[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 4


TRINIDAD and TOBAGO:

Child killer takes his life in jail


Sunil Ali claimed it was the liquor he drank that night which fuelled his
lust for little Hope Arismandez.

And he fooled 8-year-old Hope into going for a ride in his truck so he
could have his way with her.

But Hope fought back, Ali said in a videotaped confession he gave before
he died, investigators revealed Monday.

He said he attacked Hope in the truck.

She tried to get away, but he pulled his truck into a cane field road and
tried to ravage her.

She battled back. So he pushed her out of the truck and beat her. 3 rows
into the canefield, Hope was lost.

It was while trying to sexually assault her that Ali decided she could not
live to tell of what he had done. He cut her across the throat and stabbed
her in the back of the head.

Ali's statement would have condemned him to the hangman.

But he beat such an end.

Ali was found hanging at the Top Security Section of the Remand Yard at
Golden Grove, Arouca, last Saturday evening. His wrists had cut marks.

A release from the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service Monday confirmed his
death was due to hanging. However, police authorities are said to be
unhappy that they were not notified that Ali was to undergo an autopsy by
Dr Hughvon Des Vignes at the Forensics Science Centre in St James on
Sunday.

Whether he was given the tools to take his life, was murdered, or was
given the time to do it are being investigated.

(source: Trinidad Express)






IRAN:

EU Presidency statement on the imminent execution of juvenile offenders in
Iran


The Presidency of the EU expresses its deep concern on news of the
imminent execution of Mr Mohammad Fadaei who was convicted and sentenced
to death for a crime committed when he was a minor.

Mr Fadaei is scheduled to be executed on 11 June 2008. Two other juvenile
offenders, Mr Behnood Shojaee and Mr Saeed Jazee, who were also convicted
of crimes which took place when they were minors, have also been scheduled
for execution on 11 June and 25 June 2008 respectively.

The Presidency notes that these juvenile death sentences are in direct
contravention of the Islamic Republic of Iran's international obligations
and commitments, specifically as set out in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
both clearly prohibiting the execution of minors or people who have been
convicted of crimes committed when they were minors.

These international legal obligations have been freely entered into by the
Islamic Republic of Iran and must be fully respected by the Iranian
authorities. The Presidency calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to
comply with international law and to immediately halt the executions of Mr
Mohammad Fadaei, Mr Behnood Shojaee, Mr Saeed Jazee and all other juvenile
offenders on death row, taking in consideration alternative sentences for
juvenile offenders and respect for international norms and standards that
provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those
facing the death penalty.

The European Union has previously raised its concerns with the Iranian
authorities concerning the use of juvenile death penalty and has
specifically raised the cases of Mr Behnood Shojaee and Mr Saeed Jazee
also in this regard.

(source: National Council of Resistance of Iran - Foreign Affairs
Committee)






MALI:

Is abolition in sight?


With public meetings, football matches and media action Malian activists
have been covering all bases to try to push through adoption of a law
abolishing the death penalty before the end of the parliamentary session.

This spring, human rights activists in Mali have been leading an active
movement to support the governments draft law on abolishing the death
penalty. Their information and awareness raising campaign supports a
controversial proposal whose adoption was dismissed last year.

Action has increased since the draft was adopted by the Council of
Ministers on 17 October 2007. On 31 October Saloum Traor, Executive
Director of the Mali section of Amnesty International, participated in a
joint press conference with the Justice Minister who presented the text.
The organisation has since increased its media operations, for example
obtaining an hour's broadcasting time on the Africable television channel.

The Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-Mali) is
working closely with Amnesty International. Together, the two
organisations organised a series of football tournaments where banners
placed around the stadium presented the arguments in favour of abolition.
At half-time a speaker told the spectators in the local language about the
ineffective and inhuman nature of the death penalty.

"These events are appreciated and we are making great progress", confirmed
Bernard Sagara, President of ACAT-Mali.

Activists are putting particular emphasis on the moratorium on executions
which Mali has respected since 1984. Despite the absence of executions,
the country continues to sentence prisoners to death. According to Amnesty
International, at least ten death sentences have been passed since
February. Abolitionists are also underlining the case of neighbouring
Senegal which, like Mali, has a mostly Muslin population and where the
President abolished the death penalty without provoking a crisis or losing
the confidence of the voters who subsequently re-elected him.

First attempt adjourned

Activists are redoubling their efforts because an initial attempt to push
through the abolition law was adjourned at the end of 2007 in the face of
the combined criticisms of the opposition party and Malis High Council of
Islam.

