Oct. 11
MALAYSIA:
Scrap death penalty on drugs to start ball rolling, Amnesty tells Putrajaya
Malaysia should abolish the mandatory death penalty for drug cases at the next
Parliament sitting as a pledge to improve human rights here, Amnesty
International (AI) said today after the government announced its plans to allow
judges a choice in sentencing.
AI Malaysia acting executive director Gwen Lee said many drug cases involve
people from lower income groups and that it would be unfair if they had to pay
with their lives for such crimes. She added that it would be a good first step
towards abolishing the draconian punishment.
She cited the case of one Hoo Yew Wah, a poor Johorean currently on death row
for drug possession charges in 2005, as an example of such cases.
"The situation is no different in Malaysia, where it is often those who come
from disadvantaged backgrounds who end up paying the price of the death
penalty.
"The mandatory death penalty on drug is very important to be reviewed," Lee
said in a press conference today.
She also urged Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said to ensure the law gets tabled in
Parliament this month.
The minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law previously
said in August that the Cabinet agreed to amend the colonial-era Dangerous
Drugs Act of 1952 to give courts a choice in sentencing.
"We want total abolition, but we see this as a good step forward. We are hoping
that it will be tabled and it is on the list of suggested amendments," Lee
stressed.
She said this would also help in Malaysia's bid to be reappointed into the
United Nation's Human Rights Council.
Capital punishment is mandatory in Malaysia for murder and drug trafficking,
among other crimes.
According to Azalina, a total of 651 Malaysians have been sentenced to death
since 1992, most of them for drug offences.
(source: The Malay Mail Online)
**********************
Abolition of the mandatory death penalty: No more delays - Malaysian
Bar-----The World Day against the Death Penalty is commemorated on 10 October
each year.
In Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for persons convicted of murder,
trafficking in narcotics of various amounts, and discharging a firearm in the
commission of various crimes (even where no one is hurt).
The Malaysian Bar has been, and remains, in the frontline of the battle to
uphold and preserve the rule of law, fundamental constitutional rights, the
administration of justice, and law and order. In this regard, we have
consistently called for the abolition of the death penalty. The Malaysian Bar
at its Annual or Extraordinary General Meetings in 1985, 2006, 2012 and 2015
passed resolutions condemning the death penalty and/or calling for its
abolition.
The campaign to abolish the death penalty is not meant to confer licence to
commit serious crimes with impunity. Persons convicted of serious crimes must
receive proportionate punishment. But this does not mean that they therefore
ought to die.
The Malaysian Bar has always taken the view that there is no empirical evidence
or data that confirms that the death penalty serves as an effective deterrent
to the commission of crimes. There has been no significant reduction in the
incidence of crimes for which the death penalty is currently mandatory. This is
particularly true of drug-related offences.
In short, the death penalty does not work as a deterrent.
The Malaysian Bar's primary opposition to the death penalty is because life is
sacred, and every person has an inherent right to life. This is vouchsafed in
Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which eschews the
arbitrary deprivation of life. The right to life is a fundamental right that
must be absolute, inalienable and universal, irrespective of the crime
committed by the accused person.
Recently, Minister Dato' Sri Azalina Othman Said stated on 7 August 2017 that
the Cabinet had approved the abolition of the mandatory death penalty for
drug-related offences. However, there has been no announcement of any timeline,
or any release of draft legislation to this effect. The Malaysian Bar calls
upon the Government of Malaysia to introduce the amending legislation without
further delay. Any delay will mean more people being sentenced to die.
The Malaysian Bar further calls upon the Government to act swiftly to abolish
the death penalty for all crimes, stop executions, and commute each death
sentence to one of imprisonment.
(source: This statement is issued by George Varughese, president of the
Malaysian Bar Council. This is the personal opinion of the writer or
organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail
Online----themalaymailonline.com)
JAPAN:
Death penalty sought for alleged 'black widow' serial killer
Prosecutors on Tuesday sought the death penalty for a 70-year-old woman, dubbed
the "black widow," charged with the murders of her husband and 2 common-law
partners and the attempted murder of an acquaintance between 2007 and 2013.
