April 12
TRINIDAD:
Trinidad pressured to end mandatory hanging
"My mother didn't deserve to die like this," Dennis Ramjattan told IPS shortly
after 70-year-old Carmen Ramjattan was bludgeoned to death on Feb. 20. "My
mother never got into any trouble with the law, never even a parking
violation."
The brutal killing was just one of many in Trinidad and Tobago, where drugs and
gang-related violence prompted the government to declare a state of emergency
in August 2011, and the national security minister ordered the police to stop
releasing murder statistics last fall.
While capital punishment remains popular, no one has been executed here since
1999.
But opinions could be slowly changing, at least as far as the mandatory
application of the death penalty is concerned.
At a debate on abolition at the University of the West Indies (UWI) recently
organized by the British High Commission, Ruth Dreifuss, former Swiss president
and chancellor of the University for Peace noted that that "for 100 years
slavery was accepted, for 100 years forced labor was accepted, for 100 years
torture was accepted.
"If a country is part of an international treaty which does not accept the
mandatory death penalty, then it's something the government of that country
should look at," she added.
The coalition People's Partnership government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad
Bissessar needs the support of the opposition to revamp existing legislation so
it can try to bypass the London-based Privy Council, the country???s highest
court, on hangings.
"The Privy Council has been viewed by some critics as a court that actively
frustrates the execution of the death penalty, which, at least nominally,
remains on the books of most Caribbean territories, despite very few hangings
in recent decades," said David Rowe, an adjunct professor of law at the
University of Miami School of Law and a member of the Jamaica Bar Association.
"In a sharp contrast to Europe, capital punishment often finds wide support
from Caribbean voters due in part to high murder rates in the region," he said.
In the Miami-based Caribbean Journal, Rowe argued that some commentators regard
the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), established in 2001 to
replace the Privy Council, "as an institutional strategy to re-introduce
hanging."
In 2011, the Trinidad and Tobago government tabled the constitutional amendment
(capital offences) bill, which would have provided for different categories of
murder.
"It was intended to reserve the death penalty for the most heinous of murders,
which is similar to what obtains in the United States, where you have murder in
varying degrees. So for example, crimes of passion and so on and where you have
extenuating circumstances could be dealt with in a different way," said
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan this week.
A 2011 study found that 89 % of the population in Trinidad and Tobago supports
the death penalty, although a majority also believes that judges should have
discretion in sentencing. 26 % favor the current law, which makes the death
penalty mandatory for all murders, whatever the circumstances.
Interestingly, 36 % of those who supported the mandatory death penalty and 54 %
of those in favor of a discretionary system also said that more executions were
the least likely policy to reduce violent crime.
Professor Arif Bulkan, UWI law faculty lecturer and a member of the Rights
Advocacy Project, said that three-quarters of those interviewed did not support
the mandatory death penalty after it was explained to them.
The researchers concluded that the findings of the survey, taken in conjunction
with 2 previous studies, strongly supported the abolition of the mandatory
death penalty and its replacement by a discretionary system.
The European Union (EU) is lobbying countries impose a moratorium as a 1st step
toward abolition. British High Commission political officer Matt Nottingham
acknowledged that the EU is on a worldwide campaign to abolish the death
penalty, with a strong focus on the Caribbean. Nottingham told the conference
the EU???s drive is tied in with its human rights objective.
Law student Antonio Emmanuel strongly opposes the death penalty. "I believe if
we have proper sentencing, proper prison systems [and] proper reform systems in
place, we can take a better handle on crime," he told the Inter Press Service.
(soruce: New York Amsterdam News)
AFRICA:
Some African countries reinstate death penalty - Amnesty International
AI said South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Gambia and Botswana were the only African
countries to carry out executions last year.
The Amnesty yearly review, released early Wednesday in London, said the overall
shift away from death sentences and executions continued in 2012.
Quite often the defendants didn't have access to lawyers
Executions in South Sudan, for example, are reviewed by the Supreme Court and
approved by the president as required by law.
But Amnesty has expressed concerns that the country's nascent judicial system
might not be able to guarantee a fair trial.
"Quite often people were unable to follow the court proceedings and potentially
they did not speak the language that the court officials were using.
"Quite often the defendants didn't have access to lawyers," Jan Erik Wetzel, an
adviser on the death penalty to Amnesty, told journalists.
