Jan. 15
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO:
Murder must have deadly consequences
The year 2017 has not got off to a good start in terms of murders. The numbers
continue to grow, with more murders occurring than days - about 15 as at the
13th. There's no letting up from where we left off in last year.
In addition to undertaking an analysis of the demographic, psychological and
criminogenic circumstances surrounding murders and then dealing with them -
which should lead to long-term solutions - a key recommendation is ensuring
there are appropriate consequences which are implemented.
First, we have to ensure that the penalty for murder, which is death by hanging
in Trinidad and Tobago, is implemented after a complete and fair criminal trial
- with appeals - within the stipulated 5-year time frame. The entire criminal
justice system must be on board. The legislators in Parliament must play their
critical part, too.
If murderers know they can be prosecuted, convicted and executed within the
5-year time frame, it's more likely this can be a deterrent.
We must recognise that a decision to engage in crime is a psychological matter.
Other than those who are insane temporarily or permanently, all other murderers
make a decision to kill another person. They also know there is an almost 100 %
chance they will not suffer the death penalty. They have the upper hand on
crime.
If murderers know for sure they will be executed, it will serve as a deterrent.
Don't be fooled, many of those murderers are afraid to die via State execution.
The very thought of the ritual of walking out of a cell to be put to death by
hanging can be enough of a deterrent.
Further, we need to move into the direction of classifications for murder, for
example, 1st degree and 2nd degree. And let us agree on the range of
punishments for these various levels of murder, with probably the death penalty
for 1st-degree murders, life imprisonment for 2nd-degree murders, etc. Other
jurisdictions have done it, so why do we feel that it cannot be done here?
Human beings are afraid of physical pain unless they have some serious
psychological disorder. We should also consider prescribing corporal punishment
alongside the death penalty. It can be an appetiser before the main course. If
potential murderers know they will be whipped with the cat-o'-9-tails as well,
we are almost certain this can be a deterrent.
Murder is a very gruesome crime where there's no recuperation on the part of
the victim. There's the need also for the murderer to feel similar or worse
pain and suffering. For some crimes, we can entertain rehabilitation, but for
murder where you take away the life of an individual, where it is proven beyond
a reasonable doubt that person A, B or C is guilty, that person should suffer
badly.
That's the only way we can expect a reduction in murders in the short term.
(source: Ian Ramdhanie; Letter, Trinidad Express)
PHILIPPINES:
Philippine : Do not revive the Death Penalty
ADPAN strongly urges all members of the Philippine House of Representative and
Senate to reject the reinstatement of the death penalty and uphold the rights
to life as enshrined in the Constitution.
Reinstating the death penalty would violate Philippine's international legal
obligations, in particular, the Second Optional Protocol to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the country has ratified.
The reasons behind the reinstatement of the death penalty are ill founded and
purely a political one. Numerous studies and analysis have concluded that death
penalty does not deter crime. Indeed, there has been no existing reliable
evidence to prove otherwise.
ADPAN also wishes to highlight that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has
consistently called for the abolishment of death penalty on drug related
offences, citing that such irreversible and oppressive laws are not an
effective prevention and solution and it is not supported by international drug
conventions.
It is also to be noted that on 11th January 2017, Deputy Prime Minister of
Thailand Mr Wisanu Krea-ngarm had said that Thailand would eventually do away
with death penalty by trying to amend the law to find alternative to the
capital punishment, taking into consideration the global trend on abolition.
The Malaysian government has also announced its intention to abolish the
mandatory death penalty on drug offences while a comprehensive study is now
underway that may also see the total abolition of the death penalty.
Philippine, if successfully revive the death penalty, would not only move
backward in its human rights standards and obligations, and would also not be
in line with the progress made by its neighboring countries towards the
eventual abolition of death penalty.
ADPAN states its disappointment that this Bill to reinstate the death penalty
is being rushed on 16 January 2017 when the House of Representative resumes,
and urges all members of the House of Representative and Senate to consider it
carefully and reject it, respecting and upholding the right to life.
Ngeow Chow Ying
For and on behalf of the ADPAN Executive Committee
15 January 2017
Email: contactad...@gmail.com
The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) is an independent cross-regional
network committed to working for an end to the death penalty across the Asia
Pacific region. ADPAN is made up of NGOs, organizations, civil society groups,
lawyers and individual members, not linked to any political party, religion or
government and campaigns against the death penalty. It currently has members in
28 countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, China, Denmark, France, Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal,
New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sri
Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam, UK, USA.
