[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 8 UNITED NATIONS: UN rights experts warn death penalty for drug crimes violates int'l law "Executions for drug crimes amount to a violation of international law and are unlawful killings," the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on summary executions, Christof Heyns, and on torture, Juan E. Mendez, today reminded governments. It is estimated that drug-related sentences could account for around 1,000 executions a year worldwide. "The imposition of death sentences and executions for drug offences significantly increases the number of persons around the world caught in a system of punishment that is incompatible with fundamental tenets of human rights," the experts said, speaking ahead of the 13th World Day Against the Death Penalty, observed on 10 October. They noted that more than 30 states have legal provisions providing the death penalty for drug-related crimes, and in certain countries, including Indonesia, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, such cases make up a significant proportion of the total number of executions. "Of particular concern is that these arbitrary sentencing regimes exist in several of the very small minority of countries around the world which most frequently resort to capital punishment," Special Rapporteur Heyns said. "Moreover, in many states where the death penalty is used for drug-related offences, there is not a system of fair trial." "The World Day Against the Death Penalty provides an opportunity to reflect on another year in which the number of states that have completely moved away from capital punishment has increased," Mr. Heyns said. "However, it also prompts scrutiny of the extent to which a small minority of states violate international law by imposing the death penalty for drug offences." The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights* prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for any but the 'most serious' crimes. The Human Rights Committee, the body responsible for the authoritative interpretation of the Covenant, has repeatedly made clear that drug offences do not meet this threshold, and that only crimes involving intentional killing can be 'most serious'. "Certain states that persistently and openly flout this international standard are also acting contrary to an emerging customary norm that the imposition and enforcement of the death penalty, in breach of those standards, is a violation per se of the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," said Special Rapporteur Mendez. The experts welcomed the fact that international agencies and bodies charged with guiding programmes to counter the illicit drug trade have publicly called for the abolition of the death penalty for this category of crime. However, they remained concerned that "international cooperation to combat drug crime could, in certain circumstances, inadvertently be contributing to unlawful executions." "Abolitionist states must ensure that they are not complicit in the use of the death penalty in other States under any circumstances, but all States - whatever their stance on the death penalty - must refrain from acts that could contribute to an arbitrary execution, including any execution for drug offenses," Mr Heyns said. "International agencies, as well as states providing bilateral technical assistance to combat drug crime, must ensure that the programmes to which they contribute do not ultimately result in violations of the right to life," the Special Rapporteurs stressed. The 2 Special Rapporteurs reaffirmed that the death penalty has no role to play in the 21st century, and even less so in the case of drug-related offences. "We are looking forward to the time when it will no longer be necessary to have a special day on the death penalty; a time when all states have left this form of punishment behind them." (source: The Online Citizen) * Alarming number of countries flout international law by executing for drug-related crimes The death penalty continues to be used as a tool in the so-called "war on drugs", with an alarming number of states across the globe executing people convicted on drug-related charges, in clear violation of international law, Amnesty International said ahead of the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October). At least 11 countries across the globe - including China, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia - have handed down death sentences or executed people for drug-related crimes over the past 2 years, while dozens of states maintain the death penalty for drug-related offences. "It's disheartening that so many countries are still clinging to the flawed idea that killing people will somehow end addiction or reduce crime. The death penalty does nothing to tackle crime or enable people who need help to access the treatment for drug addiction," said Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty International's death penalty expert.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., NEB., MONT., CALIF., USA
Oct. 8 KANSAS: Justices Hear Capital Cases That Elicit a Muted Tone The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard 2 hours of arguments in its 1st capital cases since 2 justices announced in June that they had grave doubts about the constitutionality of the death penalty. The issues were technical, concerning sentencing procedures, and the crimes were terrible, even by the standards of capital cases. By the end of the arguments, there was little reason to think that the cases would make a significant contribution to the court's larger debate about whether the death penalty can be reconciled with the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Antonin Scalia alluded to the June dissent, from Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, during the discussion of Wednesday's cases, which concerned 3 inmates on death row in Kansas. "Kansans," he said, "unlike our Justice Breyer, do not think the death penalty is unconstitutional and indeed, very much favor it." But Justice Sonia Sotomayor expressed doubts about whether the capital justice system was reliably separating the worst offenses from others. "What a wonderful system we've created," she said sarcastically. "Even when a state court is wrong in convicting somebody, so long as they are reasonably wrong, we uphold them." The exchanges had little of the bitter testiness of the arguments in April in Glossip v. Gross, the lethal injection case that gave rise to Justice Breyer's dissent. The muted tone may have been related to the nature of the crimes committed by 2 of the inmates, the brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr. Their cases "involve some of the most horrendous murders that I have seen in my 10 years here," Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. "And we see practically every death penalty case that comes up anywhere in the country." Justice Scalia recited the details of the brothers' crimes at length. They broke into a Wichita home where 5 people were staying and forced their victims to strip naked and perform sex acts on each other. The brothers then raped the women in turn. Then they drove all 5 victims, still naked or partly clothed, to a snowy field where they shot them execution-style in the backs of their heads as they knelt. 