In many parts of the world, executions are being abolished, with only 21
countries recorded as having carried out executions in 2012, the same as in
2011, but down from 28 countries a decade earlier.
In Africa, progress was measured in many countries, with Sierra Leone, Benin
and Madagascar ratifying a key UN treaty committing the countries to abolishing
the death penalty.
Ghana also moved towards banning capital punishment in its new constitution,
while no death sentences were imposed in Benin, Burkina Faso and Malawi.
Last year, South Sudan joined 111 countries to vote in favour of a United
Nations resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. However, the
country has asked for time to change its policies.
"South Sudan agrees with the logic of abolishing the death penalty. But we
believe that this is a process that could be approached gradually," South
Sudan's permanent representative in Geneva, Riek Puok Riek, told the UN Human
Rights Council last year at a meeting in Switzerland.
In its report, AI said some African governments cling to alleged public support
for the death penalty as a way to justify executions, and forget that the death
penalty is a human rights violation and they should be engaging the public on
abolition.
There were 682 confirmed executions in 21 countries in 2012, 2 more than were
recorded in 2011.
China executes more people than any other country but keeps the data secret.
The US executed 43 people in 2012, the same figure as the previous year.
The top 5 countries in terms of numbers of executions last year remained China,
Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
In many countries where the death penalty is still used, there are serious
concerns about the fairness of the judicial proceedings - making it very likely
that innocent people might be put to death.
(source: Theafricareport.com
CHINA:
New Report Says China Secretly Executes Thousands Of People A Year
China is carrying out thousands of secret executions but refusing to report
them, according to a report released this week by Amnesty International.
Amnesty believes China executed several thousand people last year - more than
all other countries put together - but its government won't confirm any exact
numbers.
The Chinese government continues to impose death sentences for crimes that
don't warrant it under Chinese law, such as drug-trafficking or financial
crimes, and after unfair trials, the report states.
Mabel Au, director of the Hong Kong branch of Amnesty International, told Radio
Free Asia that China stopped publicizing its execution numbers in 2008 or 2009,
and that the group put together its tally by scouring official media reports
and adding up the figures.
She added that China also harvests organs for transplant from executed
prisoners, but is working to stop the practice.
And China holds the world record for the number of offenses punishable under
the death penalty - 55. Lawyer Sui Muqing told RFA the government could begin
phasing out the death penalty by reducing the number of capital offenses.
However, the Chinese people oppose abolishing the death penalty because they
see it as a way to punish corrupt officials, Muqing says.
Officially, China's Supreme People's Court claims the number of executions has
dropped by half since the court resumed reviewing death sentences in 2006. But
most trials in China are closed to to the public, making it difficult for the
media or human rights groups to investigate.
Worldwide there were at least 682 executions last year, the group reports, and
the top five countries were China, Iran (314), Iraq (129), Saudi Arabia (79),
and the U.S. (43). Executions in Iraq have nearly doubled from 2011, when there
were only 68 people put to death.
However, except for the U.S., most of these countries are under-reporting
executions, according to Amnesty.
(source: Business Insider)
BELARUS:
Death Penalty in Belarus: 'I can't believe he's not here any more'
Lubou Kavalyoua received a letter from the Belarus Supreme Court on 17 March
2012, informing her that her son, Uladzslau Kavalyou, had been executed. She
had not been told beforehand. She talked to Amnesty International about her
son, her ongoing search for his grave, and her fight against the death penalty
in Belarus.
Lubou Kavalyoua's son, Uladzslau Kavalyou - known as Ulad - was arrested in
connection with a bomb attack in Belarus in April 2011. After an unfair trial,
he was sentenced to death in November 2011. Ulad, aged 26, only saw his lawyer
3 times during the whole process and was forced into confessing. He later
retracted his testimony and there was never any forensic evidence linking him
to the explosion. His sentence passed by the Supreme Court of Belarus, leaving
no possibility of appeal.
What was your son like?
Ulad was a cheerful, active boy, and he was shy. He loved music. He was always
reading. He was fond of psychology, and that helped him a little in prison,
because it was very difficult to endure. Ulad was very good to his friends, and
his friendships lasted for years. And now his friends visit us, not very often,
but they come and try to support me, and I feel better when they are with me.
