July 25
CANADA:
Ottawa says it opposes death penalty as other foreign fighters face capital
punishment in Iraq
Ottawa says it opposes the death penalty but is not committing to stop the
potential transfer of Canadian citizens from Syria to Iraq, where other foreign
nationals are facing capital punishment for supporting the Islamic State.
Global Affairs Canada said it is not aware of any Canadians who have been tried
or are detained awaiting trial for terrorism in Iraq. The transfer of foreign
nationals to Iraq from Syria has raised questions about how the federal
government should handle the prosecution of Canadians who travelled to the
Middle East to join the caliphate.
Barbara Harvey, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said the department
will not comment on hypothetical scenarios.
“Canadians who travel outside the country must follow local laws. If they fail
to do so, they may face prosecution by local authorities in that foreign
jurisdiction,” Ms. Harvey said in a statement.
“Canada opposes the use of the death penalty in all cases.”
There are 33 Canadians trapped in Kurdish-run camps and prisons in northeastern
Syria, according to Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen’s
University who researches extremism.
In a statement, federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Canadians who
have travelled abroad to join the Islamic State must be held accountable.
“Investigating, arresting, charging and prosecuting any Canadian involved in
terrorism or violent extremism is our top priority,” Mr. Goodale said.
Canada has convicted four individuals for terrorism-related offences after
their return to Canada since 2016, despite the fact that about 60 have
returned. Mr. Goodale has said that it is hard to find evidence from a foreign
war zone that will stick in Canadian courts.
Mr. Goodale did not say whether Ottawa would consider other prosecution methods
for Canadian foreign fighters, including what Human Rights Watch has described
as the "outsourcing” of prosecution to Iraq. Kurdish groups have transferred
hundreds of suspected Islamic State members, including foreign nationals, to
Iraq from Syria.
In recent months, 11 Frenchmen were sentenced to death in Iraq for their
affiliations with the terrorist group. A Belgian man was also sentenced to
death by hanging in March for supporting the Islamic State.
Belkis Wille, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch in Iraq, said most
cases of suspected Islamic State members that go to trial are based on
confessions allegedly obtained through torture. She said the trials last 5
minutes, where the judge reads the confession, asks the defendant if they agree
and sentences them.
Ms. Wille said foreign governments, including Canada, must prevent the transfer
of their citizens to Iraq.
“Countries like Canada are much better to conduct proper investigations into
someone to determine what exactly that person did and then prosecute them," Ms.
Wille said.
Jessica Davis, a former senior intelligence analyst at the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service (CSIS) and president of Insight Threat Intelligence, said
the government should bring its citizens back to be tried in Canada, but said a
successful conviction relies on the RCMP’s ability to collect enough evidence.
Phil Gurski, another former CSIS analyst, said that while Canada should
repatriate the young children of Canadians who joined the Islamic State, their
parents should face justice in the region.
“If they’re sitting in a jail in Iraq, you don’t have to worry about him, which
means you don’t have to redeploy resources to figure out what he’s doing
because he’s not your concern right now," Mr. Gurski said.
In the event a Canadian is convicted in Iraq, Mr. Gurski said Ottawa could try
to strike an agreement with the Iraqi government to transfer them back to
Canada, where they would serve their sentence.
Ms. Davis said that most foreign fighters are probably still radicalized and
hold extremist views. “Very few have actually denounced the Islamic State … a
lot of them have significant capabilities when it comes to weapons handling,”
she said.
Kyle Matthews, executive director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies, said Canada should support an international response,
such as a new tribunal to prosecute Islamic State fighters, rather than a
“piecemeal approach” where every country deals separately with their citizens.
Mr. Matthews said Sweden proposed creating a new tribunal that could be based
in Iraq and similar to courts set up after the genocides in Rwanda and the
former Yugoslavia.
(source: theglobeandmail.com)
UNITED KINGNDOM:
Resurfaced video shows Ian Hislop completely shredding Priti Patel's argument
for the death penalty
Brexiteer Priti Patel has returned to Boris Johnson’s cabinet as home
secretary, joining the likes of Dominic Raab, who will take on the role of
foreign secretary, and Sajid Javid as chancellor.
Patel’s appointment has been met with a chorus of concerns regarding her past
in human rights - and a 2011 clip of her calling for capital punishment has
resurfaced online.
The MP was forced to resign 20 months ago after it was revealed that she set up
secret back-channel negotiations with the Israeli government.
Patel’s promotion has caused controversy due to the manner of her departure
from government less than two years ago, which involved a plan to funnel UK
foreign aid money to the Israeli army, while she was international development
secretary.
Accused of effectively running her own foreign policy in the Middle East, she
was forced to fly back early from an African trip for her dismissal in November
2017.
In light of her appointment to a new role, people have been re-sharing a 2011
episode of the BBC's Question Time, where guest and Private Eye editor Ian
Hislop took apart her argument in favour of the death penalty, saying the
inaccuracy of sentencing in the UK would mean innocent people would be killed
by the state.