(source: ADPAN)
*************************
Solons tackle revival of death penalty
The proposed revival of the death penalty and the initiative to amend the
Constitution are on top of the House of Representatives' priority measures this
year.
After a month-long Holiday break, congressmen will buckle down to work today,
Monday, in a bid to approve the 2 priority measures of the Duterte
administration.
House majority leader Rodolfo Farinas said House leaders will consult their
Senate counterparts first before the 2 measures are put to a vote.
"We will first discuss that (death penalty revival, Charter change), among
others, with our Senate counterparts," said Farinas, a stalwart of the ruling
Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
Farinas could not say yet if the proposed reinstatement of the capital
punishment will be approved this month.
The measure, which is principally authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, is set
to be sponsored in the plenary for floor debates.
Farinas said the leadership will also continue consulting with the senators on
the proposed constitutional amendments which is geared towards shifting to a
federal form of government.
President Duterte has formed a 25-man consultative body to craft the proposed
amendments and submit it to Congress which will sit as a Constituent Assembly
to revise the Constitution.
The panel, which, like the Constitutional Commission is composed of experts,
has six months to draw up the proposed amendments.
LIMITED
The House leadership is open to the proposal to limit the number of criminal
acts to be punishable by death under the substitute bill approved by the
committee on justice last month.
House leaders aborted their plan to have the measure approved on final reading
before the Christmas break following vehement opposition from some lawmakers
and the Catholic Church.
Deputy Speaker Rep. Fredenil Castro of Capiz defended the measure, saying its
purpose "is to protect life."
Castro, one of the bill's authors, said he is anticipating long and intense
plenary debates on the measure.
"I am anticipating a long arduous hours of debate but, I welcome it so that no
issues are left untouched," said Castro. "I am ready all the time."
Castro surmised that the measure may be approved on 3rd and final reading on or
before the end of February.
"If the debate is protracted, I am not confident that it could be passed on 3rd
and final reading this January. Perhaps, on or before the end of February 2017
considering the other equally important measures that has to be acted upon by
the House," he said.
BY A THREAD
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, an opposition lawmaker, said he and colleagues who are
against the measure will surely give the administration a "good fight" in the
plenary.
Lagman expressed confidence that the measure will be defeated, saying even the
supermajority bloc is not solidly behind it since many of its members are
against the revival of capital punishment.
Lagman said the margin will be slim in the event that the measure is defeated.
House Bill No. 1 filed by Alvarez seeks to punish offenders convicted of drug
felonies, murder, rape, robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, bribery, plunder,
parricide, infanticide, destructive arson, piracy and treason.
It also seeks to impose capital punishment on the following: importation of
dangerous drugs and paraphernalia; sale, trading, distribution and
transportation of dangerous drugs; maintenance of a drug den, dive, or resort;
manufacture of dangerous drugs; possession of dangerous drugs; cultivation or
culture of plants classified as dangerous drugs; unlawful prescription;
criminal liability of a public officer or employee for misappropriation,
misapplication, or failure to account for the confiscated, seized and/or
surrendered dangerous; criminal liability for planting evidence concerning
illegal drugs.
There are 22 crimes that will be punishable by capital punishment under the
measure but lawmakers have decided to lower it when the bill is amended in the
plenary.
(source: malaya.com.ph)
*****************************
The rush to execute
Days before the lower chamber starts the full debates on the death-penalty
bill, a member of the so-called legitimate minority bloc said there is a
growing support among members of the House of Representatives against the
reimposition of capital punishment.
Liberal Party Rep. Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao said his group, along with
other lawmakers, is now preparing for a healthy and protracted debate on the
proposal.
"Well, we're consolidating the antideath-penalty groups in Congress, [and] this
is across party lines; galvanizing public support against death penalty; and
compiling our research on reasons to oppose it," Baguilat told the
BusinessMirror.
Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez has said No. 1 on the agenda of the lower chamber
when session resumes on January 16 is the full debates on death penalty and
other anticrime measures.
The death-penalty bill was principally authored by Alvarez.
