Sept. 7
UNITED KINGDOM/ETHIOPIA:
Government sued by daughter of man on Ethiopia's death row
The 9-year-old daughter of a British activist facing execution in Ethiopia is
suing the British government for failing to press for her father's
release.Menabe Tsege's case against the Foreign Office will be heard at the
High Court in London today.
Her lawyers began judicial proceedings over ministers' handling of the case of
her father, Andargachew "Andy" Tsege, a British citizen and exiled leader of
Ethiopian opposition movement Ginbot 7.
He was kidnapped in June 2014 while transiting through Yemen and illegally
rendered to Ethiopia, where he had been sentenced to death at a trial in
absentia in 2009.
According to the lawyers, the illegality of Mr Tsege's kidnapping, detention
and death sentence makes the British government's stance unlawful.
The Foreign Office has not requested his release but has merely asked the
Ethiopian government to allow him access to a lawyer.
International human rights organisation Reprieve warned that Mr Tsege has no
chance of receiving a fair trial.
"It's clear that Andy faces no prospect of due process in Ethiopia, as he's
already received an illegal in absentia death sentence which the Ethiopian
government has confirmed he has no hope of appealing," said Maya Foa, director
of the death penalty team at Reprieve.
"The British government must not allow Andy's abuse to go on any longer. It
must urgently call for his release, so that he can return to his family in
London."During a visit to Ethiopia in June, then foreign secretary Philip
Hammond said he had "received a commitment from the prime minister that Mr
Tsege will be allowed access to independent legal advice," but this promise has
yet to be kept.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson published an open letter on August 26 pledging
that the government would continue to request that Mr Tsege be allowed access
to legal representation and seek to ensure that the death sentence is not
carried out.
"Britain does not interfere in the legal systems of other countries by
challenging convictions," Mr Johnson added.
(source: The Morning Star)
KENYA:
No hanging since 1987: Is death penalty still relevant?
As the state collects Kenyans' views on the death penalty and life
imprisonment, the fact that no one has been executed since 1987, capital
offences are increasing and prisons are congested, raises more questions than
answers. Should the 2 punishments be abolished and replaced with alternative
punishments that are lesser but equally deterrent? Should what constitutes
capital crimes be redefined to include the corruption offences plaguing the
country?
While lawyers say the right to life is inalienable, some members of the public
say capital punishment should be retained for serial killers, terrorists and
sexual offenders. The public's views, collected since June by the Power of
Mercy Advisory Committee (Pomac), will inform a policy on restructuring the
country???s correctional system.
There are about 3,000 inmates on death sentence and life imprisonment in
various maximum correctional facilities. Currently, only murder, robbery with
violence, some military offences, treason and oathing for crime by proscribed
groups, including terrorist groups, are classified as capital offences. They
are punishable by death or life imprisonment upon conviction.
Some sexual and drug trafficking offences attract the 2 forms of capital
punishment, although they are not listed as capital offences in the penal code.
During debates, some people said corruption offences should be classified among
capital crimes that should attract capital punishment.
"The last time a death row convict was executed was 1987, but judges and
magistrates still hang convicts because legally, death sentence is the only
punishment prescribed by the law for convicts of such offences," Pomac vice
chairperson Regina Boisabi said at Nairobi West Prison. "Some of them have been
pardoned and released by the President after our recommendations, but the
number changes every day, depending on outcomes of judgments and rulings
delivered on appeals on daily basis," she said.
Search for answers
Pomac, chaired by Attorney General Githu Muigai, has held public debates in 19
counties and intends to visit the rest in six months. It is also using the
meetings to get public opinion on the legal, political and administrative
measures necessary to manage capital offenders and administer capital
punishment. Participants include the National Crime Research Centre, prisons
and human rights defenders.
Makau Masila, an inmate serving a 7-year jail term in Nairobi West Prison, said
after 15 to 25 years in jail, a death row convict or prisoner on life sentence
should be set free, depending on post-conviction behaviour. He said there are
inmates serving capital punishment who get reformed and fully rehabilitated and
should be given an opportunity and set released to serve as an example that
hardcore criminals can reform.
Criminal, constitutional and human rights lawyers agree that the criminal
justice system should drop the two forms of capital punishment and seek
alternative correctional measures. They say the death sentence violates the
constitution and both punishments have not reduced capital offences.