Representatives from Amnesty International and ACAT-Mali met with the
Ulamas when the draft was only a promise from the Malian President, Amadou
Toumani Tour. "They were very polite and showed us several chapters in the
Koran which demonstrate that killing is wrong, before finally reaching the
conclusion that those who kill must be killed", said Bernard Sagara.

An opposition party which is not represented in parliament and supposed to
be close to political Islam, the Union nationale pour la renaissance
(UNPR), has also contested the draft and called for demonstrations against
abolition of capital punishment.

"We will never let the founding values of our society be led astray to
obtain crumbs of subsidies from the Europeans. We support the principle of
a life for a life, an eye for an eye, an ear for an ear and a tooth for a
tooth", declared its leader, Madibo Sangar. In his view, abolition is
being imposed by the European Union as a condition for ongoing development
aid.

The campaign led by death penalty supporters is coupled with a dispute
over reform of the Family Code and claims to have its roots in Islam,
which has earned it some support in this mainly Muslim country.

Support from religious figures and universities

However, the abolitionists' campaign recently received the support of
other Muslim scholars who are highlighting the fact that, according to the
Koran, it is forbidden to kill. Voices are also being raised against
capital punishment at universities. "Death cannot be reversed. A legal
error or injustice in its application would therefore be totally
irreparable. A person who is wrongly imprisoned can always be released and
compensated", wrote the Law Professor Boubacar Diarra in a column
published by the daily newspaper Le Rpublicain.

Meanwhile, on 15 May the Justice Minister reconfirmed the Governments
commitment to ensuring that the abolition law is adopted before the UN
Human Rights Council (photo). "We have a majority, we can get this draft
through, even tomorrow", he declared (watch his speech in this video).
However, he insisted on the need for "dialogue and cooperation to avoid
"Mali being cut in 2" after abolition.

He is committed to pushing the law through "before the end of the Head of
State's mandate", i.e. before 2012 - which means that a further delay
cannot be excluded.

However, at Amnesty International Saloum Traor believes that the death
penalty will be abolished by the end of the parliamentary session on 5
July, and is asking the Government not to retreat in the face of
changeable public opinion. "This should be a political decision, in Mali
and the rest of the world", he said.

(source: World Coaliton to Abolish the Death Penalty)






NIGERIA:

Lawmakers Move to Abolish Death Penalty


Baring any last minute hitches, some lawmakers have concluded plans to
present a bill before the House of Representatives seeking to abolish the
controversial death penalty from the nation's statute books.

3 lawmakers fro Edo State including former Speaker of the Edo State House
of Assembly, Honourable Friday Itulah, Honourable Samson Osagie and
Honourable Patrick Ikhariale who are proposing a "Bill for an Act to Amend
the Criminal Code Act Cap. C38, Robbery and Fire Arms (Special Provisions)
Act Cap R11 and theArmed Forces Act Cap. A20 Laws of the Federation want
to substitute death penalty with life imprisonment.

The bill, expected to be tabled on the floor of the House by Honourable
Itulah this week, will however not seek to abolish state laws, but would
seek amendment to the Federal enactment to abolish capital punishment or
outrightly expunge death sentences from penal laws made by the National
Assembly.

Lead sponsor of the bill, Itulah, while explaining the final details of
the the Bill to members of the House, said as soon as the National
Assembly expunges capital punishment from its statutes book, the various
State Houses of Assembly would either follow suit or take steps to
domesticate the one that has been passed by the National Assembly.

He argued that death penalty did not serve the tripartite purpose of
reformation, retribution and deterrence that punishment ought to engender.
"The idea behind the policy of reformationis that a convict should or
ought to be reformed to enable him to become a more useful person in the
society. The question is can you reform a person that is sentenced to
death? "The idea behind the policy of retribution is to inflict severe
punishment for something seriously wrong that somebody has done. In this
country, people have been sentenced to death for offences that did not
involve the taking of life of another", he said. "People have been
sentenced to death for offences such a smutiny, trafficking in currencies,
treasonable felony, etc."

This policy erroneously assumes that that all persons convicted of these
serious crimes committed the offences but people are sometimes punished in
error for offences they never committed. The emphasis all over the world
today is to stop spilling blood where it can be helped,"he argued, citing
the instance of Rwanda which abolished death penalty in 2007 and the fact
that no civilian governor had endorsed execution of criminals since 1999",
he argued.On the policy of capital punishment as deterrent, thesponsor of
the Bill averred that the killing of convict would not serve the purpose
but rather made criminals more vicious and hardened in their activities.
He therefore observed that what would reduce heinous crimeswas not the
letting of more blood but a "change ofour attitude and re-orientation,
saying, "Human life is sacred and it should not be summarily taken through
violent crimes or through the instrument of law." Government, he stated,
should pay more attention to thereformation of criminals rather than
committing them to death adding "when such criminals are rehabilitated,
they are likely to become good and useful citizensof this nation".