1 woman survived, spared when a bullet was deflected by her hair clip. "Oh, and they ran over her, too," Justice Scalia said. "After shooting her in the head, the car ran over her." Naked and barefoot, the woman ran for more than a mile through snow and barbed wire to seek help. The brothers returned to the home in Wichita and killed her dog. The justices considered 2 issues in 3 cases, Kansas v. Jonathan Carr, No. 14-449; Kansas v. Reginald Carr, No. 14-450; and Kansas v. Gleason, No. 14-452. The 1st issue, concerning jury instructions, was pressed by the brothers and a 3rd inmate, Sidney Gleason, who was convicted in a separate killing, a double murder. Capital trials have 2 phases. After a conviction, juries weigh aggravating factors against mitigating ones to decide whether the death penalty or a lesser sentence is warranted. The inmates??? juries were told they had to find the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt, but the jury instructions were silent about the standard of proof for the mitigating factors. The inmates said their juries should have been told in so many words that the standard for beyond a reasonable doubt did not apply to the mitigating factors. "A man is being put to death under jury instructions that are so confusing that there is a reasonable likelihood that some juries would interpret those instructions to bar consideration of the mitigating circumstances and others would not," said Neal K. Katyal, a lawyer for Reginald Carr. Derek L. Schmidt, the state's attorney general, said there was no confusion. "The verdicts reflect the reasoned moral response of these jurors to the aggravated brutality of these crimes," he said. Justice Scalia said it was "common sense" that if only one kind of factor was said to require the tougher standard then the other did not. "Inclusio unius, exclusio alterius," he said, a Latin maxim that means including one thing excludes the other. Justice Sotomayor said that was slicing things too finely. "I doubt very much that any juror has heard of that maxim," she said. The brothers, who were tried together, also argued that their sentencing hearings should have been held separately, as mitigation evidence offered by one may have hurt the other. Jonathan, for instance, argued that he had acted under the corrupting influence of Reginald, who is his older brother. Justice Elena Kagan did not seem persuaded. "The idea that somebody was a lousy big brother seems pretty small in the scale of things," she said. (source: New York Times) * Supreme Court hears new death penalty arguments The Supreme Court heard arguments concerning the death penalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., OKLA., USA
Oct. 8 TEXAS: After rare 10-month respite, Texas death row gets 1st new inmate in 2015 Death row in Texas is getting its 1st new inmate in 2015, ending a 10-month hiatus in death sentences imposed by juries in the nation's most active capital punishment state. A Brazos County jury decided after 7 hours of deliberation Wednesday that 22-year-old Gabriel Hall should be put to death for an attack that left a 68-year-old man dead and his wife injured at the couple's home in College Station. It is the 1st death sentence imposed in Texas since last December. Jurors rejected the option of sending Hall to prison for life with no chance of parole - the outcome in 3 other Texas capital cases this year where the death penalty was a possibility. Brazos County is about 100 miles northwest of Houston. (source: Associated Press) CONNECTICUT: Connecticut Court Stands By Decision Eliminating Death Penalty The Connecticut Supreme Court is standing by its decision to eliminate the death penalty, but state prosecutors are challenging that ruling in another capital punishment appeal. Justices on Thursday rejected a request by prosecutors to reconsider their landmark 4-3 decision in August. The majority ruled a 2012 state law abolishing capital punishment for future crimes must be applied to the 11 men on death row for killings committed before the law took effect. The decision came in the case of convicted killer Eduardo Santiago. Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane said Thursday that prosecutors have filed a motion in the pending death penalty appeal of Russell Peeler Jr. to make the arguments they would have made in the Santiago case, if the Supreme Court had granted their motion to reconsider. (source: Hartford Courant) OKLAHOMA: Autopsy: Oklahoma Used The Wrong Drug To Execute Charles Warner Corrections officials in Oklahoma used the wrong drug to execute Charles Warner back in January. The revelation was included in Warner's autopsy report, which was just made public by the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. According to the report, officials used potassium acetate - not potassium chloride, as state protocol calls for - to stop Warner's heart. Warner, 47, had been scheduled to die on the same night as Clayton D. Lockett. If you remember, Lockett's 2014 execution was also botched. A report issued after his death, found that a phlebotomist misplaced the IV line intended to deliver the lethal cocktail of drugs directly into Lockett's bloodstream. Instead, the cocktail was delivered to the surrounding tissue and Lockett eventually died of a heart attack. According to The Oklahoman, which first reported on Warner's autopsy report, explains: "The drug vials and syringes used in Warner's execution were submitted to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner after his death. 