Lawyer John Macharia said the death sentence is unconstitutional as it negates
the right to life, which cannot be denied. Macharia said it is unconstitutional
for courts to continue hanging convicts because the right to life is guaranteed
and can't be taken away for any reason.
"Every person has the right to life and a person shall not be deprived of life
intentionally, except to the extent authorised by the constitution or other
written laws," Macharia said. "The constitution says the right to life is among
fundamental rights that cannot be limited, despite any other provision in the
constitution."
He said judges and magistrates should be cognisant of the inconsistency of the
penal code, which he said provides for death sentence, while the supreme law
protects the right to life. "Life is sacred and the right to life is protected
by the constitution. The question is: does the government have the authority to
take away someone's life?" Macharia asked. He said this has significantly
contributed to congestion of prisons.
Age considerations
Prominent criminal lawyer Cliff Ombeta said the death penalty is unreasonable
and has not served the purposes it was intended for. He said some death row
convicts reform after their stay in prisons. The lawyer said stakeholders
should agree on the length capital offenders should stay in jails before being
released, depending on their conduct after conviction.
"The death sentence and life imprisonment were thought to be able to decimate
the capital crimes of murder and robbery with violence. But murder cases are on
the rise. The punishments are not useful and should be abolished," Ombeta said.
"But they have to stay with the hangman's noose hovering above them like the
Sword of Damocles for the rest of their lives," he said.
Ombeta said the two sentences are irrational and inconsiderate of age of the
the convicts and other factors that should be considered during the sentencing.
"When 2 people, one 20 years old and the other 75, are handed the life sentence
or death penalty, probably 1 will live in jail for 50 or 60 years, while the
other could even die after 1 year," Ombeta said.
The lawyer said Kenya should drop the death penalty and replace it with life
imprisonment, then form a task-force to decide the length of life imprisonment.
Distrust of ex-convicts
But proposals to drop the 2 sentences have been opposed, with some people
supporting eternal incarceration of convicts, especially serial killers,
terrorists and sexual offenders, mainly those convicted of defiling minors.
"It is very hard to trust a paedophile or a person who killed. It is even
traumatising for one to see the person who killed their kin walk around
freely," South B resident Ruth Njaraba said. "They should be locked up forever
for their safety and that of people around them."
Mwikya Ndune, a resident of Endui, Waita division, Mwingi Central, opposed the
release of capital offenders, saying the risks of freeing them are fatal. He
cited ex-convict John Musyoka, alias Karunyu, who led a gang of around 7 in
murdering 12 people from three families in the village on July 4, 2013.
"If Karunyu was held in jail, the tragedy would have been avoided. The
government betrayed us by setting free a dangerous hardcore convict," she said.
Karunyu, who police had named the most fugitive man, was arrested in Emali town
on Makueni county for an alleged robbery with violence. He had earlier left
Kamiti maximum prison, where he served a jail term for robbery with violence.
Psychiatrist Frank Njenga supported calls for capital punishment to be
abolished. He said said experts should be involved to assess the level of
reform achieved by a convict in consultation with prison officials. The experts
would help re-integrate the convicts with the community to ensure they don't
meet hostility after their release from prison.
Njenga said the recommendations of prisons should be considered in determining
whether a capital offender is reformed enough to be set free. "There is no
guarantee on whether the offender can't repeat the offence, but for instance,
if the circumstances under which the offender committed the offence are no
longer there, there is no likelihood of repeating the crime once released," he
said.
'Defiant' Ochuka the last man to face the hangman's noose
Kenya Air Force Senior Private Hezekiah Rabala Ochuka was executed on July 9,
1987, at Kamiti Maximum Prison, making history as the last death row convict to
face the hangman's noose.
Ochuka had earlier made history for ruling Kenya for 6 hours on August 1, 1982,
after planning and executing the infamous coup against retired President Daniel
Moi, for which he was sentenced to death.
Retired hangman Michael Kirugumi, who killed Ochuka, said, in an interview with
the media in 2004 that Ochuka met death with "composure and defiance". Ochuka
had been handed the extreme penalty after he was convicted of treason, the
gravest military offence.
Since then, many capital offenders have been sentenced to face the hangman but
none has been executed. The country has about 3,000 inmates on death row and
life imprisonment. Some of them have, however, been set free after
recommendations by the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee.
