November 26
INDIA:
In fix on death penalty abolition
A Delhi court's verdict awarding death penalty to one Yashpal Singh for killing
2 Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots is likely to trigger a fresh debate on
the contentious issue.
The verdict came days after the Supreme Court recalled its six-year-old order
that dismissed a review petition against confirmation of death penalty awarded
to a man from Maharashtra for killing 3 persons.
The issue has been hotly debated in India for decades. But successive
governments have favoured retaining capital punishment on the statute book.
Earlier this month, once again India voted against a UN resolution that called
for a moratorium on death penalty, saying it went against its statutory laws.
New Delhi maintained that it had a sovereign right to determine its own legal
system.
Murder, gang robbery with murder, abetting the suicide of a child or insane
person, waging war against the government and abetting mutiny by a member of
the armed forces attract capital punishment.
This year, Parliament passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, which
prescribes death sentence for those raping children below 12 years.
While Parliament continues to add to the list of crimes prescribing death
penalty, the SC has been attempting to restrict its scope by a series of
verdicts starting in 1983 when it propounded the doctrine of "the rarest of
rare cases". This exposes the dichotomy in India's approach to death penalty.
In Bachan Singh versus State of Punjab, a Constitution Bench ruled in 1983 that
in capital crimes life sentence was the norm and death penalty an exception.
"Death penalty should be imposed when collective conscience of the society is
so shocked that it will expect the holders of the judicial power centre to
inflict death penalty irrespective of their personal opinion as regards
desirability of otherwise of retaining death penalty," it said.
What is "the rarest of rare" depends upon facts and circumstances of a case.
But brutality of the crime, conduct of the offender, his/her criminal
antecedents and chances of reform are generally taken into account.
Pre-planned, heart-less, brutal, cold-blooded and sordid nature of the crime
have to be considered besides the magnitude of the personality of the victim.
After execution of Auto Shankar in Salem in 1995, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was
hanged in Kolkata in 2004. Since then, only terror convicts such as Ajmal Kasab
(2012), Afzal Guru (2013) and Yakub Memon (2015) have been sent to the gallows.
In the rest of the cases, either the SC reduced the sentence to life term or
the President used his power under Article 72 to save them from the gallows.
Even in the case of former PM Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, the Supreme Court
in 2014 commuted the death sentence of 3 convicts to life imprisonment on the
ground of inordinate delay in deciding their mercy pleas.
According to the Amnesty International, there are 106 countries, mostly from
Europe, which have abolished death penalty for all crimes while seven have done
so for ordinary crimes only. There are 29 others that are abolitionist in
practice, taking the total number of abolitionist countries to 142.
There are 56 countries - including India, Japan, the US, China, Iran and Saudi
Arabia - which retain death penalty.
Punishment is quite a natural response to a crime and quantum of punishment
must be proportionate to the degree of offence committed. Often deterrence is
cited as justification for capital punishment and that not awarding adequate
punishment to convicts can lead to vigilantism.
But the moot argument against death penalty is that if the state can't give
life, it should not be entitled to take it away either. Also, death penalty is
irreversible. What if a convict turns out to be innocent, his execution cannot
be undone.
An ideal situation would be where New Delhi joins the abolitionist club. But
India is not like Iran, Saudi Arabia or China where the sheer number of
executions raises many an eyebrow. It has a robust judicial system that works
independent of the Executive and ensures that executions are rare. Given the
challenges posed by terrorism and internal security, the government appears
unlikely to abolish death penalty even as the popular mood is against it.
Of late, there has been a consensus of sorts to execute death row convicts only
in terror cases. With the Supreme Court upholding death penalty awarded to 4
convicts in July in Nirbhaya case, this consensus would be put to test very
soon.
Dichotomy in approach
Murder, gang robbery with murder, abetting the suicide of a child or insane
person, raping children below 12 years of age, waging war against the
government and abetting mutiny by a member of the armed forces attract capital
punishment
While Parliament continues to add to the list of crimes prescribing death
penalty, the SC has been attempting to restrict its scope by a series of
verdicts starting in 1983 when it propounded the doctrine of "the rarest of
rare cases"
(source: The Tribune)
EGYPT:
Egypt sentences 9 to death over prosecutor killing----The court also commuted
the death sentence against 6 other defendants to life in prison
Egypt's highest appellate court on Sunday upheld the death sentence against 9
people over the 2015 killing of the country's prosecutor-general.
The Court of Cassation confirmed the penalty after being convicted in the death
of Hisham Barakat, who was killed in a car bombing in eastern Cairo, according
to the official MENA news agency.
The son of senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Taha Wahdan was among those
condemned to death.
The court also commuted the death sentence against 6 other defendants to life
in prison.
Egypt was roiled by turmoil when the military deposed Mohamed Morsi, the
country's 1st freely elected president, in a 2013 coup.
Barakat was the highest Egyptian official to have been killed in a militant
attack since 2013.
(source: yenisafak.com)
MALAYSIA:
Deputy Speaker moots running death penalty repeal through Select Committee
Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming has suggested the Cabinet refer its planned repeal
of the death penalty to the Special Select Committee for the Reconsideration of
the Bill prior to its tabling.
Speaking at a press conference in the Parliament building today, Nga said his
proposal was based on the "strong" reaction by various levels of society
towards the government's plan to amend 33 sections across seven Acts pertaining
to the death penalty.
"The only discussion pertaining to the abolishment of the death penalty was
conducted only by the Cabinet members. I believe this issue should not be
rushed through. The death penalty has been in our laws since Independence.
"The proposal to submit this Bill to the parliamentary Special Select Committee
is in line with democracy and the separation of powers doctrine. It should be
submitted to the committee before being tabled in the Dewan Rakyat," said Nga.
He also denied that this would delay the repeal that was promised in the
Pakatan Harapan manifesto, saying it would instead expedite this when it is
tabled.
Nga explained that putting it through the committee would allow issues to be
ironed out before reaching the Lower House, noting that the issue was complex
due to its range.
"Otherwise can you imagine the amount of time it will take to debate the
amendment for 33 articles of law?" asked Nga.
The committee was one of six approved by Parliament. It does not yet have any
members but the DAP lawmaker was convinced this was a minor detail that could
be addressed within this session.
He also said the committee would be able to gain a broader perspective
regarding the abolition of the death penalty and could hear the opinions of
experts such as law professors via roundtable discussion.
"Perhaps if it was sent to the Special Select Committee to discuss we can
identify whether or not we will implement a total abolishment of the death
penalty, or we might abolish the mandatory death penalty or categorised murder
under different cases.
"Perhaps a 1st-time murderer can be classified as a second-class murderer while
a serial killer or someone who rapes and kill will be classified as a 1st-class
murderer.
"Since this involves multiple legal interpretations and the public are also
debating the matter, I believe it should be referred to the committee. It
defeats the purpose to establish the committee and then ignore it," said Nga.
On a separate matter, Nga rejected claims of a conspiracy to oust Perak Mentri
Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faisal Azumu that purportedly included a PH state
representative contacting BN assemblymen to seek a vote of no confidence.
He told Perak Opposition Leader Datuk Saarani Mohamad to stop spreading "lies
and slander".
"This is an act of desperation. I call upon the public not to entertain such
politics," said Nga.
(source: malaymail.com)
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