Season of love
Baguilat, in a separate news statement, said he hoped his colleagues in
Congress, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, would resolve to
be more independent thinkers this year, and not pass the death-penalty bill.
"This is the season of love, salvation and hope; and I wish that my colleagues
will be touched by the love of God and align their position against the death
penalty," Baguilat said.
For his part, Majority Leader and PDP-Laban Rep. Rodolfo C. Farinas of Ilocos
Norte assured lawmakers they can all express their support, as well as their
opposition, during the plenary debates of the bill.
"Of course, [we will allow all lawmakers to express their opposition, as well
as their support to the bill]," Farinas said in a text message.
Hasty moves
Moreover, Baguilat has urged the public to add their voice to the growing
chorus calling for a stop to "hasty moves" in Congress to re-impose the death
penalty.
He said the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Catholic Bishops'
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), have already taken a firm stance against
the death penalty with the CBCP, saying that the abolition of the death penalty
by the 1986 Constitution was "a very big step toward a practical recognition of
the dignity of every human being created to the image and likeness of God, and
the value of human life from its conception to its natural end."
"Indeed, the Constitution says there must be a compelling reason to reimpose
the death penalty, and there is none today," Baguilat said.
He added that the plan to railroad the passage of the death penalty was a grave
cause for concern, considering that it had already been established that death
penalty would not deter the proliferation of crime.
"It is not a deterrent. There is no reliable and credible data to show that it
is," Baguilat said. "That is why I am again appealing to my colleagues in
Congress to not rush into passing such a bill and instead allow extensive and
intelligent discussion."
The Ifugao representative also said the better move to undertake was to
strengthen the justice system to make sure that justice is served quickly and
that the criminals will go to jail.
Flaws
"As it is, everybody is saying that the justice system is flawed. That means
what we need is more reform to avoid wrongful convictions. Without reforms,
what will happen is that the poor will again bear the consequence of the
weakness and inconsistency in the application of the criminal justice system.
We need to strengthen that first to make a more lasting impact on criminality.
I have never believed in legislating this ultimate retribution," Baguilat said.
Capital punishment was last suspended in 2006 by President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. At that time, Congress was overwhelmingly supportive of the
tenet that life has value. President Duterte, however, has consistently said he
wanted it back as part of the package of measures to supposedly stop the
proliferation of drugs and criminality.
Wrongful executions
Meanwhile, Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay said Duterte's plan to send
more than 2,000 men to the gallows within 12 months could easily result in
hundreds of wrongful executions.
"The last time the country experimented on the death penalty, the wrongful
execution rate was around 15 %. We expect this rate to shoot up, considering
the administration's apparent plan to quickly put to death a lot of people
inside a very short period," Atienza said.
Earlier, Duterte stressed the urgency to reimpose capital punishment. "Restore
it [death penalty] and I will execute criminals every day - 5 or 6 [and] that's
for real."
Atienza warned that "the country's criminal justice system, with all its flaws
and imperfections, is severely ill-equipped to handle another experiment on the
death penalty."
"We have a corrupt and bungling police force. Both our prosecution service and
trial courts are prone to sleaze and haphazardness. We have an overworked
Public Attorney's Office. And even the Supreme Court is weighed down by
mounting docket pressures," he said.
According to Atienza, these factors, when combined, would make the next
experiment on capital punishment "highly dangerous."
The lawmaker said the country's law enforcement and prosecution arms still
abound with illegal methods and rotten practices, including arbitrary arrests
and searches, torture, intimidation, evidence-planting and the filing of
defective charge sheets.
Offenses
Under the death-penalty bill, crimes punishable with death through hanging,
firing squad or lethal injection are treason; qualified piracy; qualified
bribery; parricide; murder infanticide; rape; kidnapping and serious illegal
detention; robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons;
destructive arson; plunder; importation of dangerous drugs and or controlled
precursors and essential chemicals; sale, trading, administration,
dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs
and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals; and maintenance of drug
den.
Also punishable by death are manufacture of dangerous drugs and/or controlled
precursor and essential chemicals; possession of dangerous drugs; cultivation
or culture of plants classified as dangerous drugs; unlawful prescription of
dangerous drugs; criminal liability of public officer for misappropriation;
misapplication or failure to account for the confiscated seized or surrendered
drugs; criminal liability for planting evidence and carnapping.
