[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 30



KYRGYZSTAN:

Kyrgyzstan Considers Total Abolition of Death Penalty


Public pressure could well speed up the abolition of capital punishment in
Kyrgyzstan. The main obstacle, say NBCentralAsia analysts, is what to do
with the convicts who then have to serve life sentences.

As part of an international campaign in 30 world capitals, the Kyrgyz are
holding an event called "Bishkek for Life and Against Capital Punishment"
on November 30.

NBCentralAsia commentators predict that the death penalty will be soon
abolished altogether.

Member of parliament Kubatbek Baibolov argues that the moratorium that has
been in place since 1998 must logically lead to total abolition. "We
cannot extend the moratorium by issuing decrees year after year and
keeping people in suspense," said Baibolov.

Despite the moratorium, people are still being sentenced to death.

Baibolov thinks it is wrong to carry out executions when the judicial
system is less than perfect and its decisions are subject to error, and he
proposes that capital punishment be replaced by life imprisonment.

"It is no secret that it is possible to jail an innocent person, or
convict a petty criminal in place of a major one," he said. "As long as we
have a judicial system as corrupt as it is now, we have no right to
deprive these people of their lives."

Nina Zotova, a lawyer of the human rights centre Citizens against
Corruption, said a study of death penalty cases had uncovered procedural
violations that indicated it would be wrong to carry out executions.

She said that if abolition goes ahead, it is unlikely the authorities
could afford to build a separate prison camp for those who have had death
sentences commuted, so it would probably release some minor offenders on
probation to free up space.

Valentin Bogatyrev, vice president of the Vostok think tank, expressed
concern at the provision that would be made for former death-row inmates.
"Kyrgyzstan is a poor country," Bogatyrev says. "The prisons are
overcrowded and there is no separate jail for them [those sentenced to
death], so if they get life sentences, it will be difficult to look after
them."

NBCentralAsia analysts say another reason why an end to capital punishment
is in sight is that the new Kyrgyz constitution does not make provision
for execution as a punishment, an omission that many have read as de facto
abolition.

(source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting)

**************

Kyrgyz Activists Seek Speedy End To Death Penalty


An estimated 400 rights activists demonstrated in central Bishkek today to
demand that authorities quickly abolish the death penalty, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz
Service reports.

Kyrgyzstan introduced a moratorium on executions in 1998, but courts
continue to hand down death sentences.

The Justice Ministry earlier said on September 8 that a draft bill seeking
to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment had been sent to
parliament.

In September, there were reportedly 167 inmates on death row in the
country.

Turkmenistan is the only of the five Central Asian republics to have
abolished the death penalty, although Izbek authorities have pledged to do
the same in 2008.

(source: Radio Free Europe)






SOUTH AFRICA:

No more prisoners on death row in SA


South Africa no longer has anyone on death row, the Constitutional Court
said on Thursday.

Justice Zak Yacoob said the Constitutional Court's 1995 judgment declaring
the death penalty unconstitutional was now fully carried out in practice.

This emerged when the court gave judgment on an application made by 4
death row prisoners -- Willy Sibiya, Purpose Khumalo, Jacob Geldenhuys and
David Nkuna -- regarding their re-sentencing.

In 1997 Parliament made a law requiring that all death sentences be
replaced by alternative punishment.

"This court (Constitutional Court) then ordered that all death sentences
that had already been imposed but not yet carried out be replaced by other
punishment in terms of the law," Yacoob said.

In its judgment last year, the court expressed dismay that there were
still 62 people facing death sentences.

It made an extensive supervisory order on the replacement of all
outstanding death sentences with other punishment.

By July 28 this year, all death sentences had been replaced.

Broadly, the process comprised reports being made to the court by the
justice ministry, with the Constitutional Court making orders after
considering the reports.

(source: Citizen)






RUSSIA:

Council of Europe urges Russia to abolish death penalty


The Council of Europe will insist that Russia sign and ratify Protocol No.
6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, so as to abolish the death
penalty in the country.

"This issue will be in the focus of the Council of Europe and will be the
cornerstone of our relations with Russia," Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly co-rapporteur Matyas Eorsi said at a press conference at the
Interfax main office on Thursday.

Russia is the only country out of the 46 Council of Europe members that
has not yet signed Protocol No. 6, he said.

At the same time, the Council of Europe takes into account the fact that
Russia has a moratorium on the death penalty in place, Eorsi said. "We
recognize that the death penalty is actually not carried out in Russia,
and moreover, the decision has been made to extend the death penalty
moratorium," he said.

(source: Interfax)






MALAYSIA:

Essay contest on death penalty


In Kuala Lumpur, the Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council Malaysia
will hold a Human Rights essay-writing competition on the topic "Death
Penalty: Yes or No?".

The competition is open to Malaysians only. Candidates must be enrolled in
the CLP Programme, doing their chambering or be undergraduates studying in
a local public or private university or college.

Essays must be written in English or Malay, not exceeding the 3,500 word
limit.

All entries are to be sent to the Bar Council Secretariat by Jan 31, 2007.

The winners will receive attractive cash prizes and a trophy.

(source: Malaysia Star)






QATAR:

Taba bombers get death penalty


The defendants may appeal only to Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president,
for clemency

3 Egyptians have been sentenced to death for their involvement in the
October 2004 bombings at a Red Sea coast resort which killed 34 people.

A judge at the Ismailiya emergency state security court sentenced Younes
Mohammed Mahmoud, Osama al-Nakhlawi and Mohammed Jaez Sabbah on Thursday.

The 3 were convicted and sentenced to death for terrorism, murder, illegal
possession of weapons, and belonging to a terrorist group.

