[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 30



GLOBAL:

Beyond the death-penalty debate


How can we ignore that many states today kill not only through legal
punishment, but also by murdering and massacring in international or civil
wars, or by allowing starvation? In short, opposition to the death penalty
cannot be an end in itself, for it is only one element of a more general
fight for human dignity.

China's decision to execute the head of its drug regulatory agency has
rekindled international debate about capital punishment. It is an age-old
question, one that harks back to Plato, who in his "Laws" saw the need to
punish by death those who commit egregious crimes.

Supporters of capital punishment usually put forward three arguments to
justify state-sanctioned killing of those who take the life of another.
First, there is the old law of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
In the words of Immanuel Kant, not some Texas governor, no other "penalty
is capable of satisfying justice".

Then there is a utilitarian argument: capital punishment deters many
criminals from murder. Furthermore, killing murderers prevents recidivism:
if released from prison, they might kill again.

The third argument is also utilitarian, although of a lower quality: the
state saves money by killing murderers instead of keeping them in prison
for life at the expense of the community.

Abolitionists respond with two ethical arguments. First, in a modern
democracy, punishment must be not only retributive, but should also try to
rehabilitate the criminal in order to enable him to live in society with
other human beings. But, while this is a compelling argument, those who
know modern prisons recognise that many inmates are not susceptible to
improvement - a fact that cannot be attributed only to conditions of
detention.

The 2nd ethical argument is based on the commandment "thou shalt not kill"
which also enjoins the state from killing. But this argument is undermined
by the fact that the state can resort to lethal force to prevent serious
crimes, or to fight a war or rebellion.

Opponents of the death penalty also rely on utilitarian arguments. The
death penalty is irreversible. If a convict turns out to be innocent, his
execution cannot be undone.

Moreover, abolitionists assail the deterrent effect of the death penalty.
Thucydides, in recounting the Athenians' discussion of what penalty to
impose on the rebellious Mytilenians, noted that "the death penalty has
been laid down for many offences, yet people still take risks when they
feel sufficiently confident; it is impossible for human nature, once
seriously set upon a certain course, to be prevented from following that
course by the force of law or by any other means of intimidation
whatsoever."

Criminologists have shown, statistically, that in US states where convicts
are executed, serious crimes have not diminished. Other criminologists
argue that this finding, if well-founded, should then apply to any
criminal law: every day, criminal prohibitions are infringed; yet if we
did not have such prohibitions, crimes would be even more rampant. In
their view, capital punishment serves at least to restrain the homicidal
leanings of human beings.

So the death penalty debate boils down to an exchange of conflicting
ethical and utilitarian views. But we should not sit idly by and refrain
from taking sides. I, for one, believe that the death penalty radically
negates the doctrine of human rights, which is founded on respect for life
and the dignity of human beings.

But, whether or not you oppose the death penalty, 2 lessons can be drawn
from the debate. First, the fight for human dignity and respect for life,
as with any struggle for human rights, is set in motion and tenaciously
pursued by members of civil society, by individuals more than by states.
It was a representative of the Age of Reason, Cesare Beccaria, who first
advocated in 1764, in a few pages of a seminal booklet, the abolition of
capital punishment.

Indeed, it is thanks to a few thinkers and activists that states have
gradually moved away from age-old tenets. As Tommaso Campanella, a great
philosopher who spent much time in prison and was tortured because of his
ideas, wrote a few centuries ago, "history is changed first by the tongue
and then by the sword." Nowadays, it is associations such as Amnesty
International and Hands Off Cain that push states to abolish capital
punishment.

The 2nd lesson is that the death penalty debate should not absorb all our
attention. If we intend to abolish the gallows, we should also fight for
the prevention of crime and against the inhumanity of many prisons. After
all, what is the point of suggesting imprisonment as an alternative to
electrocution, if inmates are subjected to inhuman and degrading
treatment?

How can we ignore that a high number of inmates commit suicide -
self-inflicted capital punishment - to escape the inhumanity of their
imprisonment? How can we ignore that many states today kill not only
through legal punishment, but also by murdering and massacring in
international or civil wars, or by allowing starvation? In short,
opposition to the death penalty cannot be an end in itself, for it is only
one element of a more general fight for human dignity.