“For 50 years Private Eye has pretty much, in most issues, exposed a
miscarriage of justice and a lot of them have been murders,” he began telling a
studio audience.
Over the years large numbers of these cases have been found to be entirely
wrong. And the men convicted – and a couple of women – have been found
innocent.
We would have killed those people, and in some of those very high profile cases
which involve terrorism cases, we would have made very dangerous new martyrs by
executing people who turned out not to have committed the murders involved.
So on a purely practical basis, I think it would be incredibly dangerous to
have capital punishment back.
In response, Patel argued capital punishment can act as a “deterrent” to
serious crime.
Patel: "This is really about our criminal justice system actually, and if any
conviction for example, you need ultimate burden of proof."
But the point Hislop was trying to make is that in some cases, there are
mistakes.
Hislop interjected: “Are you saying they were guilty? All these people?”
“No I’m not saying they were guilty, obviously,” Patel hastened to add.
“So they would be dead?” Hislop suggested, if there was capital punishment.
“The point is,” Patel steam rolled ahead, “it’s about having deterrents. If you
have strong deterrents –“
At this point Hislop once more interrupted with a great point:
It’s not a deterrent killing the wrong people.
An important point…
According to Amnesty International, a global human rights organisation,
“scientists agree, by an overwhelming majority, that the death penalty has no
deterrent effect”.
The results reveal that most experts do not believe that the death penalty or
the carrying out of executions serve as deterrents to murder, nor do they
believe that existing empirical research supports the deterrence theory.
In fact, the authors report that 88.2% of respondents do not think that the
death penalty deters murder - a level of consensus comparable to the agreement
among scientists regarding global climate change.
(source: indy100.com)
*********************
£21m more for UK fund linked to death sentences
The UK government has announced that £21 million has been added to the
Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) – one strand of which has been
linked to 350 death sentences in Pakistan.
The CSSF provides funding for overseas security programmes, including several
in countries where the Foreign Office has identified a high risk of human
rights abuses, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt and Somaliland. In the
2018-19 financial year it was allocated £1.26 billion.
Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed that the Counter Terrorism Associated
Reforms Initiative (CAPRI), which is funded through the CSSF, assists
prosecutions in anti-terrorism courts in Pakistan that have handed down more
than 350 death sentences in the last 5 years. CAPRI is part of the Pakistan
Rule of Law programme, which between 2018 and 2019 was allocated £9.32m from
the CSSF.
In 2016, the then British High Commissioner to Pakistan claimed CAPRI was
responsible for a tenfold increase in conviction rates in terrorism cases.
Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) defines terrorism as any crime or threat
designed to create a “sense of fear or insecurity in society.”
From 2013-19 – the period Britain has been funding CAPRI – at least 350 people
have been sentenced to death under the ATA, while 68 people convicted under the
law have been executed, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
figures compiled from publicly-available sources.
Reprieve is calling for stronger human rights safeguards on programmes funded
through the CSSF, based on a strict prohibition of UK support where there is a
real risk of torture and the death penalty.
The government’s current system for assessing the human rights risks of such
programmes, the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance (OSJA), has
been widely criticised for being ineffective and lacking in accountability.
Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee has described as “totally unacceptable” the
current lack of transparency around human rights assessments under the OSJA
policy, and further queried whether the current framework is “fit for purpose”.
Dan Dolan, Reprieve’s deputy director, said: So far as we know, nothing has
changed since it was revealed that public money is going into a programme
that’s been used to sentence hundreds of people to death in Pakistan.
“Despite evidence risk assessments aren’t working, the Foreign Office is
marking its own homework and assuring us everything is fine. We urgently need
stronger safeguards and independent scrutiny in order to ensure UK funding does
not continue enabling torture and the death penalty.”
(source: Scottish Legal News)
******************
What the UK's new Home Secretary has said about the death penalty
For many, Boris Johnson’s newly-appointed Home Secretary Priti Patel is a
controversial appointment - not least for her comments about the death penalty.
Ms Patel, a hard Brexiteer, once famously called for the return of capital
punishment, describing it as a “deterrent”.
It’s not the only controversy to surround the MP for Witham in Essex.
Her new role as Home Secretary marks Ms Patel’s return to the cabinet after she
was forced to resign in 2017 for holding unofficial meetings with the Israeli
government while on a “private holiday”.
The former international development secretary also came under fire for
suggesting that Britain should use the potential for food shortages in Ireland
as a bargaining chip to secure a better Brexit deal from the EU.
Her comments at the time sparked a furious backlash, with critics claiming that
using food shortages as a bargaining chip was inappropriate, especially given
Ireland’s history of famine.
Speaking following the news of her appointment, Joanna Cherry, the SNP’s
Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson, said on Twitter: “I congratulate Priti
Patel on her promotion to Home Secretary but I deplore her support for the
death penalty & her suggestion that UK threaten Ireland with food shortages in
#Brexit negotiations which showed a total disregard of history.”
Responding to the news of her appointment, Amnesty International UK’s Director
Kate Allen called for her to “grasp this opportunity to fix a broken and deeply
harmful immigration system”.
