Dec. 13
TRINIDAD:
Archbishop, Bishop on priest's call for hangman----Death penalty cannot solve
crime
Statements made by Roman Catholic priest Fr Ian Taylor urging for the death
penalty to be reinstated have been denounced by Roman Catholic Archbishop
Joseph Harris. During mass on Saturday night at the St Charles RC Church,
Tunapuna, Taylor urged that killers be hanged, given the horrendous spate of
violent crimes that continue to grip the country.
He had made particular mention of the brazen killings of Dana Seetahal, SC and
bank employee Shannon Banfield, whose deaths had gripped the nation.
Interviewed yesterday, Harris said the death penalty could never be an answer
to solve crime, adding that a Roman Catholic priest must also preach the
doctrine of the church, not his own.
Harris said even if the State was to resume hangings, the perpetrators first
had to be caught.
"What was said goes totally against what the church stands for. How do we deal
with these serious crimes. Number one you have to find the criminals.
"If our conviction rate is 3 % ... 5 % who yuh hanging. And do we want to run
the risk of hanging people for crimes they didn't do so that it would look
good?" Harris asked.
Principal of Fatima College and Roman Catholic priest Fr Gregory Augustine, who
said he knew Taylor well, added that he was taken aback by Taylor's comments.
"The church is an institution that does not believe in capital punishment.
"They have to pay for their deeds but it is not a question of stringing them
up," Augustine said.
He said as a principal he taught students that violence was not the answer and
called on parents to take greater control of their children as the majority of
criminal activities stemmed from the break down of family life.
"Clearly the nation is concerned but the response can't be to seek vengeance
because it is really not helpful in the long run.
"Statistics have shown that hangings clearly are not a deterrent. This is a
very puerile and myopic approach," Augustine added.
He said serious crimes ought to be fully explored so as to determine the root
cause because these were not natural.
"We as a society have to spend more time developing that human aspect,"
Augustine said.
Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley also disagreed that hangings would solve the
worrying crime situation, adding that this country's detection rate was
woefully low and much more was needed to be done on the part of the police.
"What we have to look at is our detection rate and we have to improve that and
we have to look at law enforcement and we have to improve that. We also have to
look at parenting and social condition and we have got to return to being our
brother's keeper.
"But even if we have to implement the death penalty we first have to apprehend
the people because there is a certain impunity because people know that they
would not be caught," Berkley added.
Head of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) Br Harripersad Maharaj said
while he would not comment on Taylor's views, the death penalty was law and the
State has the right to enforce the law.
(source: Opinion, Geisha Kowlessar----Trinidad Guardian)
CHAD:
Chad raises legal marriage age to 18, abrogates death penalty
The parliament of Chad has adopted a reform of its penal code which raises the
legal marriage age from 16 to 18 and abrogates the death penalty.
111 MPs voted for the the new penal code while 1 MP voted against it and 4
abstained.
The new code that repeals the 1967 Code abrogates the death penalty except in
cases of terrorism as the country faces attacks by Boko Haram around its
borders.
"28 % of women between the ages of 15 and 49 were married before the age of 15,
and 69 % of women between the ages of 20 and 49 were married before the age of
18," said the Chadian Minister of Women, Ngarmbatina Carmel Sou IV in August.
"This penal code is modern, it takes account of our customs and also our
international commitments," Minister of Justice Hamid Dahalob said.
In 2015, Chadian President Idriss Deby promulgated a law that punishes any
person party to the marriage of a minor by 5 to 10 years prison sentence and a
fine of 500,000 to 5 million FCFA (750 to 7,500 euros). He pledged to ban the
marriage of minors by 2020, with the support of the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF).
The new penal code, however, punishes homosexuality which is no longer
considered a crime but punishable by a fine or suspended prison sentence.