2 of the syringes were labeled with white tape '120 mEq Potassium Chloride,' his autopsy report shows. "However, the 12 empty vials used to fill the syringes are labeled '20mL single dose Potassium Acetate Injection, USP 40 mEq\2mEq\mL,' the autopsy report shows." Back in September, Gov. Mary Fallin stopped the execution of Richard Glossip, saying that the state had received potassium acetate rather than potassium chloride. Following that stay, Robert Patton, Oklahoma's prisons director, told reporters that the state's drug provider told them that the 2 drugs were interchangeable. Medical professionals say they are 2 different drugs. In a statement, Fallin said she had not been made aware that the 2 drugs may have been switched during the Warner execution until she was told the wrong drugs were procured for the the Glossip execution. "The attorney general's office is conducting an inquiry into the Warner execution and I am fully supportive of this inquiry," she said. "It is imperative that the attorney general obtain the information he needs to make sure justice is served competently and fairly." Fallin said that until the state has "complete confidence in the system" she will delay any scheduled executions. Glossip's attorney, Dale Baich, said in a statement that Oklahoma cannot be trusted to get this procedure right. "The State's disclosure that it used potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride during the execution of Charles Warner yet again raises serious questions about the ability of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to carry out executions," Baich said. "The execution logs for Charles Warner say that he was administered potassium chloride, but now the State says potassium acetate was used. We will explore this in detail through the discovery process in the federal litigation." According to the AP, Oklahoma's execution protocol does allow for some wiggle room in the kind of drugs used in executions. "The protocols include dosage guidelines for single-drug lethal injections of pentobarbital or sodium pentothal, along
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 8 SAUDI ARABIA: U.S. Quiet on Saudi Arabia's Deplorable Use of Death Penalty Last week President Obama denounced ISIL in his remarks to the U.N. General Assembly for "behead[ing] captives," calling its conduct "an assault on all humanity." Meanwhile, the White House and State Department remain quiet as Saudi Arabia prepares to execute Ali al-Nimr by beheading and crucifixion. Ali al-Nimr was only 17 years old when he was arrested in 2012 for peacefully protesting for social and political reforms. Despite a vigorous campaign by international civil society organizations to secure his release and intense media attention, he lost his final appeal on September 17th. Saudi Arabia may execute al-Nimr any day now by beheading and then crucifying his body for public display. The Obama Adminstration has not made any public statements on al-Nimr's case except to note in the State Department's 2014 Human Rights Report that he was sentenced to death for crimes he allegedly committed when he was a legal minor. The report also notes al-Nimr's allegations that authorities tortured him to obtain a confession. When asked about al-Nimr's impending execution on September 23, the White House press secretary only stated that the United States "regularly raises our concerns about the human rights situation inside of Saudi Arabia." Private diplomacy is inadequate for injustices of this caliber. The U.S. government's double standard on beheadings - calling out ISIL but remaining quiet when an allied nation does the same - is unjustifiable. Furthermore, this stance will weaken the bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia in the long run. The United States has mostly ignored the fact that Saudi Arabia's conduct in many ways resembles that of the extremist organizations they are supposed to be fighting together. Earlier this year Human Rights First released a blueprint on how the United States can strengthen its relationship with Saudi Arabia, which should be rooted in shared respect for the universal values of human rights. President Obama should commit to personally raising human rights issues during communications with Saudi leaders on a sustained and substantive basis. The State Department should publicly and privately raise the cases of Saudi human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents in jail or otherwise persecuted as a top concern. Al-Nimr's imminent execution is deplorable - and it's not an isolated case. Another Saudi detainee, Dawoud al-Marhoon, was reportedly just sentenced to death by beheading for acts committed during the Arab Spring when he was a teenager. Like al-Nimr, he was allegedly tortured and forced to sign a confession. As the White House strives to demonstrate leadership on countering violent extremism, it must speak out forcefully. As President Obama said at the U.N. Leaders Summit, "When human rights are denied and citizens have no opportunity to redress their grievances peacefully, it feeds terrorist propaganda that justifies violence." ISRAEL: MK Magal: Terrorists should be killed Bayit Yehudi MK Yinon Magal courted controversy, calling for terrorists to be killed on Wednesday night. "It is important to make an effort so that terrorists who carry out attacks are not left alive," Magal wrote on Twitter, deleting the tweet later. On Thursday, Magal clarified to Army Radio that he does not mean terrorists should be executed after being arrested, but in a case when one is attacking someone and has to be shot to be stopped, he or she should be killed and not just "neutralized." "I'm not saying we should take the law into our hands and lynch people," he stated, adding later: "Whoever is trying to kill us should be taken out." Magal commended the Security Cabinet for changing the rules of engagement to allow shooting at people throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and said that it is security forces' job to protect civilians, and it's better that they do that than for civilians to shoot terrorists. On Wednesday, MK Miki Zohar (Likud) also said killing terrorists is a good idea, after police killed a Palestinian terrorist who assaulted a soldier and invaded a woman's home in Kiryat Gat, where he resides, saying that if a terrorist is killed, he cannot be released in a future prisoner release deal and continue attacking Israelis. Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman said of the same incident that "only resolute responses like these will deter potential terrorists and give the appropriate punishment." In July, the Knesset voted down a Yisrael Beytenu bill making it easier to sentence terrorists to death with 6 in favor and 94 opposed. The current law allows the death penalty only in a case of judicial consensus, and was only used against Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann in 1962. (source: Jerusalem Post) NIGERIA: Nigerians reject death penalty as punishment for corrupt public officials