Describing Chisako Kakehi's alleged crimes as "heinous and serious incidents
that are rarely seen," the prosecutors said in their closing arguments at the
Kyoto District Court that the victims - all elderly men - were given drinks
laced with cyanide by Kakehi. She was heavily indebted and had been planning to
inherit their assets.
The court is scheduled to hand down a ruling on Nov. 7, with the defense making
its closing statements on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Kakehi is mentally competent and can be held responsible for
her crimes, which "were premeditated." Her "cognitive function has not
significantly deteriorated as shown in her psychiatric evaluation," and she had
no mental disorders at the time of the crimes, they said.
Kakehi denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. Her defense argued that she
cannot be held responsible or stand trial due to the onset of dementia. They
cited her incoherent statements which they said even led to her admission at
one point during proceedings to committing murder.
According to prosecutors, Kakehi murdered her 75-year-old husband Isao as well
as common-law partners Masanori Honda, 71, and Minoru Hioki, 75, and tried to
kill her acquaintance Toshiaki Suehiro, 79, by poisoning them with cyanide.
In the trial held under the country's lay judge system, which involves citizen
judges, the prosecutors built their case against Kakehi based on circumstantial
evidence amid a dearth of physical evidence.
Kakehi was first arrested in November 2014 and indicted the following month on
a charge of killing Isao, who died at the couple's home in Muko, Kyoto
Prefecture, in December 2013. They married the previous month. She was later
indicted in connection with the deaths of the 2 other men.
Kakehi, a native of Fukuoka Prefecture, married 1st at the age of 24 and
started her own fabric printing factory in Osaka Prefecture with her 1st
husband. But following his death in around 1994, the factory went bankrupt and
her house was put up for auction, forcing her to ask neighbors for a loan.
She later registered with a matchmaking service, specifically asking to meet
wealthy men with an annual income of more than Y10 million.
She was romantically involved with or associated with more than 10 men,
enabling her to inherit an estimated Y1 billion ($8.8 million) but later fell
into debt following her attempts to speculate in stocks and futures trading.
(source: The Japan Times)
INDONESIA:
Narcotic Agency Head Budi Waseso says death penalty critics may be part of drug
syndicates
Tuesday was World Day Against the Death Penalty, and human rights activists in
Indonesia used the occasion to highlight an alarming increase in death penalty
prosecutions over the last year and to renew call for a moratorium on the
practice until the procedures regulating it can be thoroughly reviewed to
prevent human rights violations.
But the head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Commissioner-General Budi
Waseso, shot back at critics of the death penalty, saying that it was an
essential deterrent in the country's war on drugs and implying that those who
oppose capital punishment might be criminals themselves.
"Why do these 'sontoloyo' (lit. duck herders; colloquially, people who hold up
progress with unimportant issues) keep defending (drug dealers) continuously?
What if they are part of the drug mafia syndicate?" Budi said at a press
conference Tuesday as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
He specifically took aim at Amnesty International, the activist NGO that
defends human rights around the world and has asked the Indonesian government
numerous times to place a moratorium on the death penalty in light of the
numerous human rights violations related to its use in Indonesia in the past.
"What has Amnesty International ever done for this nation? Did they ever build
up Indonesia? Have they ever struggled positively for the nation? Never,
right?" Budi said.
Not only did the BNN chief defend the death penalty as a necessary, he
suggested the government increase it???s deterrent value by having them be
dicincang (chopped up) instead of shot.
"If we just chopped them up, there would be no need for them to be shot.
Showing that would be a real deterrent," said Budi (who, by the way, was indeed
the same guy who said he wanted to build a prison exclusively for drug dealers
guarded by angry crocodiles).
