Sept. 20
CHINA:
China refuses death penalty reprieve for ACT murder accused
China has refused to rule out executing the man accused of killing a
Canberra student, if he is found guilty.
Steffi Zhang, 24, was found murdered in her Belconnen apartment last June,
and the Chinese Government has now formally asked for ACT help to convict
the man who is in custody in China.
But despite requests from the ACT and Commonwealth Governments, China will
not guarantee that the man accused of the murder will not face the death
penalty.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says he will not help Chinese police until a
guarantee is given.
"That's an absolute position," he said.
"There is no area of grey in relation to the application of the death
penalty.
"We as a nation oppose it, my view is that we must oppose it - not just
here in relation to Australian citizens, we must oppose it around the
world, particularly in circumstances such as this, where we're so directly
involved in pursuing the matter.
"Without an undertaking by the Chinese authorities that the death penalty
will not apply in this case - should any person prosecuted be found guilty
- then the ACT Government will not provide that full level of assistance."
(source: ABC News)
IRAQ:
National assembly could broaden death penalty----There were protests
against the proposed law in Bagdad.
The Iraqi National Assembly last week started debating proposals to
broaden anti-terrorism laws to include the death penalty for perpetrators
of "terrorist acts" and their accomplices.
There is however widespread opposition from Sunni Arabs who insist such a
law - which parliamentarians say is likely to be approved by the end of
September - could be used unfairly to target them.
"We have to make criminals afraid of what they have been doing with the
life of Iraqis and the only way ... is adopting the death penalty for
those who carry out terrorist acts countrywide," Laith Kubba, a spokesman
for Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, said on Sunday.
The death penalty, he added, would be adopted as a juridical law not based
in the constitution. It would be extended to offenses such as attacking
government buildings, using explosives to kill people and advocating
sectarian violence, as part of "anti-terrorism legislation".
Other crimes that could attract the penalty would include attacking Iraqi
security forces, kidnapping for political, sectarian, ethnic or racial
purposes and forming armed gangs.
Human rights groups say expanding the use of the death penalty could
destroy the possibility of a democratic and humanitarian Iraqi nation.
"We are totally against terrorism acts but the use of the death penalty
does not make a difference because you are punishing a crime with other.
We ask the Iraq government to review this decision carefully and stop it
urgently," the Middle East spokeswoman for Amnesty International, Nicole
Choueiry, said on Monday.
Muhammad Dihar, a Sunni National Assembly member, maintained that the
death penalty could be misused.
"We are against the use of death penalty for terrorism acts because it
will target wrong people due to the bad image that all Sunni are
insurgents. It would be better to put these criminals in prison and not
kill someone without confirmation."
On 17 September, hundreds Sunnis poured onto the streets in protest
against the proposed law. Sunni religious leaders have also criticised the
use of the death penalty.
"No human can determine if a person can live or not. It is in the hands of
God. Our community is totally against this idea and will fight it. We
cannot use death to correct the insecurity. You will just be taking more
lives and if charged they should pay in prison and not in graves," Sheikh
Omar Shaker, a Sunni senior religious leader, told IRIN earlier in Baghdad
Kubba insisted the new law would improve the security situation in Iraq.
"I believe that the use of death penalty is the best way to keep security
and change the image of the government from being an impotent
administrator," he said.
The death penalty was abolished in Iraq at the start of the United States
war in April 2003, but reinstated for crimes including murder, kidnapping
and drug-running in August 2004 amid protests from European nations and
human rights groups.
On 1 September, the 1st executions since the fall of Saddam Husseins
regime were carried out when 3 men convicted of murder, rape and
kidnapping were hanged in the southeastern city of Kut. The decision was
highly criticised by human rights organisations and the United Nations.
(source: IRIN News)
CANADA:
The Death Penalty...One more Reason I am Against It
Anyone who knows me would probably tell you that nothing gets me angrier
than hearing about someone sexually abusing and /or murdering a child. To
me, the perpetrators of those crimes deserve to die a slow and tortuous
death. Having said that, I will also say that I don't believe in the death
penalty.
Why?
Because there is always the chance that someone who is innocent of the
charges against them might be killed.
Even though we have monsters like Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo on video
tape committing their heinous crimes, if you have a death penalty,
innocent people could die.
The recent story of a local man, Bill Mullins-Johnson, who was accused of
the brutal rape and murder of his four-year-old niece is a case in point.
Had we had the death penalty in Canada at the time he may well have been
executed.
It now appears that he may well be innocent. The pathologist at the time
of his niece's murder, stated that the young girl was anally raped and
suffered from chronic abuse. Apparently this pathologist is now under
investigation for being wrong in the findings of many other autopsies as
well.
After reveiwing the case, Ontario's chief pathologist has come to the
conclusion that not only was the 4-year-old NOT abused or sexually
assulted, but that she died from natural causes.
I can't imagine what Mullins-Johnson and his family have been experiencing
for the past 12 years if indeed, he was wrongly convicted. Even in prison,
people who harm children are reviled. Who knows whar Mullins Johnson may
have suffered because of the word of an incompetent pathologist. Imagine
trying to convince someone of your innocence in such a brutal crime.
When people are convicted of horrible crimes, they may deserve to die.
BUT, is it society's job to determine who lives and dies? In many cases, a
lifetime in prison is worse than a quick death.
I can only imagine what the families of victims of evil people like
Clifford Olsen, Homolka/ Bernardo, and other deviants, go through, knowing
that while their loved ones are gone forever, these monsters are still
living and breathing.
And I understand the thirst for vengence that some may feel. I know I
would want to see them suffer as much as their victims suffered.
Yet, we are supposedly a civilized country, and cannot dish out vigilante
justice as much as we sometimes would like to do so.
Sometimes, and this is one of those times, that I am glad that Canada does
not have the death penalty.
(source: Karen Johns, LTVNews)