(sourceafricanews.com)
ZIMBABWE:
Death penalty; Murewa head teacher rapes 14 year-old-school girl, kills her to
hide his crime
The Zimbabwean community has been left in shock following the death of a
14-year-old pupil in the hands of a school head who killed her after sexually
abusing the minor.
Yesterday, a death penalty was handed to Bernard Chivengwa, of Nyamhondoro
Primary School, by a Harare High Court judge, Justice Happius Zhou.
The deputy school head received a death sentence after the court found no
extenuating circumstances in a matter in which he abducted and killed Vaidah
Mubaiwa of Dzapasi Village, Chief Mangwende in Murewa, on October 17 last year.
Before the murder, Mubaiwa had been lined up as a State witness in a rape
matter in which she was to give evidence against Chivengwa, who had sexually
attacked her during the same year. The trial was to be conducted on November
16, 2015, but Mubaiwa waylaid, abducted and killed her before the trial date.
State prosecutor, Austin Muziwi presented that Chivengwa appeared at the Murewa
Regional Magistrates' Court on September 30, 2015 for trial on a rape charge
and was warned to attend court on November 16 together with Mubaiwa.
On October 17, the court heard, Chivengwa attempted to ambush Mubaiwa, who was
alone at home, in a bid to abduct her, but the latter escaped and proceeded to
report to Mubaiwa's mother, Maud, who was his neighbour. Maud is then said to
have instructed 2 girls to go and verify the identity of the alleged abductor
and they discovered it was Chivengwa, who, at the time, had hidden in a storm
drain.
On the same day at around 6:30pm, Mubaiwa, while in the company of Chengetai
and Shantel Chivengwa, decided to go back home and secure her doors, but when
she went to the bathroom at the back of the house, Chivengwa grabbed her in
full view of Chengetai and Shantel and dragged her away.
After identifying their uncle as the abductor, the 2 girls rushed back home
screaming and reported to Maud that Mubaiwa had been abducted by Chivengwa.
The 14-year-old school girl's body was found the following day dumped in a
gumtree plantation.
Chivengwa was quickly tracked and identified as killer, investigators found a
lot of evidence linking Chivengwa to the homicide, including his shoe marks at
the crime scene.
(source: zimnews.net)
INDIA:
West Bengal court awards death penalty to 3 for killing 3 of a same family
A local court in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Monday sentenced 3
men to death for killing 3 persons of a same family, reports said.
A district and sessions court at Barasat awarded death sentence to 3 persons,
including primary accused Probhas Dhali and 2 others - Sujit Dhali and Samir
Mondal, after found them guilty under IPC sections 302 (Murder), 449
(House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death) and 120B
(Criminal conspiracy).
Besides these IPC sections, main accused in the case, Probhas Dhali, was also
charged under sections 25 and 27 of Arms Act.
Earlier on Apr 10 midnight in 2012, few miscreants shot and stabbed local
Trinamool Congress (TMC) activist Binay Biswas to death over a property dispute
at Kemia-Khamarpara village's Nopara area under Madhyamgram Police Station
limits (Now under Barasat PS) in North 24 Parganas district.
When Binay Biswas's family members tried to save him, his mother - Tapasi
Biswas - was also shot dead and miscreants shot bullets aiming at his father-
Amrito Biswas- and wife- Shiuli Biswas.
Sustaining bullet injuries, local TMC activist's wife and father were rushed to
a local hospital, where his father - Amrito Biswas - died on the next day.
Few months after the incident, 5 suspects - Probhas Dhali, Sujit Dhali, Samir
Mondal, Gautam Dhali and Manindra Adhikary - were nabbed from separate areas of
the state.
2 of the 5 arrested - Gautam Dhali and Manindra Adhikary - were granted bail
later from the Calcutta High Court.
Few months after getting bail, Manindra Adhikary committed suicide and Gautam
Dhali went untraceable.
However, 4 years 8 months after the crime was committed, 3 persons, directly
involved in the case, were awarded death sentence on Monday.
(source: India Blooms News Service)
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