Tell us what happened to him
I learned about his arrest when police officers arrived one night with a search
warrant. They didn't say why our apartment was being searched, or why Ulad had
been arrested. When a neighbour asked the officers searching our flat what had
happened, one of them replied that Ulad had found himself in the wrong place at
the wrong time. They didn't tell us anything else.
During the trial, people went to the courtroom every day and were not happy
with what they observed. They still oppose the sentence. I know I should have
been ready for it, but I was still hopeful. When the verdict was read out in
the courtroom, I don't remember what happened. I don't even remember what Ulad
communicated to me, although people tell me he signalled: "Mum don't cry".
How did you find out that he had been executed?
On 13, 14 and 15 March, Ulad's lawyer tried to see him but he wasn't allowed.
Of course, at that moment my heart didn't give me a hint that Ulad was gone - I
didn't feel anything. But when I received the letter from the Supreme Court, I
understood.
What have you done to find out where he is buried?
We have asked Lukashenka (Alyaksandr Lukashenka - the President of Belarus) to
issue a decree to release the bodies of the executed to their relatives, or at
least to provide information about their burial place. There is no reason not
to release the bodies to their relatives, or to hide the burial site.
Lukashenka can at least tell us where Ulad's grave is.
We asked the authorities to explain the reasons why, but they can't tell us. I
think they themselves don't know where this law comes from - not to give the
body to the family and not to reveal the burial place. It is torture for the
mother. They tortured my child to obtain the necessary testimony, and now they
are just torturing me.
What drove you to campaign against the death penalty?
At the beginning it was fear. I have seen how evidence is obtained, and that
testimony is considered to be evidence, regardless of how it is obtained.
I don't know if we will succeed, but I think it is still possible with the help
of society, of the people. It is possible to change the legislation and
eventually abolish the death penalty.
More than 400 people have been executed in Belarus in the past 2 decades: no
one spoke about it, no one ever said anything, and the prisoners were shot.
Everybody should know about it.
(source: Amnesty International)
MALAYSIA:
Swede gets death penalty in Malaysia for drugs
A Swedish bar operator was sentenced to death by the High Court here yesterday
for trafficking in drugs 2 years ago.
Judge Noor Azian Shaari sentenced Ferry Linbark, 44, a Swedish of Iranian
origin, after finding him guilty of trafficking in 4.3kg of methamphetamine at
the Kuala Lumpur International Airport arrival hall at 10am on Dec 6, 2011.
The drugs were found at the bottom of Linbark's bag.
In her decision, Noor Azian said the defence had failed to raise reasonable
doubt on the prosecution's case.
She said Linbark, who owns a bar in Pattaya, Thailand, had relied on mere
denial in his defence against the charge.
"We, therefore, find the accused guilty.
"With no other alternatives available, the court has to impose a sentence of
death as provided under the law," she said.
Deputy public prosecutor Naziah Mokhtar from the Customs Department prosecuted
while Linbark was represented by Manjit Singh and L. Ramesh.
A total of 9 witnesses testified in the trial.
(source: New Straits Times)
SINGAPORE:
Drug courier in S'pore escapes death penalty after reforms
A heroin courier has become the 1st convicted drug trafficker in Singapore to
avoid a death sentence following reforms in the application of capital
punishment, officials said Thursday.
Singaporean Abdul Haleem Abdul Karim, 30, was saved from the gallows because he
was a mere courier and assisted the police in disrupting the activities of drug
traffickers, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said.
Abdul Haleem was sentenced on Wednesday 10 April to life in prison as well as
24 strokes of the cane, an additional punishment imposed for serious offences.
Until the legal reforms took effect this year, Singapore judges had no choice
but to impose death by hanging on drug traffickers.
For heroin dealers, anyone found trafficking in more than 15g faced the
mandatory death penalty under the old system.
ARRESTED IN 2010
Abdul Haleem and a friend were found in possession of at least 72.5 grams of
the drug when they were arrested in 2010, prosecutors said.
The mandatory death penalty had long been denounced by human rights groups
which say most traffickers caught and executed are just low-level couriers.
The AGC said in a statement that Abdul Haleem satisfied two requirements for a
judge to spare him from execution: he was just a courier and he provided
"substantive assistance" to police in the fight against the drugs trade.
But his friend Muhammad Ridzuan Muhammad Ali, 28, was sentenced to be hanged
because he did not meet the criteria, said the AGC.
Under the legal reforms, judges are given the discretion to impose a jail term
rather than the death penalty if a convict meets certain requirements which
must be certified by the AGC.