2 other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment and another 8
defendants received 5 to 15 years for lesser roles in the attacks.

Ahmed Seif el-Islam, a defence lawyer, criticised the sentences as being
"unjust".

11 Israelis were killed and more than 100 people wounded in the bombings,
which destroyed a wing of the Taba Hilton hotel in October 2004.

The blasts included the explosion of a vehicle at Ras Shitan, a Red Sea
resort south of Taba.

In state security courts, the accused do not have the right of appeal.
They may appeal only to Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, for
clemency.

(source: Al Jazeera)






INDIA:

Soren gets time, CBI seeks death


In New Delhi, the Tis Hazari court on Thursday postponed the verdict on
the quantum of sentence on Union Minister for Coal Shibu Soren in the
Sasinath Jha murder case to Friday.

Soren - who complained to chest pain on Wednesday - will be admitted to
the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and will undergo angiography.

Earlier in the day, investigating agency CBI sought death penalty for the
minister who had resigned after being proven guilty in the murder case.

Soren's conviction and his subsequent resignation from the Union Cabinet
will have far-reaching effects on the politics in the state.

Though it is Madhu Koda - an Independent candidate - who heads the state
government, it is common knowledge that it's Soren's hands that pull the
power strings in the state.

Guruji, as Soren is popularly known as, was instrumental in the formation
of the UPA government and the installation of Koda as the Chief Minister.

"This (Soren's conviction) doesn't mean that work will stop. We'll
continue discussing important matters with him," said Koda.

Despite these words of comfort and the support of 17 MLAs, Soren has
reasons to worry, considering the murmurs of dissent within the UPA.

Jharkhand's Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi, who had left Soren's
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha accusing him of nepotism, has said Soren should be
removed from the UPA steering committee.

"We have asked Central leaders to appoint a head for the Steering
Committee," said Stephen Marandi.

Meanwhile JMM cadres are hassled and they see a conspiracy in the
conviction of Soren.

"He's our tribal leader. He could have never committed such a crime. He
has been tricked," said Jharkhand Land Revenue Minister Dulal Bhuiyan.

As he played a very active role in the formation of Madhu Khoda led UPA
government in Jharkhand and his partymen feel this may be the reason why
Soren becomes victim of a political conspiracy.

(source: CNN-IBN News)






CHINA:

China executes Christian sect head


A Chinese court has secretly executed the leader of a fringe underground
Christian sect and 11 followers who were convicted of murdering members of
a rival group, a defense attorney said Wednesday.

The Intermediate People's Court in the northeastern city of Shuangyashan
carried out the executions of Xu Shuangfu and 2 other leading members of
his Three Grades of Servants group last week without notifying their
lawyers or family members, said Xu's lawyer, Li Heping.

Xu and the other 2 leaders, Li Maoxing and Wang Jun, were given an appeals
hearing last month. But the defense lawyers and the defendants' families
only learned about the executions when the Shuangyashan court called Li
Maoxing's wife on Monday to retrieve his cremated remains, according to
the Christian Aid Association, a U.S.-based advocacy group.

Li, the lawyer, said nine other group members had been executed in recent
weeks. All had been convicted of involvement in the murders of 20
followers of a cult, Eastern Lightning.

Office phones rang unanswered at the Shuangyashan court Wednesday
afternoon. The information offices at the appeals court, the Heilongjiang
Higher People's Court, and the Supreme People's Court in Beijing declined
comment, saying they did not know about the case.

The quietly carried out executions punctuate a disquieting and
much-discussed case for Christian groups actively defying communist
government controls. The underground church movement has seen rapid
growth, attracting Chinese by the tens of millions in a tumultuous period
of free-market reform and social change, despite persistent suppression by
police.

Xu was a polarizing figure in this underground movement. A potent
organizer and charismatic preacher, Xu attracted thousands of followers,
stretching from the northeast to China's Central Asian border. But many
Christians saw his group as heretical. The Three Grades of Servants
divided followers into 3 ranks, with Xu taking the highest position, akin
to the apostles.

Rivalry with Eastern Lightning

In recent years, Xu's group had been in fierce competition with Eastern
Lightning, a heretical group with a reputation for kidnapping the
followers of Christian sects.

Detained secretly in 2004, Xu was put on trial in July with Li, Wang and
12 other followers for the murders of the 20 Eastern Lightning followers
in northeast China between 2002 and 2004.

At the trial, Xu and Li claimed they had been tortured by police into
confessing. Their lawyers argued that Xu and Li had no knowledge of the
killings and that prosecutors failed to present evidence showing that the
2 ordered or abetted the killings.

Bob Fu, the founder and head of the Texas-based Christian Aid Association,
accused the authorities of executing Xu and the others to cover up their
misdeeds.

"The local government is clearly engaging to cover-up the evidence of
torture by secret(ly) cremating the inmates' bodies," Fu, a former
Communist Party researcher-turned-evangelical preacher, said in a
statement. "We appeal to the Supreme People's Court to launch independent
investigation on this case."

China's communist leadership has in recent years called for a renewed
clampdown on Christian groups that refuse to register with authorities and
affiliate with government-approved religious bodies.

In a sign of the authorities' sensitivities about Xu's case, Li Heping and
other defense lawyers were repeatedly admonished not to discuss it with
news media. Li confirmed the execution of Xu and the 11 others, but
otherwise declined comment.

A preacher for 30 years, Xu had grown accustomed to police suppression.
Repeatedly arrested, Xu prized secrecy, traveled frequently with false
identification cards and organized his followers into cells reminiscent of
the Communist Party's revolutionary underground. He used several names,
including Xu Wenku and Xu Shengguang.

(source: Associated Press)