(source: yahoo.com)
AUSTRALIA:
Against the death penalty: barrister Julian McMahon
Julian McMahon is a barrister working in criminal law, often in homicide and
terrorism matters.
In 2002 Julian was working in Melbourne when a distraught mother was brought to
his office.
The woman’s son, Van Tuong Ngyuen, had just been sentenced to death, by a judge
in Singapore.
Van had been found with a few hundred grams of heroin in his possession as he
travelled between Vietnam and Australia.
Julian quickly gathered a team to represent Van. Van was executed in 2005.
Since then Julian has worked on many death penalty cases, the most well-known
is that of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of the Bali 9.
He was with the Australians in Indonesia in 2015 when they were taken to be
executed.
Julian is the President of Capital Punishment Justice Project, an organisation
working to have the death penalty abolished worldwide; and was 2016 Victorian
Australian of the Year.
(source: abc.net.au)
JAPAN:
A son's struggle for acquittal in deadly 1949 Mitaka train crash
Kenichiro Takeuchi has gone through numerous hardships as the son of a former
death row inmate who was convicted of carrying out a mysterious fatal train
accident in chaotic postwar Japan.
While leading a life of obscurity and changing jobs nearly a dozen times,
Takeuchi, 76, lives with the dream of his father being exonerated posthumously
for what he believes was a wrongful conviction.
His father, Keisuke, a labor union member and former train driver for the
now-defunct Japanese National Railways, was sentenced to death for sabotaging a
train at Mitaka Station in Tokyo on the evening of July 15, 1949, killing 6
people and injuring 20 others.
He proclaimed his innocence until his death, despite initially confessing he
was behind the crash.
“I’ve never opened up about my father to my colleagues. … I have developed a
gloomy character,” the younger Takeuchi said in a recent interview at his home
in the suburbs of Tokyo about what became known as the Mitaka Incident.
While seeking a retrial, his father died of a brain tumor in prison in 1967 at
the age of 45.
“I was told that the death of my father closed the case. But I felt so sorry
for him being convicted for something he never did,” the son said.
The case was revived more than 40 years later when a lawyer, Shoji Takamizawa,
visited Kenichiro Takeuchi in 2009.
Takamizawa, 77, had examined judicial records of the Mitaka Incident that
convinced him of Keisuke Takeuchi’s innocence, and he strongly urged the son to
seek a retrial on behalf of his father.
“I was glad that Mr. Takamizawa visited me, as I couldn’t have done anything
for my father by myself. … I thought I finally found a small ray of hope,” said
the son, who on the advice of Takamizawa filed an appeal for a retrial with the
Tokyo High Court in 2011.
Kenichiro Takeuchi, who has also struggled with cancer, is awaiting the court’s
decision on whether to reopen the case, with expectations that such good news
might bring him some solace after so many years.
Keisuke Takeuchi was arrested and indicted, together with nine other labor
union members, at a time when the nationwide railway operator was looking to
make massive job cuts. Other than Takeuchi, all the defendants were members of
the Japanese Communist Party, which opposed the layoffs.
Takeuchi initially denied his involvement. But he later repeatedly changed his
story — admitting to a conspiracy with the other defendants, then saying he had
acted alone to plan and execute the entire incident, before finally claiming
his innocence once again.
Despite a lack of conclusive evidence, he eventually received a death sentence
based mostly on his confession. The nine other defendants were acquitted as it
was ruled that Takeuchi alone was responsible for the disaster.
During an initial petition for a retrial before his death, Takeuchi claimed he
had made a false confession in the belief that he might at least evade the
death penalty.
In the incident, the victims were crushed by the seven-car train, which
suddenly started moving at the Mitaka Station yard, bursting through a bumper
at the end of the track and plowing into the station as well as some nearby
buildings before finally coming to a halt.
As part of efforts to persuade the high court to reopen the decades-old case,
Takamizawa, along with 5 other lawyers, worked to find “new evidence” to prove
Takeuchi’s innocence with the help of several experts.
The final ruling found that Takeuchi had raised the first car’s pantograph —
the apparatus mounted on the roof of the train to collect power — to activate
the train, and then jumped off shortly after that.
Countering this, the lawyers cited a traffic engineering expert’s study that
said that the pantograph of the second car was also raised when the train went
out of control.
The lawyers also focused on the fact that the headlight of the seventh car was
on when the disaster occurred, claiming that it should have been turned off in
accordance with the JNR’s operating guidelines before the train was activated.
Given these factors, the lawyers note in their opinion paper submitted to the
high court, “It was impossible for (Takeuchi), in terms of time, to raise
pantographs of the first and second cars and run to the seventh car to turn on
the headlight, thus the final ruling that he committed the crime alone is
unacceptable, and should be reviewed.”
Prosecutors have argued the headlight was already turned on before the
incident.
In the original trial a man testified that he saw Takeuchi near Mitaka Station
around the time of the incident.