(source: Daily Times (Antonio Cassese, the first President of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and later
the Chairperson of the United Nations' International Commission of Inquiry
on Darfur, teaches law at the University of Florence)






INDIA:

Watch a remarkable documentary 'My Death Row Lover' only on Zone Reality


Not sure what it does to the age old vow, ".till death do us part," but
marrying a man on death row is definitely one very unique commitment. My
Death Row Lover is a remarkable observational documentary that follows 3
women who began corresponding with death row inmates only to fall in love.

Through powerful testimony, this programme probes the psychological and
emotional reasons for such an attraction. Is there a vicarious thrill in
having a dangerous lover behind bars? But what happens if these men are
released from prison? Is it happy ever after? Or does a lover's past
overwhelm any prospect of future happiness?

My Death Row Lover penetrates and explores the deep recesses of dark
passions.

Premier on - 30 June, 2007 at 20:35 - 21:30 IST only on Zone Reality.

(source: Indiantelevision)

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Man gets death penalty for killing wife


A man who killed his wife driven by the greed to become rich was awarded
capital punishment by a fast track court in this district headquarter town
on Saturday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Anandarup Jaydeep Sharma held
accused Ramaswami guilty under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the Indian
Penal Code and sentenced him to death for killing his wife Suryakanti in
April last year.

The court also awarded 7 years rigorous imprisonment to co-accused Rajiv
for helping the prime accused in committing the murder. Rajiv worked as an
assistant of Ramaswami in his bakery.

The incident was termed 'second tandoor case' as Ramaswami had hacked the
victim into pieces and burnt the body in a tandoor that he used to make
bread and other items.

A godman had allegedly told Ramaswami that his business will grow if he
killed his wife and offered her blood to a deity.

Ramaswami hailed from Tamil Nadu and was successfully running his business
in Kalimela town of the district.

The godman, who also held from Tamil Nadu, is still at large.

Prior to Suryakanti's murder, Ramaswami and the godman had reportedly
killed a cat and offered to a deity.

The crime had come to light when one of the children who worked in
Ramaswami's bakery told the locals that she had seen 2 persons killing the
victim.

Some children who worked in the bakery were also named accused in the
case. They were, however, acquitted by the court.

(source: Kalinga Times)






TAIWAN:

Taiwan court orders death penalty after 16 years


Taiwan's High Court has ordered 3 convicted murderers be executed in a
16-year-old case that caught the attention of Amnesty International, local
media reported on Saturday.

Under orders from the island's Supreme Court to re-hear the case, the High
Court overturned its own 2003 acquittal verdict by sentencing Liu
Bing-lang, Su Chien-ho and Chuang Lin-hsun, also known as the Hsichih
Trio, on charges of robbing and fatally stabbing 2 people in a Taipei
suburb, newspapers said.

The bodies were discovered in March 1991 with 75 stab wounds, the papers
reported.

Amnesty International has condemned Taiwan for the case, saying
prosecutors lacked evidence despite years of investigations and 10 trials.
The defendants have also alleged they were tortured.

Taiwan says the number of executions, carried out by either lethal
injection or shooting, has declined from 32 in 1998 and 17 in 2000 to 1 so
far this year.

(source: Reuters)






GHANA:

656 prisoners granted amnesty


President J.A. Kufuor has in consultation with the Prisons Service Council
granted amnesty to 656 prisoners on humanitarian grounds.

A statement signed by Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister for the Interior said
the amnesty was part the commemoration of Ghana's 47th republican status
on July 1, and in accordance with article 72 of the 1992 Constitution.

The amnesty covers 634 first offenders who had served 1/2 or more of their
sentences, 10 who were seriously ill and incapacitated and who would not
pose any threat to society, 2 nursing mothers and 2 others serving at the
president's pleasure.

7 prisoners on death row had also their sentences commuted to life
sentences while 1 prisoner on life sentence, who had served over 10 years,
had had his sentence commuted to a definite term of 20 years.

(source: Ghanaian News Agency)