Among them is 72-year-old James Mureithi, who was set free by President Uhuru
Kenyatta on October last year after 41 years behind bars, and 68-year-old
Teresia Wanjiku, who had been sentenced for life and was serving her 24th year
in prison.
As prisons undergo renovations, convicts sentenced to death or life in prison
move from one maximum detention facility to another for the rest of their
lives, unless they get the presidential pardon.
Worldwide debate
But a debate ignited by the government to seek public views on the essence of
having the punishment subjected to capital offenders could see the death
penalty abolished and life imprisonment reviewed to set specific time convicts
should stay in jails.
Crimes classified as capital offences are murder, robbery with violence, some
military offences, treason and oathing for crime by proscribed groups,
including terror groups. These are punishable by death or life imprisonment
upon conviction. Some sexual and drug trafficking offences attract similar
penalties but are not classified as capital offences. And some Kenyans, during
the debates, have suggested that corruption be listed among capital offences.
"The debate on the death sentence is ongoing worldwide and the government wants
to know how citizens would wish the capital offenders be handled," Pomac vice
chairperson Regina Boisabi said.
The committee is holding public debates over the matter, trying to find out
what constitutes the capital offence and how they should be punished, and some
Kenyans have recommended corruption offences be listed among the capital
offences.
Inconsistent laws
Legal experts have pointed out an inconsistency between the penal code and the
constitution, which creates an environment of confusion in criminal justice
system.
The penal code prescribes death sentence as the only punishment upon conviction
for a number of certain offences classified among capital offences.
And the constitution explicitly states that the right to life is a fundamental
right that can't be taken away for any reason.
It says, in Article 26 (1), that every person has the right to life. That right
to life is entitled to everyone, including convicts of capital offences, which
attract the death penalty.
Trial magistrates and judges, though binded and guided by the constitution,
have no option other than to sentence convicts to death, although the sentence
is unconstitutional.
Lawyer John Macharia says the penal code should have been amended after
promulgation of the current constitution. The death penalty should have been
repealed to be consistent with the supreme law.
"The constitution is the supreme law and any law that contravenes it is null
and void," Macharia says.
Lawyer Cliff Ombeta agrees, saying that the repealing of some sections of the
penal code to submit to the constitution is long overdue.
(source: the-star.co.ke)
BANGLADESH:
Govt considering law on war criminals' properties, law minister says
The government is considering legal means to meet a rising popular demand to
confiscate properties of 1971 war criminals.
Law Minister Anisul Huq says a new law to allow that to happen is being
considered.
"The people demand confiscation of properties of war criminals. We are the
government of the people. We must fulfil aspirations of the people, " he told
reporters at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
"We are thinking about legal action over the properties. I won't say it will be
done sooner or later, but we will want to do it swiftly," he added.
Organisations like Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and Ganajagaran
Mancha that have been demanding death penalty for war criminals have also been
demanding confiscation of the properties of those hanged for war crimes.
The demand gained ground after the execution of top Jamaat-e-Islami financier
Mir Quasem Ali on Sep 3.
When his attention was drawn to the matter on Wednesday, law minister Huq said,
"A provision for this can be created within the ICT (International Crimes
Tribunal) law or a new law can be passed."
He noted he did not specify the term 'confiscation'. "The court will decide
whether to confiscate," he added.
The minister, however, said he was for passing a new law "in order to stop the
children of the war criminals from inheriting their properties".
Asked if Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir will be banned, he
said, "We are amending the ICT Act, 1973. Jamaat committed crimes against
humanity as an organisation. There should be proper laws to try Jamaat."
He said the draft of the amendment was awaiting the Cabinet's approval.
(source: bdnews24.com)
BARBADOS:
Let's have a conversation on hanging!
Permit me to add my voice to the extremely unsettling and destabilizing events
which appear to be contaminating our generally peaceful landscape.
Practitioners of law often posit that a thorough assessment of the
circumstances and the motives are needed if one is to draw an objective
conclusion in relation to an act that has been committed.
Research has also demonstrated that when violent and heinous acts are carried
out in the public domain, the up shots generally have a particularly
deleterious effect on the psyche and sensibilities of the people that live in
small peaceful societies like ours.
Now while the circumstances and motives are yet unknown, I am certain that a
cold chill would have traversed the backbones of all law-abiding and
peace-loving Barbadians who glimpse the security footage of the shooting near
the Lucky Horseshoe Complex in Warrens.