(source: This Day)






GLOBAL:

The Death Penalty in 2007


Introduction

During 2007, at least 1252 people were executed in 24 countries.
Additionally, at least 3347 people were sentenced to death in 51
countries. These are only minimum figures. The true figures were certainly
higher.

Many countries carry out executions in secret, including China, Singapore,
Malaysia and Mongolia. The United Nations has repeatedly called for the
death penalty only to be used in an open and transparent manner.

Executions in 2007

Country Executions

China 470+

Iran 317+

Saudi Arabia 143+

Pakistan 135+

USA 42

Iraq 33+

Viet Nam 25+

Yemen 15+

Afghanistan 15+

Libya 9+

Japan 9

Syria 7+

Sudan 7+

Bangladesh 6

Somalia 5+

Equatorial Guinea 3

Singapore 2

Kuwait 1+

Indonesia 1+

Botswana 1+

Belarus 1+

Ethiopia 1+

Egypt +

North Korea +

The + denotes an unknown number more than the stated number. The above
figures are the minimum known to AI. The US-based organisation "Dui Hua
Foundation" estimates that 6,000 people were executed in China based on
figures obtained from local officials. AI is concerned that there may have
been executions in Malaysia and Mongolia.

The top 5 countries account for 88% of all known executions. Saudi Arabia
has the highest number of executions per capita of population, followed by
Iran.

In 2007 3 countries carried out executions for crimes committed by people
below 18 years of age; they were Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The worldwide figure for those currently condemned to death and awaiting
execution is difficult to assess. The estimated number at the end of 2007
was between 18,311 and 27,562 based on information from human rights
groups, media reports and the limited official figures available.

Developments

In 2007 the world continued to move closer to the universal abolition of
capital punishment. A landmark towards the worldwide abolition of the
death penalty is the resolution on moratorium on executions endorsed by
the United Nations 62nd General Assembly on 18 December 2007. 104 UN
member states voted in favour of this ground-breaking resolution. 54
countries voted against, while 29 abstained. The resolution was supported
by 87 governments from all regions of the world, as well as by NGOs
including the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, the Community of
Sant' Egidio, Hands Off Cain and Amnesty International.

By the end of 2007, 91 countries had abolished the death penalty for all
crimes. During the year, three countries (Albania, Cook Islands and
Rwanda) abolished the death penalty for all crimes and one country
(Kyrgyzstan) abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes. New Jersey
was the first US state to abolish capital punishment by law since the
death penalty was reintroduced in the US in 1972.

At least 33 countries were abolitionist in practice: they had not carried
out any executions for the previous 10 years or more. AI reclassified four
retentionist countries to abolitionist in practice (Eritrea, Gabon, Laos
and South Korea). Uzbekistan abolished the death penalty in January 2008.
63 other countries retained the death penalty but only 24 actually carried
out executions. In summary:

Abolitionist for all crimes: 91 Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only: 10

Abolitionist in practice: 33 Total abolitionist in law or practice: 134

Retentionist: 63

USA

42 people were executed in 10 states in 2007. Since September, when the US
Supreme Court announced that it would consider a legal challenge to the
use of lethal injections, there has been - in practice - a moratorium on
executions. As a result, at least temporary suspensions of executions have
occurred in a number of states including Arkansas, California, Delaware,
Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and South Dakota.

Although jurors in the USA who are opposed to the death penalty are
excluded from jury service in capital cases, the growing reluctance of
even pro-death penalty jurors to hand down death sentences appears to
reflect a downturn in the public's support for the death penalty.

New Jersey and Montana have made political moves to end the practice but
have not passed laws to confirm this in 2007.

China

Citing death penalty statistics from Beijing No.1 and No.2 Intermediate
People's Courts, Ni Shouming, a spokesman for the Supreme People's Court
(SPC) suggested that the number of death sentences had dropped 10% year on
year.

In apparent recognition of the need for greater transparency at lower
levels, the SPC issued a legal notice on 14 June stressing that
first-instance death penalty cases must be held in open court.

Death sentences and executions continue to be imposed for non-violent
crimes in China, including economic and drug-related offences. Ni Shouming
and SPC vice-president Zhang Jun announced that the SPC would be
introducing 'unified guidelines' to tackle 'judicial injustice' resulting
from the different criteria being used across the country for sentencing
people to death.

(source: Amnesty International)