Budi said that sentencing drug dealers to death could save 212,000 people's
lives in Indonesia (not sure where he pulled that number from) and, pulling a
card from Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's playbook, said human rights
activists should focus on protecting the rights of victims rather than the
rights of drug dealers.
Besides Amnesty, the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), also
recently asked that Indonesia declare a moratorium on the death penalty while
the process in which criminals can be convicted and appeal the sentence be
reviewed for violations of human rights, noting that one of the last people
executed by the government, Humphrey Jefferson "Jeff" Ejike, had been denied
the ability to exercise all of his appeal options before he was killed.
(source: coconuts.co)
PHILIPPINES:
France opposes restoration of death penalty in PHL
France on Wednesday voiced its concern on a plan by the Philippine government
to restore death penalty, which it called an "unjust, inhumane and ineffective"
punishment.
The French government made the statement on the occasion of the 15th World Day
Against the Death Penalty and the 40th anniversary of the last execution in
France.
"France is...concerned about the determination of Philippine authorities to
reintroduce the death penalty, following its abolition in 2006," it said in a
statement sent by its embassy in Manila.
It also expressed concern on the continued use of the death penalty, notably in
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and the United States.
France also took note of the resumption of executions in Nigeria, Bahrain,
Kuwait, and Jordan, but praised efforts of other countries, such as Mongolia,
Gambia, Benin, Nauru and Guinea to abolish death penalty.
"France is opposed to the death penalty everywhere and under all
circumstances," the European Union-member nation said as it called on states
that still impose the death penalty to establish a moratorium toward its
definitive abolition.
President Rodrigo Duterte has severely criticized the EU for opposing his
policy to reintroduce capital punishment for drug dealers and heinous crimes.
Duterte, known for using strong language against his critics, earlier
threatened to hang EU officials for their opposition to death penalty and
lambasted them for intervening in the country's domestic policies.
The status of the proposed revival of the capital punishment law, however,
remains unclear as the House of Representatives, which approved its version of
the death penalty bill last March, and the Senate excluded it from the list of
priority measures for the 17th Congress.
(source: GMA News)
GLOBAL:
The death penalty has no place in the 21st century' - UN chief Guterres
The death penalty does little to deter crimes or serve victims, United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday, calling on all countries
which have not forbidden the extreme practice to urgently stop executions.
"The death penalty has no place in the 21st century," underscored Mr. Guterres,
speaking alongside Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human
Rights, at an event at the UN Headquarters, in New York.
Welcoming that some 170 States around the world have either abolished the death
penalty and put a moratorium on its use - most recently, Gambia and Madagascar
- and that executions in 2016 were down 37 % compared in 2015, the UN chief,
however, added that at present just 4 countries accounted for 87 % of all
recorded executions.
He also expressed concern that the countries that countries that continue
executions are also failing to meet their international obligations, particular
in relation to transparency and compliance with international human rights
standards.
"Some governments conceal executions and enforce an elaborate system of secrecy
to hide who is on death row, and why," noted Mr. Guterres, underscoring that
lack of transparency showed a lack of respect for the human rights of those
sentenced to death and to their families, as well as damaging administration of
justice more generally.
Concluding his remarks, the Secretary-General urged all those States that have
abolished the death penalty to lend their voice to the call on the leaders of
those countries that retain it, "to establish an official moratorium, with a
view to abolition as soon as possible."
Also today, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
also called on all countries to strengthen efforts to abolish the death
penalty.
"We [...] call on all States to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," said Rupert Colville, a
spokesperson for OHCHR, told journalists at a regular news briefing in Geneva.
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), now ratified by 85 States around the globe, requires
its parties to abolish death penalty. It is the only universal international
legal instrument that aims to end the practice.
"[OHCHR] stands ready to continue to support all efforts in this direction," he
added.
(source: un.org)
******************
World Day Against Death Penalty: 5 Countries That Ditched Capital Punishment
October 10 marks World Day Against the Death Penalty, a time where human rights
activist come together to advocate against capital punishment.