In an effort to debunk the testimony, Takamizawa and other lawyers for the
defense asked a behavioral psychologist to conduct an experiment to determine
if the witness would have been able to identify Takeuchi under evening viewing
conditions.
In a recreation of the scene examining several test subjects — only a few of
whom could recognize acquaintances — the psychologist concluded that it would
have been almost impossible for the witness to recognize Takeuchi’s face
clearly even under the brighter conditions in the experiment.
The lawyers also believe, based on confession statements by Takeuchi and his
wife compiled soon after his arrest, that Takeuchi was at home with his family
when the tragedy occurred.
The defense team presented these findings during talks with the high court and
prosecutors that were completed last December.
“Objective evidence goes against Mr. Takeuchi’s temporary confession and the
final ruling, and it is quite obvious that he was sentenced to death unfairly,”
Takamizawa said. “We have to correct errors of the judicial system.”
The prosecutors, however, have claimed the final ruling was reasonable and
confirmed Takeuchi’s guilt, and are seeking the dismissal of the appeal.
Kenichiro Takeuchi has survived his wife, who believed in her father-in-law’s
innocence until her death and welcomed the unexpected encounter with
Takamizawa.
But he has become estranged from his siblings after taking up the crusade.
“My brothers and sisters do not want me to come forward in seeking the retrial,
but their attitude will change if the high court comes to a good decision
within my lifetime,” he said.
The Mitaka Incident was one of three mysterious cases involving the Japanese
National Railways in the summer of 1949.
On July 6, JNR President Sadanori Shimoyama was found dead in Tokyo, apparently
run over by a train, while on Aug. 17, a passenger train derailed near
Matsukawa Station in Fukushima Prefecture due to alleged sabotage, killing
three crew members and leading to the indictment of 20 labor union activists,
all of whom were eventually acquitted.
The truth surrounding the Shimoyama and Matsukawa incidents remains a mystery.
The 3 incidents were widely believed to be linked to JNR’s efforts to introduce
job dismissals under the U.S.-led Occupation, with union activists targeted by
authorities in an attempt to clamp down on the protest campaign against the
layoffs.
(source: Japan Times)
CHINA----execution
‘Zero tolerance’ for sex crimes against children as China executes serial child
rapist----Supreme People’s Court says judges must use all means available to
punish those who sexually abuse minors
China’s highest court vowed to use all means, including the death penalty, to
punish child sex offenders after a child rapist was executed for attacks on 3
young girls.
The Supreme People’s Court said sexual assault was a serious threat to the
physical and mental health of children, and the judicial system should show
zero tolerance for such crimes.
The court issued the statement after upholding a death sentence handed down to
He Long, from Linyi in Shandong province.
He was executed on Wednesday morning for a series of crimes 5 years ago.
The court said he “adopted” an eight-year-old girl from Henan province in June
2014 and kept the child captive in his flat, repeatedly raping her and shooting
videos of her that he posted on social media before she escaped. Chinese
authorities seek tougher sentences to make examples of child molesters
5 months later, He kidnapped a mentally disabled 13-year-old girl, raping her
and forcing her into prostitution, the court said. Then in December 2014, He
abducted a 10-year-old on her way to school and raped her before she was
rescued by police the next day.
The Supreme People’s Court said his “vicious motives, odious details and cruel
means pose serious harm to personal safety and society”.
“The crimes are extremely serious and should be severely punished by law,” the
court said.
“If the nature of the crime and the details of the crimes are extremely bad,
and the consequences are extremely serious, the death penalty will be firmly
imposed according to law.”
In its summary, the court also gave the example of Wei Minghui, from Guizhou
province, who was executed recently for the rape and murder of a 5-year-old
girl in 2016.
Child molestation, often considered a lesser offence, would be severely
punished, the court said.
More than 23 % of child molesters were sentenced to more than 5 years in prison
in 2018, almost 8 % points higher than the other criminal cases in the same
period.
Those who were ordered to serve for 3 years or less were not given suspended
sentences, indicating a move to a harsher position on punishment.
3 other cases of child molestation – including 1 involving a teacher and
another involving a young boy – were considered “serious plots” and worthy of
heavier punishments of between three and 10 years in jail.
Sexual assaults on children were on the rise, possibly because of better
awareness of such crimes and reporting of them to the authorities, the court
said.
In the past, kissing and touching a child’s body might be overlooked and or not
reported in time, it said.
Chinese courts heard 8,332 cases of child molestation from June 2017 until June
this year, the court said.
According to Amnesty International, executions in China are carried out by
lethal injection and shooting.
(source: South China Morning Post)
**********************
Death penalty for lesbian who butchered lover over gambling debts
A Chinese lesbian has been sentenced to death for stabbing her ex-lover 196
times when she was denied gambling money.
Wang Lei, 26, was viciously stabbed 196 times by her ex-girlfriend Fang Yao,
28, when they met to discuss money, a friend told the Daily Mail.
Knife-wielding Fang stormed after her ex from the 9th floor of a hotel to the
ground floor.
She slashed the pretty gambling addict in the neck and torso. Wang died at the
scene in a pool of blood and her ex-lover made a run for it.