But Alvarez said the lower chamber may change the scope of the death-penalty
bill, as they may focus only on illegal-drugs-related crimes.
(source: Jovee Marie de la Cruz----businesssmirror.com.ph)
PAKISTAN:
Executions may affect GSP-Plus status: envoy
Pakistan may jeopardise its Generalised System of Preferences-Plus (GSP-Plus)
status if it does not restore the moratorium on the death penalty, a Dutch
diplomat said on Saturday.
The European Union granted Pakistan GSP-Plus status on textile exports in 2013,
allowing duty-free access to Pakistani products in European markets.
"Pakistan may face problems in the GSP scheme because of the death penalty, but
we hope that a moratorium on death penalty will be restored," Dutch Ambassador
Jeannette Seppen said.
Pakistan has already ratified all United Nations conventions relating to the
GSP-Plus status, besides improving human and labour rights, environmental
protection, climate change and good governance.
She told media persons that international experience had clearly demonstrated
that the death penalty did not work. She said that every human being had a
right to justice.
Pointing out that the trade volume between Pakistan and the Netherlands
currently stands at $1 billion, she said: "We want Pakistan to maintain the
quality of textile products high and be competitive to get a fair market
share."
She said that her country would continue to work with Pakistan for improving
the quantum of trade and investment, especially in the dairy sector.
She said that a Dutch company, Friesland Campina, had made major investment in
the dairy sector and expressed the hope that more Dutch companies would follow
suit.
She said that companies such as Shell, Unilever and Philips were already
working in Pakistan and her country would encourage more Dutch companies to
invest in Pakistan.
According to her, scholarships would be offered to Pakistani students in
agricultural universities in the Netherlands. "We will work with farmers to
increase productivity," she said.
"Our companies also have (considerable) experience in the maritime sector,
ports and shipping, energy infrastructure and especially renewable energy," she
said.
She recalled that a Dutch company had developed a masterplan for expanding the
port of Karachi, saying that Amsterdam was interested in investing in the
Gwadar port.
She said that the Dutch government was willing to join China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC), adding that Dutch companies would like to avail emerging
opportunities after the completion of CPEC.
"We will be happy to see more Dutch companies joining the CPEC project," she
said.
Expressing concern over human rights violations everywhere, including
Indian-occupied Kashmir, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab, the Dutch
envoy said that her country believed in the freedom of expression and her
government was concerned about the disappearance of digital rights activists
and bloggers in Pakistan.
She expressed hope that Islamabad would ensure freedom of expression.
(source: Express Tribune)
********************
Pakistani Senate group to debate how to prevent misuse of blasphemy laws
A Pakistani Senate committee is set to debate how to prevent the country's
blasphemy laws being applied unfairly, despite opposition from religious
conservatives who support legislation that carries a mandatory death penalty
for insulting Islam. Senator Farhatullah Babar told Reuters that the Senate
Committee on Human Rights, of which he is a member, will start discussions on
blasphemy laws as early as next week, based on recommendations from a
24-year-old report. He said it would be the 1st time in decades that any
parliamentary body had considered a formal proposal to stop the abuse of the
blasphemy laws.
According to Babar, the committee would consider a proposal making it binding
to investigate complaints before registering a case, to ensure "genuine
blasphemy" had been committed and the law was not being used to settle scores,
as critics say it is. He also said the committee would debate whether life
imprisonment was an adequate punishment, instead of the mandatory death
penalty.
Many conservatives in Pakistan consider even criticizing the laws as blasphemy,
and in 2011 Governor Salman Taseer of Punjab Province, was assassinated by his
bodyguard after calling for reform of the laws. His killer, Mumtaz Qadri ,was
hailed as a hero by religious hardliners, and tens of thousands of supporters
attended his funeral after he was executed last year. A shrine has been built
over his grave.
A Christian woman, Asia Bibi, is in jail for 7 years on charges of blasphemy.
She was sentenced to hang in 2010 for insulting the Prophet Muhammad during an
argument with Muslim women which began over a cup of water. She denies the
charge. Pakistan's Supreme Court adjourned her death row appeal on October 13
last year, after 1 of the 3 judges recused himself from the case.