In the United States, executions occur so frequently that I bet a lot of
Americans don't even realize how atypical this form of punishment is,
particularly amongst other developed nations. As Amnesty International points
out, with fewer than 200 countries in the world, 141 of them don???t use the
death penalty, with 104 countries explicitly banning it.
In honor of World Day Against the Death Penalty, let's look at how just a few
of those nations from various parts of the world officially got rid of the
death penalty:
1. Australia
Originally settled as a penal colony, Australia has strong roots tied to
punishment - and that included capital punishment. Gradually over a period of
decades, however, Australian states and territories opted to get rid of the
death penalty on their own accord, starting with Queensland in 1922 and
wrapping up with New South Wales in 1985.
Not that there was a lot of clamor to bring the death penalty back, but in
2010, the Australian federal parliament decided to follow all of its states'
lead and pass a law forbidding any part of Australia from reintroducing capital
punishment down the road. It served as a recommitment to the idea that he death
penalty is wrong.
2. Rwanda
After 800,000 people were killed in acts of genocide in the country, many of
those responsible for these atrocities fled Rwanda to avoid punishment. Other
countries kept tabs on these criminals on Rwanda's behalf, but refused to
extradite them because of their own laws, which forbid them from turning over
someone who would likely be charged with the death penalty.
If Rwanda wanted to get these murderers back, realistically, the country would
have to choose to get rid of the death penalty.
It wasn't necessarily an easy decision for Rwandans since many survivors of
genocide wanted to see the perpetrators of violence killed for their crimes.
Ultimately, however, political leaders decided that achieving some sort of
justice was preferable to letting these people go free and they voted
overwhelmingly to end the death penalty.
3. Argentina
Argentina is an interesting case because its Constitution outlawed the death
penalty at the time of its founding, only to see it reemerge a handful of times
anyway. 5 times over the span of decades, Argentina decided to reinstate
capital punishment, generally for just a couple years before opting to get rid
of it again.
By 1984, his fickleness settled down and Argentina settled on only applying the
death penalty for certain military-related matters. Then in 2008, Argentina
decided even military personnel should be spared this fate. Like most of Latin
America, it definitively eliminated the death penalty for everybody once and
for all.
4. Vatican City
In 1929, Vatican City decided to follow Italy's lead and allow the death
penalty. That said, the tiny Catholic country was only prepared to use capital
punishment for one crime and one crime only - the attempted assassination of
the pope. (To be fair, that does seem like a pretty big one.)
Luckily for the popes, the death penalty was never necessary. 40 years later,
it hadn't been used at all, and by then Catholic leaders decided it wouldn't
want to use it even if there were an attempt on the pope's life.
To this day, the Vatican City has been outspoken on the issue of the death
penalty. Pope Francis has urged all countries in the world to get rid of this
form of punishment permanently.
5. Mongolia
Only a decade ago, Mongolia was one of the Asian countries called out by human
rights groups for conducting executions in secret, leaving it impossible to
know how many people the government was killing.
All that changed in 2009, though, when Tsakhia Elbegdorj was elected president
of Mongolia. A passionate death penalty abolitionist, he managed to
singlehandedly change the course of the country by pledging to pardon all
prisoners awaiting capital punishment in Mongolia. The following year, he put a
moratorium on executions altogether.
At the time, pundits thought the moratorium was not likely to last past
Elbegdorj's time in office, but that no longer seems to be the case. By 2015,
the country's lawmakers came to see the president's point of view and
officially abolished the death penalty.
(source: care2.com)
*********************
The death penalty: what's changed since 1977?
It's 40 years since we created the world's 1st international manifesto to end
the death penalty. Since 1977, we have seen huge amounts of progress in the
campaign to end the use of the death penalty around the world. We're so much
closer to seeing the end of this horrific punishment - which we consider the
ultimate denial of human rights. But we're not quite there yet.
Do something now
Stop the executions in the Maldives
The Maldives is set to start using the death penalty again after 60 years of
not executing anyone. 3 men now face execution by hanging.