The murder occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 30, 2018 in Yongzhou,
Hunan Province.
Fang was busted later that day.
She was found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to death with a
2-year reprieve by the Yongzhou Intermediate People’s Court at a 1st trial on
December 20, according to court papers.
At the end of the 2-year term, the sentence will be reduced to life
imprisonment if the individual does not commit further crimes within the
period.
But for Fang, the fly in the ointment has been her victim’s family: they want
the killer to fry.
Wang’s parents said they were unsatisfied by the court’s decision and insisted
that Fang had to die.
“My daughter died tragically under Fang’s knife. Fang’s parents have not even
said ‘sorry’ to us since the incident took place,” Wang’s farmer father wrote
on social media.
“I hope the court can give Fang a death sentence and execute her immediately to
let the murderer pay the price of life.”
One of the dead woman’s best friends agreed.
“The ruling was not severe enough,” Tang Liping said.
“A death sentence with a reprieve will be reduced to life imprisonment. Life
imprisonment will then be reduced to fixed-term imprisonment.”
She added: “We can’t let a killer out of the jail in, for example, 15 years to
hurt more people.”
The court heard that Fang became a gambling addict in 2017 and borrowed piles
of money from the victim.
When Wang refused any more loans, she was murdered.
Fang owed nearly $300,000 to Wang and other friends. None of the money was paid
back.
(source: Calgary Sun)
INDIA:
Rajya Sabha passes POCSO Amendment Bill with provision of death penalty
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has been
passed by Rajya Sabha.
The bill seeks to enhance punishment, including a provision for death penalty,
for committing sexual crimes against children.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti
Irani said government has sanctioned 1023 fast track courts for speedy
dispensation of pending cases under POCSO and sexual assault.
18 states have given their consent to set up the fast track courts which will
be established within a span of two years. The Minister said government’s
priority is to ensure that justice is delivered to every child in the country.
The total expenditure in setting up these courts will be 767 crore rupees out
of which 474 crore rupees will be borne by the Centre. She said these Courts
will function in addition to the existing sessions courts.
Ms Irani said, an evaluation would be made to ensure the quality of justice
that was dispensed, through an institution empanelled by Niti Aayog with
regards to this process, which the government is about to undertake. She said
that currently 75000 children are in 2000 child care homes.
She said, a National data base of sexual offenders has also been launched by
Home Ministry last year and contains data of six lakh 20 thousand sexual
offenders in the country. The data helps when such person goes for employment
and the institution sends their information for police verification.
In order to curb child pornography, the Bill provides that those who use a
child for pornographic purposes should be punished with imprisonment up to 5
years and a fine. However, in the event of second or subsequent conviction, the
punishment would be up to 7 years and fine.
The Bill defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit
conduct involving a child including photograph, video, digital or computer
generated image indistinguishable from an actual child.
According to the amendment bill, those committing penetrative sexual assaults
on a child below 16 years of age would be punished with imprisonment up to 20
years, which might extend to life imprisonment as well as fine.
In case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault, the bill increases the
minimum punishment from 10 years to 20 years, and the maximum punishment to
death penalty.
(source: newsonair.com)
******************
RS passes POCSO amendment Bill with death penalty provision
The Rajya Sabha passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
(Amendment) Bill (POCSO Bill) which provides for death penalty on Wednesday.
The Bill proposes death penalty to the culprits in the cases of sexual assault
and stringent punishments for other crimes against children.
Some members of the Opposition had demanded during the discussion that given
the importance of the legislation, it should go to a Parliamentary panel. The
Bill, however, was passed without many hurdles and will now go to the Lok Sabha
before becoming an Act. Piloted by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti
Irani, the Bill is aimed at checking the increasing cases of child sexual
abuse. Many members who participated also raised concerns over the increasing
rate of violence against women and children in recent years.
Initiating the debate, Congress MP Vivek K Tankha said the Bill focusses more
on punishment than checking the crime. “I welcome the Bill. But the stringent
provisions are not stopping such incidents,” he said. He further added that the
rate of conviction in such cases is very poor and that out of lakhs of such
offences, a trial was completed in about 10,000, followed by conviction in 30 %
of the cases.
The Act also provides for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
(source: thehindubusinessline.com)
*********************
'No Less Than Rape': BJP MP Wants Capital Punishment for Builders Cheating Home
Buyers----Vijay Goel said that lakhs of home buyers had invested their
hard-earned money in booking flats. But the greedy builders had cheated them.
Equating cheating of home buyers by greedy builders with rape, BJP leader Vijay
Goel on Thursday demanded stringent action against them.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, he also sought action against
celebrities endorsing housing projects of such builders.
Goel said that lakhs of home buyers had invested their hard-earned money in
booking flats. But the greedy builders had cheated them.
"The builders have cheated and defrauded these home buyers... These greedy
builders should get capital punishment because the crime they have committed is
no less than rape," said Goel, who formerly headed the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) in Delhi.
He said that some celebrities have been associated with these builders.