I applaud the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) for their ongoing efforts to
wrestle gun related crime to the ground but more importantly that they saw it
fit on this occasion to release the video of the vicious attack as they seek to
identify the alleged perpetrators.
As Barbadians, we can take great pride in our capacity to be tolerant to many
things but circumstances and motives aside, what I saw in that video was cold
blooded murder; the type that must be appropriately punished.
I have read that the death penalty is not considered to be an effective
deterrent in reducing the incidences of serious crimes like murder in other
jurisdictions; but as far as I am concerned, just like the circumstances and
motives need to be weighed when an act is committed, I aver that the culture,
societal accepted behaviour and social sensibilities must also be factored if a
determination is to be made as to whether or not persons convicted of murder in
Barbados should be granted an appointment with the gallows.
I am aware that Barbados is a signatory to several international human rights
conventions and by extension retains membership with several organizations,
some of which are anti-death penalty activists. Just recently they have been
renewed calls by some for Barbados to remove the death penalty from the statute
books.
It is therefore clear that given our need to retain a safe and peaceful
society, while maintaining our commitments to international treaties that the
topic of hanging will be difficult and contentious. But given the recent
upsurge in gun related violence and serious criminal activity, I believe that
the time has come for us to have a very serious conversation about the merits
and demerits within the context of our localized uniqueness.
Some commentators, I am certain, will submit ideologies of rehabilitation while
others may draw on Scripture for guidance and perspective. While I can
certainly appreciate the validity of those opinions, my focus rests in this
instance on the destabilizing effects that these gun related crimes are having
on the Barbadian psyche.
It may be argued that the circumstances associated with other tragic events of
late may suppose that while there was loss of life, the victims may not have
been the intended targets of the attack; but in my opinion, the same cannot be
said about the gruesome shooting in Warrens. As a society therefore, we must
send a very clear signal to anyone who is willing to callously take the life of
another.
With a unanimous voice, we must never allow this type of behaviour to take root
in our country and hence the instituting of the appropriate deterrents is
absolutely necessary, particularly at this time. I am convinced that unless we
get drastic, these acts are likely to continue if not get worse.
Accordingly, I will conclude by citing the case of the Deltona Massacre where a
jury found 4 perpetrators guilty in August 2006. Seventh Circuit Judge William
A. Parson upheld the jury's death penalty recommendation and called the
killings "conscienceless" and "unnecessarily torturous".
He told each of the convicted during back-to-back sentencing hearings . . . .
"You have not only forfeited your right to live amongst us, you have forfeited
your right to live at all".
(source: Sean St Clair Fields, Barbados Today)
UGANDA:
Baguma Sent to High Court to Stand Trial
Remanded former Kampala Central Police Station commander, ASP Aaron Baguma has
finally been produced before Buganda Road Court this morning with his
co-accused.
The formally wanted man, arrived handcuffed shortly after 9am in a white pickup
truck, dressed in a grey jacket and white shirt. He appeared before Chief
Magistrate, Jamson Karemani, who committed him to the High court to stand trial
after state told court they are done with investigations.
The suspect is to be tried at the next convenient criminal session. He is
further remanded.
Mr Baguma did not appear in the same court last week citing sickness according
to Jackson Musinguzi, the Principal Officer Number Two of Kigo prison.
He was charged with the murder of businesswoman Betty Donah Katusabe after he
secretly handed himself to court. Also charged are; Muhammed Ssebuwufu (owner
of the car bond where the deceased was allegedly murdered from); Godfrey
Kayiza, Philip Mirambe, Stephen Lwanga , Paul Tasingika, Yoweri Kitayimba, 37,
Shaban Otuddu and Damaseni Ssentongo, 42.
Mr Baguma is held criminally liable for failing to protect life as per his
obligation as a police officer when he looked away after the deceased pleaded
with him to rescue her from her tormentors.
Prosecution contends the suspects killed Katusabe using sticks and a machete.
Besides the murder charge that attracts up to the maximum penalty of death by
hanging, Mr Baguma faces 2 other charges of robbery and kidnap with intent to
murder.
Under the charge of robbery, the senior officer is accused of robbing the
deceased's phone worth Shs300,000.
(source: The Monitor)
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