[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MD., COLO., TENN., ARIZ., USA
Jan. 9 MARYLAND: Md. Gov. O'Malley sees death penalty ban within reach; He also sees transportation, gun control as priorities Gov. Martin O'Malley said Tuesday the state Senate is within 2 votes of approving a ban on capital punishment in Maryland, and the governor underscored that job creation and transportation funding concerns will be top priorities in the legislative session. By most counts, Mr. O'Malley said, 22 of the 24 senators needed to approve a death penalty ban have expressed a willingness to support a ban in the session that begins Wednesday. And I think it's very possible that there are 2 more senators that would vote to repeal, Mr. O'Malley added, speaking to reporters after an annual lunch with Maryland Democrats. The Democratic governor pushed to repeal the death penalty in 2009. Full repeal stalled in the Senate, which opted to restrict capital punishment to murder cases with biological evidence such as DNA, videotaped evidence of a murder or a videotaped confession. Sen. Brian E. Frosh, chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said in an interview this week that repeal is within 1 vote on the committee and a vote or 2 in the full Senate. It's close, said Mr. Frosh, Montgomery Democrat who supports repeal. He added that he thinks this is a good year to push for it. Sen. James Brochin, Baltimore County Democrat who is on the Judicial Proceedings Committee and supports capital punishment, said this week he would not be changing his position. I don't see any reason to repeal the death penalty, Mr. Brochin said in an interview Monday. The governor declined to say at this point whether he will make repeal a key part of his legislative agenda. Still, Mr. O'Malley clearly would like to see capital punishment banned. There hasn't been an execution in Maryland during Mr. O'Malley's tenure, which began in 2007. I'm confident that eventually it will be repealed, Mr. O'Malley said. I'd like to see it repealed sooner rather than later, and if I could help bring that about that would certainly be a positive thing. (source: Washington Times) O'Malley: Vote Close On Death Penalty On the eve of the start of the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session, Democrats and Republicans met separately today to plot strategy. Governor Martin O'Malley was among the speakers at a pre-session luncheon hosted by the Maryland Democratic Party. The governor says he's confident the state Senate is within 2 votes of supporting a repeal of capital punishment in Maryland. O'Malley spoke to reporters on Tuesday after the luncheon. The Democratic governor, who supports repeal of the death penalty, says he thinks it's very possible that there are two more senators who would vote to repeal capital punishment this year. O'Malley's comments follow similar comments Senate President Mike Miller made a few weeks ago. At the time, Miller, who supports the death penalty, told WBAL News that he believed the repeal was 1 or 2 votes short of passage, and he did not think the repeal could pass the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Miller did say he would not block a floor vote on a repeal, even if death penalty opponents use a procedural move bypassing the committee, and bringing the bill to the floor. The state's legislative session begins on Wednesday. (source: WBAL News) ** Capital punishment supporter thinks Md. will pass death penalty repeal Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller says he thinks a repeal of the death penalty will pass in Maryland. Miller, who supports capital punishment, said Wednesday on WEAA-FM that he will find a way to get the bill to the full Senate, if Gov. Martin O'Malley gets enough votes for it. O'Malley said Tuesday he believes he is within 2 votes in the Senate of banning it, and he expressed confidence that finding the other two votes was very possible. Miller, speaking Wednesday on the 1st day of session, says he believes repeal will pass the Senate and the House of Delegates. He also said he believes death penalty supporters will petition a repeal bill to the voters to decide in a statewide vote. (source: Associated Press) COLORADO: Abolish death penalty in Colo. Re: Capital punishment in Colorado: Foes weigh push to repeal, Dec. 26 news story. It appears that the Colorado legislature is finally poised to give serious consideration to ending the barbaric, money-sucking relic of bygone years known as the death penalty. Since 1968, Colorado has executed one person. The article in the Dec. 26 Denver Post noted that the death penalty annually costs Colorado taxpayers $1.5 million. It also quotes Attorney General John Suthers as saying that there are times we need the death penalty for the safety of the people. Mr. Suthers never explains how executing one person in the last 45 years, at a cost of approximately $50 million,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MONT., FLA., IDAOHO, VA., CALIF.