"As there is penal provision for celebrities endorsing a product in case the
product turns out to be inferior, the brand ambassadors of builders should also
be punished," Goel said.
(source: news18.com)
SINGAPORE:
Don’t target Malaysians, lawyer for death row inmates tells Singapore
The Singapore government has again been urged to give Malaysians on death row a
2nd chance and to reconsider the application of the death penalty.
Lawyers for Liberty legal adviser N Surendran today urged the Singapore
government to stop the “double standard” practice against Malaysians and to
stop “targeting” Malaysians for execution.
He asked if there was any reason Malaysian lawyers were disallowed from seeing
their death row clients in Singapore when lawyers from other countries were
allowed to do so.
He said he himself had not been allowed to see his clients, including Pannir
Selvam Pranthaman, in Changi prison.
“Australian lawyers are allowed to meet their clients in Changi prison. I, too,
applied to meet my clients but was rejected. Why doesn’t Singapore allow
Malaysian lawyers to do so, too?
Several human rights groups and families of Malaysians on death row at the
Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur today.
“If they allow us to see our clients, then we can take proper instructions and
in turn give proper instructions to Singapore lawyers who are acting on our
behalf. The Singapore lawyers are hired by us. But you don’t allow us to see
the clients or attend the hearings.
“This is clearly a double standard action against Malaysia,” he told reporters
outside the Singapore High Commission after submitting a memorandum to seek
pardons for four Malaysian prisoners on death row.
Also present were several human rights groups, including Suaram, and families
of Malaysians on death row for drug trafficking in Singapore.
Surendran also expressed disappointment that the high commission had refused to
grant their request for a representative from each family to enter the premises
to present the memorandum.
Several human rights groups and families of Malaysians on death row at the
Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur today.
“Singapore can’t pretend it is putting an end to the drug trafficking problem
by hanging Malaysian drug mules from a poor background, especially when most of
them have been duped into smuggling these things,” he said.
Parames Waria, the wife of K Datchinamurthy who is on death row, also appealed
to the Singapore government to give her husband a 2nd chance.
“I am humbly requesting that they at least commute the sentence to life
imprisonment,” she said.
Pannir Selvam’s sister, P Angelia, appealed for clemency for all death row
inmates there.
“My brother has been inside for 5 years and it is really tough. Singapore is
not only punishing the death row inmates, it is also punishing the families,”
she said.
(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)
PHILIPPINES:
Imee Marcos changes mind, now backs death penalty for some crimes
Sen. Imee Marcos on Thursday said she now supports a “limited” imposition of
death penalty, changing her position when she was still a member of the House
of Representatives.
President Rodrigo Duterte on his fourth State of the Nation Address renewed his
call to restore the death penalty for heinous crimes related to drugs and
corruption.
Marcos, a Duterte supporter, agreed that times have changed and the
reimposition of the death penalty may now be justified.
“We have witnessed levels of brutality and extreme violence that are nowhere
near the apprehension of the Revised Penal Code,” she said in a forum.
Marcos, however, said death penalty must only be imposed on a “very limited”
list of crimes, where the “number of victims, level of violence, and social
impact” would be considered.
She recalled that when she was still an Ilocos Norte representative, she was
among those who called for the abolition of death penalty.
The death penalty was abolished in the Philippines in 2006, during the time of
then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a Duterte ally.
Duterte has been hoping to reinstate the death penalty in the Philippines,
where nearly 80 percent of its population is made up of Catholics, as he wages
his war on illegal drugs and pursues an anti-crime campaign.
The Senate minority bloc, led by Sen. Franklin Drilon, has vowed to fight
efforts to revive death penalty.
Several senators have their respective bills seeking the revival of death
penalty.
Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa’s bill imposes death as maximum penalty only for
the importation and manufacture of illegal drugs and its precursors.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, on the other hand, seeks death penalty for a slew of
crimes including illegal drug crimes, qualified piracy, qualified bribery,
parricide, murder, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, destructive
arson, plunder, terrorism, human trafficking, and arms smuggling.
Senators Manny Pacquiao and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go have also filed
similar bills, while Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian also plans to submit his own
version.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III had said the chance of reviving the death
penalty is now higher under the 18th Congress as long as it would be imposed on
“high-level” drug traffickers.
(source: ABS-CBN news)
*********************
Death by firing squad, hanging unconstitutional – Sotto
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III rejected on Wednesday the proposal to
impose death penalty either by firing squad or hanging for being
unconstitutional.
Two proponents of the proposed reimposition of the death penalty —neophyte
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Senator Manny Pacquiao— have openly pushed
for firing squad if the measure is enacted into law.
For high – level drug trafficking, Pacquiao said the death penalty should be
imposed by firing squad and lethal injection for plunderers.
Sotto, Dela Rosa and Pacquiao are among the senators, who have filed a death
penalty measure.
“Hindi pwede, unconstitutional lahat yun,” he said in an interview over DZBB on
Wednesday.
“Sapagkat nakalagay sa Constitution, hindi pwede ang hindi humane penalty.