Stop 14 men being executed in Saudi Arabia
14 men are due to be beheaded for allegedly being involved in anti-government
protests, after they were tortured into confessing.
40 years of campaigning to end the death penalty
"When the state uses its power to end the life of a human being, it is likely
that no other right is inviolate. The state cannot give life, it should not
presume to take it away."---- Amnesty International's Declaration of Stockholm
In 1977, we drafted the Declaration of Stockholm - a declaration calling on
every government around the world to stop using the death penalty.
Why did we decide to campaign to stop the death penalty?
The death penalty the ultimate denial of a basic human right - the right to
life. The state shouldn't be able to take that away from you as a punishment
within a criminal justice system. The death penalty also denies someone the
right to be free from torture. It is a violent irreversible punishment.
We oppose the use of the death penalty in every single case. No matter what the
crime, who the alleged criminal is, or the method proposed to execute them - we
always stand against it.
The death penalty is irreversible and mistakes happen. Execution is the
ultimate, irrevocable punishment: the risk of executing an innocent person can
never be eliminated. Since 1973, for example, 150 US prisoners sent to death
row have later been exonerated (cleared of the crime/s they were, or were due
to be, executed for). Many people have been executed despite serious doubts
about their guilt.
It doesn't deter crime. Countries that execute commonly cite the death penalty
as a way to deter people from committing crime. This claim has been repeatedly
discredited, and there is no evidence that the death penalty is any more
effective in reducing crime than imprisonment.
It's often used within skewed justice systems. Some of the countries executing
the most people have deeply unfair legal systems. The 'top' 3 executing
countries - China, Iran and Iraq - have issued death sentences after unfair
trials. Many death sentences are issued after 'confessions' that have been
obtained through torture.
It's discriminatory. You are more likely to be sentenced to death if you are
poor or belong to a racial, ethnic or religious minority because of
discrimination in the justice system. Also, poor and marginalized groups have
less access to the legal resources needed to defend themselves.
It's used as a political tool. The authorities in some countries, for example
Iran and Sudan, use the death penalty to punish political opponents.
Documenting executions
One of the ways we protect human rights is by reporting when governments abuse
them. Our research is used to help hold abusers to account in courts around the
world.
Under international law, the death penalty is banned from use - except during
times of war - under:
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights
The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death
Penalty.
The European Convention on Human Rights (Protocol No. 13) bans use of the death
penalty at all times, even during war.
Although international law says that the death penalty can be used for the most
serious crimes, like murder, we believe that the death penalty is never the
answer.
In 1979 we started publishing statistics showing which countries were
executing, how and why. We have reported on this every year ever since, and
have become a key global authority on monitoring and reporting on death
sentences and executions carried out by governments worldwide.
40 years on...fewer states are executing
Back in 1977, the death penalty was legal in most of the world, with the
exception of 16 countries who had outlawed it.
Now, in 2017, the death penalty is illegal in 105 countries. A further 36
countries have either repealed the death penalty for 'ordinary crimes' such as
murder, or effectively stopped using the death penalty although it remains
legal.
Last year, only 23 countries actually executed people. The majority of
executions took place in a small group of countries - China, Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.
We are calling on all countries that still have the death penalty in their laws
to make it illegal. Where it is still illegal, we call on states to stop using
the punishment and establish an official moratorium as a step towards making it
illegal.
With your help, we won't need another 40 years to reach our goal of ending the
death penalty for good.
Do something today
Call on the Maldives to stop its plans to resume executions
Demand that Saudi Arabia doesn't execute 14 men who have been tortured
(source: amnesty.org.uk)
ST. LUCIA:
Francis issues statement to mark World Day Against Death Penalty
Tuesday 10th October 2017 is observed as the World Day Against the Death
Penalty. First observed in 2003 by the World Coalition Against the Death
Penalty (WCADP), this year marks the 15th observance with focus on the theme
"Poverty and Justice a deadly mix."
