or not to abolish the death penalty, a move fiercely opposed by conservative and opposition groups. The Pakatan Harapan government, led by prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, had initially outlined plans to fully abolish the death penalty as part of its election manifesto in March 2018 – a move that would have granted reprieve to more than 1,200 people on death row. But since taking power in May, the coalition government has backpedalled on the initial promise. It has instead debated whether to remove the mandatory death penalty on certain crimes and leave it to the courts' discretion to enforce the death penalty – much to the dismay of human rights groups and pro-abolitionists. "The reversal of the earlier decision is shocking, unprincipled and embarrassing," N. Surendran, advisor to human rights group Lawyers for Liberty, said last month. The government has however placed a moratorium on the death penalty, which means any death sentence handed down in the meantime cannot be carried out until the moratorium is lifted, or a final decision is reached on abolition. "We believe the Malaysian government knows exactly what is the right thing to do," said Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia, during the official launch of the organisation's report in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. Parliamentarian Kasthuri Patto, a pro-abolition politician who was also at the launch, said the minister for law Liew Vui Keong is "very much on board with abolishing the death penalty." However, she added "the challenge is for him to convince the Cabinet to speak in that same language." Opposition parties Parti Se-Islam Malaysia (PAS), an Islamist party that controls the eastern states of Kelantan and Terengganu, along with the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), have expressed their reluctance in doing away completely with the death penalty. MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong said the government should not abolish capital punishment for the sake of fulfilling its election manifesto, in comments reported by The Star, while PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang recommended that a detailed study first be undertaken on the issue. Meanwhile, parliamentary sittings are due to end on Thursday, making it unlikely that a landmark abolition decision will be reached within the next 24 hours. The next parliamentary sitting is scheduled to occur in July. Till then, the decision will remain in the balance. (source: qantara.de) PAKISTAN: New bill proposes death for acid attacks Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is introducing “The Acid and Burn Crime Bill 2019” to criminalise acid and burn related violence proposing death penalty or rigorous imprisonment for life on those who intentionally carry out acid and burn attacks. According to a press release issued Tuesday, the PML-N MPA Hina Pervez Butt has prepared the Bill that will be submitted in Punjab Assembly in coming few days. The PA session is commencing from tomorrow (Thursday). Under this Bill, if such an act has resulted into the death of any person the attacker shall be punished to death or imprisonment for life and whosoever intentionally commits acid and burn attack shall be punished with death row or rigorous imprisonment for life. It has been proposed in the Bill that the investigations will be carried out not below the rank of inspector/SHO within 14 days of being informed or registration of FIR. Ho
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 10 MIDDLE EAST: Iran and Iraq lead way in reducing executions in the Middle EastExecutions fell by 41 percent from 2017 to 2018, but Amnesty International says practice still taking place The Middle East saw far fewer executions in 2018 than it did the previous year, driven largely by sharp reductions in the number of people being put to death in Iran and Iraq, according to Amnesty International. A report from the human rights group released on Tuesday found that the number of executions in the Middle East fell by 41 percent in one year, from 847 in 2017 to 501 in 2018. That's the lowest number of executions the region has seen in almost a decade. "We're encouraged by the reduction in executions, which suggests that even the countries that are the most adherent to the death penalty are beginning to change their ways," Oluwatosin Popoola, one of Amnesty's death penalty experts, told Middle East Eye. "A 50 percent drop in Iran shows that when legal reforms take place, executions can fall. However, we must also note that, overall, the region continues to use the death penalty heavily and against international law." Only Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were known to have carried out executions in 2018. That's half the number of countries that used what Popoola called the "ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment" in 2017. While Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates had carried out executions in 2017, none were recorded in those countries a year later, according to Amnesty's 55-page report. The methods of execution ranged from beheadings in Saudi Arabia to shootings in Yemen. Hangings were used in Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Sudan, while stoning to death is kept on the books in some countries, but is seldom used. Meanwhile, the chaos of Syria's war made it impossible to collect data in that country, said Popoola. Beheadings, crucifixions and other punishments carried out by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group were not viewed as judicial executions and were not counted, he added. Decline in Iran, Iraq Supporters of the death penalty say that it deters would-be killers and drug dealers from wrongdoing. Abolitionists say it is cruel, outdated and typically punishes poor and minority groups, while people who are well-connected get lighter sentences. Iran has long been among the world's top users of the death penalty, with courts battling epidemics of heroin and opium abuse - and levying the punishment against drug addicts and drug dealers making money from the illicit industry, among others. Still, recorded executions there have fallen by half, from 507 in 2017 to 253 in 2018, Amnesty International found in its report. This followed a shift in November 2017, when Iranian lawmakers re-wrote the country's anti-drug rules so that only kingpins, armed dealers and those convicted of smuggling large quantities of narcotics would face the punishment. Hadi Ghaemi, director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a campaign group, described a long struggle to change attitudes in the country, which at one time executed some 1,000 drug dealers and other convicts every year. "It's a remarkable decline and a major accomplishment for a 10-year campaign, by activists both inside and outside Iran, aided by international pressure, against the senseless use of the death penalty in Iran," Ghaemi said. "It was overused, too frequently against poor and illiterate individuals but not the cartel kingpins. It did nothing to address Iran's drug epidemic, and slowly public opinion and even the hardliners wised up to this." Neighbouring Iraq saw even bigger reductions between 2017 and 2018, with a 58 percent drop in recorded executions - from 125 to 52 - in that one-year span. This may reflect a slowdown in executions of IS members, many of whom were rounded up and convicted under anti-terror laws as their self-declared caliphate was beaten back and eventually defeated in Iraq during 2017, said Popoola. But the report did not suggest a wholesale shift away from executions in the Middle East. Although Iraq and Iran recorded big reductions, they still rank among the world's top 5 countries that carry out executions. The others are Saudi Arabia, with 149 recorded executions, Vietnam (at least 85) and China (more than 1,000). In Iran, for instance, justice is often imposed more harshly against members of minority groups, such as Mohammad Salas. A Gonabadi Dervish, Salas was executed in June after being found guilty in a "grossly unfair" trial for the murder of 3 police officers, the Amnesty report said. Iran too frequently executes those who were aged under 18 at the time of their crimes, the group also found. Saudi Arabia executes a large number of foreigners, mostly for murder and drug crimes, while defendants in such trials often lack legal safeguards and sometimes don't get a translator