Hindi humane lahat yun. It does not fall under the category of humane.”
The only humane penalty, which he said had already been brought before the
Supreme Court, is to impose death by lethal injection.
President Rodrigo Duterte, during his State of the Nation Address, has called
for the passage of the death penalty bill for heinous crimes related to illegal
drugs and plunder.
While Sotto expects lengthy debates in the Senate, he still believes the
measure could still get the support of 13 to 14 or majority of the 24 senators.
Should it fail to get Congress’ approval, Sotto said he would revive his
measure that would establish a national penitentiary for high level drug
traffickers.
But for now, Sotto said they would push for the reimposition of the death
penalty since many Filipinos, including the President, are clamoring for it.
(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)
*******************
Congress leaders vow to block death by hanging proposal
Leaders of political blocs in the House of Representatives on Thursday vowed to
object to a Malacañang proposal to execute death convicts through hanging.
Minority Leader and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante and 1Pacman Partylist Rep.
Michael L. Romero said cruel, inhuman, and degrading manners of punishment will
be rejected by their respective groups.
Earlier, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a media interview that
once the death penalty has been restored, the manner of executing convicts
should be by hanging.
Abante, an evangelist, said he will back the re-imposition of the capital
punishment as sought by President Duterte.
“I will support the re-imposition of the death penalty but I’ll oppose any
method that is cruel, inhuman, and degrading,” said Abante.
“The minority might be divided in the issue of the death penalty but we are one
and united to oppose all kinds cruelty, inhuman, and degrading ways of
implementing it,” said Abante.
Romero said he has yet to make a decision on the restoration of the death
penalty and the inclusion of plunder as among the crimes covered.
“I have been praying for God’s guidance on which path to take with regards to
the proposal to restore the death penalty,” he said.
Romero added: “Definitely, cruel and inhuman manner of carrying out the death
sentence will be fiercely objected to.”
Under existing laws, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
convicts are prohibited.
It was recalled that the Philippines used to execute death convicts through the
electric chair. This method has been prohibited after being considered cruel
and inhuman.
The lethal injection took the place of electric chair before a law banning the
death sentence was passed in Congress.
Reps. Rozzano Rufino Biazon (PDP-Laban, Muntinlupa City) and Victor A. Yap
(NPC, Tarlac) filed separate measures proposing the restoration of the death
penalty.
House Bill 741, authored by Biazon, carried a provision that chose death by
lethal injection as the manner of executing a death convict.
HB 741 proposes the lifting of the ban on the imposition of the death sentence
for crimes involving illegal drugs.
“This is to put back into the consciousness of those involved in the illegal
rugs trade that the ultimate punishment of death awaits them should they
continue with their nefarious acts,” said Biazon.
Authored by Yap, HB 0368 also sought the re-imposition of the death penalty on
aliens whose country of origin adopts death as the maximum penalty for a crime
also being penalized in the Philippines.
Earlier on Wednesday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III opposed proposals to
implement death penalty by firing squad or hanging, saying these would violate
the Constitution.
“Hindi pwede, unconstitutional lahat ‘yon (We cannot allow those, those are
unconstitutional),” Sotto said when asked in an interview over radio DZBB.
“Sapagkat nakalagay sa Constitution, hindi pwede ang hindi humane penalty.
Hindi humane lahat ‘yon (Because it is stated in the Constitution, inhumane
penalties are prohibited. Those are not humane). It does not fall under the
category of humane,” he added.
The Senate chief referred to Section 19 of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights
(Article 3) stating that “Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel,
degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted.”
The same provision also stated: “Neither shall death penalty be imposed,
unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter
provides for it.”
For Sotto, the “only” humane punishment for those penalized with death is
lethal injection.
Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao on Tuesday said he favors death penalty by firing
squad for those convicted for drug offenses “so people would see it and not
take example.”
On the other hand, he proposed lethal injection for convicted plunderers.
Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson pushed for a threshold of 100 kilos of
illegal drugs to be covered by the proposed death penalty.
Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that a
bigger volume or quantity of illegal drugs to be covered by the proposed
measure would ensure that those to be meted with the capital punishment or
death penalty are big-time drug lords and traffickers and not mere street
peddlers.
This would also prevent enforcers from planting evidence against their would-be
victims of extortions, the senator added.
His and his Senate colleagues’ primary concern, Lacson said, is the entry of
tons of illegal drugs, usually “shabu” (crystal meth) that usually come from
China, hidden in container vans.
Lacson has filed Senate Bill 27 that covers a broad range of crimes, including
terrorism, plunder, treason, qualified piracy, murder, rape, kidnapping and
destructive arson, drug trafficking, human trafficking and arms smuggling. It
prescribes the use of lethal injection.
Pacquiao also filed Senate Bill (SB)189 which seeks to impose the death penalty
on illegal drug traffickers and manufacturers, plus a fine ranging from P1
million to P10 million on people who import, sell, distribute, manufacture,
possess illegal drugs, cultivate or culture plants classified as dangerous
drugs, and maintain a drug den, dive or resort.