WANTED TO DIE TOGETHER
The sentencing of the pair on Wednesday set off a courtroom drama when Abdul
Haleem demanded to be hanged along with his friend, also a Singaporean, The
Straits Times newspaper reported.
"If you are sparing my life and not sparing his life, I'd rather go down with
him," Abdul Haleem was quoted as telling Justice Tay Yong Kwang.
The legal reforms were passed following a year-long review of the mandatory
death penalties for murder and drug trafficking.
But Singapore, one of the world's safest societies, rejected calls to abolish
the death penalty altogether, saying it must be preserved as a deterrent to
crime.
EXTENT OF COOPERATION WITH AUTHORITIES
Human rights groups on Thursday welcomed the news on Abdul Haleem, but said the
law could have been more specific about the extent of cooperation needed from a
drugs suspect.
"It is a bit unclear and it leaves too much discretion on what exactly
cooperating means and what the threshold is for the amount of cooperation,"
Roseann Rife, head of Amnesty International in East Asia, told AFP.
Sinapan Samydorai, executive director of Singapore civil rights group Think
Centre, said "there is still that question on the discretion given to the
prosecution to decide who is cooperative".
Kirsten Han, co-founder of Singapore-based anti-death penalty lobby group We
Believe in Second Chances, echoed the same sentiment.
"When the power to issue such certificates lies in the hands of the
Attorney-General, judges are still restricted in exercising their discretion,
as the Attorney-General can effectively decide who can or cannot escape the
death penalty," she told AFP.
(source: InSing.com)
NIGERIA:
Nigerian Minister Suggests Death Penalty For Convicted Rapists
A female Nigerian government minister has proposed imposing the death penalty
on defendants convicted of rape.
Hajiya Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development,
expressed her concern about sexual violence against women rising in the country
and said drastic steps must be taken to combat it.
Maina said up to 10 cases of rape are reported in the country each week.
"This has reached an alarming rate," she said, according to Nigerian newspaper
This Day.
"The ministry is working closely with the police and other security agencies.
It is also trying to make the police set up a gender desk in every police
station to handle such cases so that serious punishment, perhaps a death
sentence, would be handed to culprits."
Nigerian laws call for the death penalty in cases of murder, although it is
rarely applied.
BBC reported that in Nigeria, as in many emerging nations, rape
disproportionately victimizes the poor and prosecution is weak. In addition, in
a conservative, feudal society, many victims are reluctant to report sexual
assault because there is an associated stigma.
Amaka Okafor-Vanni, a columnist for the Guardian of Britain, wrote a few months
ago that a "rape culture" exists in Nigeria. "There are numerous cases of rape
and gang rape in Nigeria...yet many go unreported," she declared.
"The few that get reported to the authorities are either not pursued by the
police or the victim is advised to keep silent lest she disgraces her family.
Nigeria is still very much a patriarchal society, a society where rules and
norms are dictated and governed by men. Women are assigned roles, spaces and
our bodies [sic] determined by men."
Indeed, according to Nigerian Police Watch, only about 1,950 cases were
reported in 2009 in the country of more than 150 million people.
In a report called "Rape The Silent Weapon," filed by Amnesty International a
few years ago, the campaigners accused Nigerian police and security forces of
either covering up rapes committed by others or committing such crimes
themselves.
About a year and half ago, the issue came to the fore after the gang rape of a
female student at Abia State University outraged the country - principally
because the 5 culprits filmed it on their cell phones and shared the gruesome
images with their friends. In March 2013, Nigerian police reportedly
ascertained that the rape did not occur on campus but in a nearby village. They
have apparently arrested the men involved.
But such arrests are rare.
Police spokesman Frank Mba told Nigeria's Leadership newspaper that rapes are
grossly underreported.
"Most rape cases are compounded by family members, and the reasons are
obvious," he said. "The first one is the fear of stigmatization. Most rape
victims and their relatives, particularly, if the person raped is a young
woman, unmarried, they probably fear that when the case is made public it may
impact negatively on her chances of getting married."
Mba added: "The 2nd is the very nature of our culture. Everything that has to
do with sex is painted with some form of taboo. We grew up to see sex as
something that must not be talked about. There is so much secrecy about sex in
Africa, and that is why even sex education is hardly thought in schools."
(source: International Business Times)
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