The purpose of this theme is to raise awareness about the reasons why people
living in poverty are at a greater risk of being sentenced to death and
executed. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is an alliance of
N.G.O's, Bar Associations, local authorities and Unions.
The overall objective of the WCA against the Death Penalty is to strengthen the
international dimension of the fight against the Death Penalty with the goal to
achieve universal abolition of the death penalty.
The Caribbean is also part of the international campaign, through the work of
the Greater Caribbean For Life (GCL) which is a Non-Profit, Civil Society
Organisation established in Trinidad on October 2nd 2013 to unite the Caribbean
abolitionist organizations and individuals.
GCL believes in stopping crime not lives and strives to create a culture of
respect for the right to live and for the dignity of all human beings.
The Greater Caribbean consists of 25 countries/states including 13 Caricom
countries which retain the Death Penalty.
As a member of the Greater Caribbean For Life I take this opportunity to raise
awareness of the international campaign to abolish the Death Penalty. Although
there has been no execution in St. Lucia since 1994, St. Lucia remains a
retentionist country. Against the strong statements made 2 weeks ago by the
Minister of Justice, to visit the gallows, it is necessary to state
categorically that despite the rise in youth violent crime and murder, this is
a backward stance, as hanging is no deterrent to crime.
In keeping with this year's theme "Poverty and Justice a deadly mix" I call on
the Government to stop crime and not lives. Rather to focus on the issue of
poverty and its related ills. Prevention is the key. By focusing on the social
and economic origin of crime, such as the poverty which engenders violence and
disregard for Law and Order. In this regard St. Lucia must adopt the
recommendations contained in the U.N.D.P 2012 Report "Human Development and the
shift to better citizen security."
The U.N.D.P urges Governments in the region to strive to achieve ???a better
balance between legitimate law enforcement and preventive measures, with a
stronger focus on prevention and to invest more, for example in youth
development, job creation and reducing poverty and socio-economic inequality,
inequity. These strategies can contribute to a safer and more democratic just
society in the region.
This is the strategy for St. Lucia in preventing crime/murder instead of
applying the Death Penalty. At the domestic level we must try to eradicate the
drug culture, which breeds the gun culture, side by side introduce family
support measures and rehabilitate delinquent youth. The criminal justice system
must be strengthened, by removing the delays, ensuring prosecutions and
improving forensic investigation.
Above all St. Lucia must live up to its international responsibility by
adhering to the 2014 recommendations of United Nations Human Rights Commission,
which at the Universal Periodic Review Meeting for St. Lucia in 2015 urged St.
Lucia to take steps to abolish the Death Penalty by signing and ratifying the
2nd Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights which abolishes the Death Penalty. St. Lucia should also consider stop
voting against the U.N Resolutions regarding the call for a moratorium on the
death penalty, which the Caribbean States as retentionist always vote against.
As World Day against the Death Penalty is observed, the victims of violent
crime must not be forgotten, however, injustice cannot be fought with injustice
and our Court of Appeal has already declared the mandatory death penalty
(hanging) to be inhuman and degrading treatment and therefore unconstitutional.
For after all the RIGHT TO LIFE is the most fundamental human right and must be
upheld by the citizens but more importantly upheld by the State. It is wrong
for the State to carry out capital punishment in the name of justice. This is
simply state killing, which most times involve the poorer marginalized in St.
Lucia.
There must be a better way, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. As
Christians and citizens let us educate ourselves, let us become part of the
International Campaign to abolish the Death Penalty and save lives.
Without the right to life, there simply would be no human rights, because human
rights are indivisible, are interrelated and interdependent. The abolition of
the death penalty is in keeping with evolving standards of decency/practised by
modern democratic societies which have implemented alternative punishment for
murder so as to keep society safe. St. Lucia can do the same.
Mary M. Francis
Coordinator,
National Centre For Legal Aid and Human Rights Inc.
Member,
Greater Caribbean For Life (G.C.L)
(source: St. Lucia Times)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