Likewise, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa filed SB 226 aiming to impose the capital
punishment on drug traffickers and manufacturers. It also prescribes that the
execution be carried out by firing squad.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
************************
Reviving capital punishment
The opposition to the measure is still there. But with the new composition of
the Senate, the leadership of the chamber believes the proposal to restore the
death penalty can “squeak” through the 18th Congress.
In the previous Congress, the measure had hurdled the House of Representatives.
The current super majority in the chamber is expected to do the same,
especially after the revival of capital punishment topped the legislative
priorities mentioned by President Duterte in his fourth State of the Nation
Address last Monday.
It’s the Senate that has always blocked the reimposition of the death penalty.
With the current Senate membership, however, it looks like the measure is
certain of approval, although there could be resistance from lawmakers to the
inclusion of plunder among the offenses that will warrant state execution.
For ordinary citizens, the inclusion of plunder might in fact make the return
of capital punishment more acceptable. Those accused of plunder are typically
politicians and other government officials who handle public funds and projects
involving at least P50 million – the threshold amount for corruption to become
the more serious offense of plunder. A major criticism of the death penalty is
that it puts indigent defendants at a disadvantage, because they cannot afford
the best lawyers who can protect them from erroneous judicial determination of
guilt.
There’s also the question on the deterrent impact of capital punishment. If the
drug menace persists, as President Duterte himself has declared, after nearly
6,000 people have been killed in the brutal war on drugs, will state executions
work any better?
If Congress pushes through with the restoration of the death penalty, there
should be accompanying measures – and not just on the part of the legislature –
to improve the administration of justice.
The weakness of the Philippine judicial system contributes to public support
for short cuts to law enforcement and the election of Dirty Harry types to
public office. With the inefficiency and corruption plaguing the criminal
judicial system, every effort must be made to ensure that if ever capital
punishment is restored, there will be minimal risk of a miscarriage of justice.
(source: Editorial, Philippine Star)
MOROCCO:
CNDH President: There Are No Political Detainees in Morocco----It has been 8
months since King Mohammed VI appointed Bouayach as the president of Morocco’s
National Council of Human Rights
The President of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), Amina Bouayach, said
that there are no “political prisoners in Morocco.”
In an interview with Spanish news outlet EFE, Bouayach discussed Morocco’s
reforms abolishing any sort of torture and human right violations in prisons in
Moroccan prisons.
The CNDH chief, however, acknowledged the presence of a crisis over the
question of management of human rights, especially in the management of
“demonstrations.”
In her interview with the Spanish-speaking news outlet, Bouayach said that
there are no “political prisoners” in the North African country but rather
“prisoners who have been arrested for their participation in demonstrations or
violence produced during demonstrations.”
Bouyach said that the prisoners are not arrested for their opinions, but for
the “impact or effect of demonstrations or violent expressions.”
International media and observers have long referred to the detained Hirak Rif
activists arrested for participating in unauthorized protests in 2016-2017 as
“political prisoners.”
When the EFE asked Bouayach whether torture is used against suspects in police
stations, she said that torture is against the law.
“Now it is an institutional rule, which is continues to develop. The General
Directorate of National Security [DGSN] reacts to cases of abuse or inhumane
treatment with administrative decisions of suspension,” she said.
She added that in the case of a violation, the case would go to court to decide
on the consequences for the agent if he or she is proven guilty.
“This rule to hold [a person] accountable is important, it has permeated the
institution in its behavior with detainees.”
EFE also asked the CNDH president about the Hirak Rif (popular movement), which
emerged in 2016 in the Al Hoceima province after the death of local fishmonger
Mouhcine Fikri.
EFE asked Bouayach whether CNDH “tried to ‘correct the excesses’ of the
executive and judicial branches.”
In response, Bouayach said that CNDH’s role is not to “correct others.”
“We have a framework of action, which is the protection of rights, and we
intervene in each case of detention or imprisonment to ensure that those
affected have decent conditions.”
Capital punishment
EFE also asked Bouayach about the death penalty in Morocco. The Court of Appeal
in Sale, Morocco sentenced three main perpetrators of the Imlil murders in the
Atlas Mountains to death penalty.
While capital punishment remains legal in Morocco, no executions have been
carried out since 1993.
The Spanish news outlet mentioned that the perpetrators were sentenced to death
shortly after the interview, emphasizing that some NGOs are calling on the
government to abolish capital punishment. EFE also asked Bouayach whether the
Imlil murder would change people’s minds over death penalty.
“Abolition is a decision of legislative power. The voices against abolition
will always exist, they are not indicators which will slow the process,” said
Bouayach.
She said that crimes punished by death penalty has already decreased to 10 from
30.
Bouayach added that MPs want to “abolish [death penalty] but they have doubts
so we have work to do in our campaign.”
In December, King Mohammed VI appointed Bouayach as the president of the CNDH,
succeeding Driss El Yazami, who had been the chairman of the human rights
council since March 2011.
(source: moroccoworldnews.com)
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