Christian minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Muslim politician Salmaan
Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, were both assassinated in 2011 for
advocating on her behalf and opposing the blasphemy laws. Hundreds of
Pakistanis are on death row for blasphemy convictions, and at least 65 people,
including lawyers, defendants and judges, have been murdered over blasphemy
allegations since 1990, according to figures from the Center for Research and
Security Studies based in the capital Islamabad.
Pakistan's religious and political elites almost universally steer clear of
speaking against blasphemy laws, but a small group of lawmakers has been
looking for ways to reduce abuses. However, powerful religious conservatives
who have millions of followers strongly support the laws. Last week, Pakistani
police arrested 150 hardline activists rallying in support of the blasphemy
laws on the anniversary of the assassination of Taseer. Police have also
resisted a demand by hardliners to register a blasphemy case against Shaan
Taseer, the slain governor's son, over a Christmas message calling for prayers
for those charged under the "inhumane" legislation.
(source: Vatican Radio)
INDONESIA:
Alleged child rapists in Sorong may face death penalty: Police
3 suspects in the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in Sorong, West Papua,
may face the death penalty if found guilty of the crimes, a police chief has
said.
Sorong Police chief Adj.Sr.Comr. Edfrie R.Maith said the 3 suspects would be
charged under the 2016 Child Protection Law.
Article 81 (5) of the newly passed law carries a maximum sentence of the death
penalty. It also carries sanctions of life imprisonment and a prison sentence
ranging from 10 to 20 years.
"In the 2016 Child Protection Law, there is an article that stipulates the
death sentence [for perpetrators of crimes against children]. This law is new
and has never been used. We will use it for this case," Edfrie told The Jakarta
Post on Saturday.
Various societal elements in Sorong have staged rallies over the crimes,
demanding authorities to punish the suspected child rapists with the death
sentence, which they deemed "most suitable" for the alleged perpetrators.
Apart from death penalty, the law also carries additional sanctions for
perpetrators of sex crimes against children, including the reveal of their
identities as stated on Article 81 (6). It is stipulated in Article 81 (7) that
the perpetrators may face chemical castration and the assembling of electronic
detection tools in their bodies.
The rape and murder victim was found dead in a mud hole in a swamp on Jl.Basuki
Rahmat near the runway of Domine Eduard Osok Airport in Klasabi subdistrict,
Sorong Manoi district, on Tuesday. She had been reported missing.
The victim's sibling reportedly saw the 3 alleged perpetrators take the victim
toward a swamp near the tip of the airport's runway. Based on the information,
the police, the victim's family and locals searched the area, where they
finally found the dead body.
"The alleged perpetrators are the victim's neighbors. They kidnapped the victim
while her parents weren't home," said Edfrie.
The 3 suspects, Donald Wanggaimo, 20, Lewi Gogoba, 20, and Nando Kinombae, 19,
are being detained at the Sorong Police.
Edfrie claimed the alleged perpetrators were under the influence of alcohol
while committing the crimes. "When they were arrested, they were still drunk,"
he said.
(source: The Jakarta Post)
THAILAND:
Majority for retention of death penalty: Poll
A large majority of people say the death penalty should continue to exist and
rape-murder is the crime that deserves it the most, according to a survey by
the National Institute for Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was carried out on Jan 9-11 on 1,250 people aged 18 and over of
various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to compile
their opinions on whether the death penalty should be reviewed.
To the question of whether the death penalty should stay, a huge majority,
87.12%, said it should continue to exist; only 8% said it should no longer be
in force; and, 4.88% were uncertain.
Asked what type of crime they think most deserves the death penalty, the
majority, or 56.57%, pointed to rape-murder; 22.04% mentioned repetition of
serious crimes; 10.65% pre-meditated murder; 3.12% drug abuse; 2.48%
robbery-murder; 1.47% physical assault resulting in death; and 1.1% corruption.
Asked whether the death penalty should be executed without being commuted,
86.32% said "yes", reasoning that commuting the death sentence would only
invite a repetition of violent crimes; 11.2% said "no", saying that wrongdoers
should be given a chance to make amends; and, 2.48% were uncertain.
Asked whether those who repeat a serious crime should be subject to a harsher
penalty, 92.4% said "yes"; 4.56% "no"; and, 3.04% were uncertain.
(source: Bangkok Post)
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