Jan. 9 MONTANA: Canadian death row case falls to new Montana gov. Gov. Steve Bullock's office isn't saying how the new governor will deal with the pending request for clemency from a Canadian citizen who remains on Montana's death row for the 1982 slaying of 2 Native American men. Former Gov. Brian Schweitzer left office Monday without making any decision on Smith's high-profile case. The former governor told The Associated Press that his replacement has all the paperwork necessary to evaluate the clemency request. That leaves the high-profile case in the hands of Bullock. Family members of the victims, along with the Blackfeet Tribal Council, have pushed for enforcement of the death penalty. They have argued clemency for Smith could show less value is placed on the life of Native Americans when they are killed. Smith's family has countered that Smith is now a different man who they value, and who has become an important part of the prison community. The Montana Parole Board responded last May shortly after a lengthy hearing, arguing that justice is best served by continuing with the execution. They unanimously recommended that the governor reject the request and continue with the execution. Smith is asking for life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of the death sentence, currently only stalled amid separate legal arguments over the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection protocols. Smith argues his original 1983 trial for shooting 2 Blackfeet cousins - in which he asked for and received the death penalty - was botched. Smith was 24 years old when he marched the 2 young men into the woods just off U.S. Highway 2 near Marias Pass and shot them both in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. He has said he was out of his mind on drugs and alcohol. Smith has asked the governor in his petition to look beyond the horrific killings of Harvey Mad Man, 23, and Thomas Running Rabbit, 20, and consider that he is now a different person. Smith's backers also argue it is unfair that he be executed after an accomplice was paroled long ago. Rodney Munro took a plea deal on the charges and avoided the death penalty, while Smith did not. The Canadian government, after some internal policy changes, has asked Montana to spare Smith's life. Bullock, the former attorney general, will be evaluating a familiar case. Bullock just left an office that fought while he was there to uphold the conviction and sentence. Bullock's new office, 2 days into his administration, isn't tipping its hand. Spokesman Kevin O'Brien would only confirm that the case is still pending. Schweitzer said Monday after leaving office that he considered the Parole Board a recommendation to keep the sentence intact a recommendation to do nothing. I decided not to decide. There wasn't a recommendation. There was nothing really in front of me, Schweitzer said. Schweitzer noted that the victims' families had personally told him they felt that the death penalty was the only way they could get closure. (source: Helena Independent Record) ** New Montana governor to consider high-profile case of Canadian on death row Gov. Steve Bullock's office isn't saying how the new governor will deal with the pending request for clemency from a Canadian citizen who remains on Montana's death row for the 1982 slaying of two Native American men. Former Gov. Brian Schweitzer left office Monday without making any decision on Smith's high-profile case. The former governor told The Associated Press that his replacement has all the paperwork necessary to evaluate the clemency request. That leaves the high-profile case in the hands of Bullock. Family members of the victims, along with the Blackfeet Tribal Council, have pushed for enforcement of the death penalty. They have argued clemency for Smith could show less value is placed on the life of Native Americans when they are killed. Smith's family has countered that Smith is now a different man who they value, and who has become an important part of the prison community. The Montana Parole Board responded last May shortly after a lengthy hearing, arguing that justice is best served by continuing with the execution. They unanimously recommended that the governor reject the request and continue with the execution. Smith is asking for life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of the death sentence, currently only stalled amid separate legal arguments over the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection protocols. Smith argues his original 1983 trial for shooting 2 Blackfeet cousins - in which he asked for and received the death penalty - was botched. Smith was 24 years old when he marched the 2 young men into the woods just off U.S. Highway 2 near Marias Pass and shot them both in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. He has said he was out of his mind on drugs and alcohol.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, ALA.
Jan. 9 OHIO: Alliance man on death row pins hopes on DNA test. The attorney for a former Alliance man on death row for a double murder says a new DNA test on a cigarette butt could be critical evidence in an attempt to overturn his conviction. The prosecutor says new analysis would not prove Tyrone Noling is not guilty even if the cigarette butt was linked to a man who had once been a suspect in the case. The Ohio Supreme Court heard those arguments Tuesday in Columbus and took Noling's request for new DNA testing under advisement. Noling was convicted of shooting and killing an elderly couple, Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, in their Atwater home in Portage County in 1990. He was sentenced to death in 1996. A date has not been set for Noling's execution. The cigarette butt was found in the driveway of the Hartigs home, and a DNA test in 1996 showed it did not match Noling. Carrie Wood, an attorney with the Ohio Innocence Project, said she wants to determine if the cigarette butt matches the DNA profile of Daniel Wilson that is stored in a federal database. Wilson, convicted of murder in another case, was executed in 2009. He lived near the elderly couple's home. Wood said that a previous DNA test did not exclude Wilson as the source. Testing technology has advanced since then and can pinpoint DNA to 1 person, she said. At issue was whether state law allows more DNA testing in the case. Under a law passed by the Ohio General Assembly in 2010, biological evidence can be retested if there???s a strong likelihood the results would determine the perpetrator of the crime. State law allows for more DNA testing, not less, Wood said. No physical evidence linked Noling to the murders, but alleged accomplices testified he had shot the husband and wife. The testimony later was recanted. Portage County Prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci said that even if a new test matches Wilson's DNA to the cigarette butt, it doesn't prove Wilson killed the elderly couple. At most it would indicate Wilson flicked a cigarette butt out the window while driving by the home, he said. He said Wilson was ruled out as a suspect in the Hartig murders early in the investigation. Noling's request for new testing is an effort to delay the death penalty, Vigluicci said. We want to get to the truth as much as anybody else, he said. This isn't one of those cases where DNA has relevance. SUPREME COURT Both Wood and Vigluicci faced intensive questioning from the high court. Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer said the significance of a DNA link to Wilson is the bottom line. If you get through the legal issues (about whether new testing should be permitted) it's still not proof Wilson did it - it would be proof that a cigarette he touched was in the victim???s driveway. Wood said more DNA testing can provide more information about the perpetrator of the crime and would place Wilson at the crime scene. The results could be combined with other evidence, she said, including recanted testimony and statements she said Wilson made to his foster brother about the Hartig case. (source: Canton Repository) ALABAMA: Alabama Death Row Inmate Loses Appeal Because of Mistake by Troubled Lawyer Alabama death-row inmate Ronald Smith had the bad fortune to be represented by a troubled lawyer who failed to submit either a filing fee or a motion to waive the cost along with court papers for a collateral appeal. As a result of the error, Smith's documents weren't properly filed by the deadline, according to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a Dec. 28 opinion, the court barred Smith from pursuing a habeas appeal. The New York Times reports on the decision (PDF) in a Sidebar column noting many idiosyncrasies in the Alabama's capital justice system. One idiosyncrasy: Alabama is among 3 states that allow judges to impose the death penalty despite jurors' recommendations for a life sentence. Smith was sentenced to death for the murder of a store clerk by a judge who used the procedure. A 2nd idiosyncrasy: Alabama does not guarantee representation to indigent capital defendants in habeas proceedings. The local lawyer representing Smith, C. Wade Johnson, was a troubled man, the Times says. The lawyer himself was on probation for public intoxication and was addicted to crystal methamphetamine while he was being less than punctilious, the story says. In the months that followed, the lawyer would be charged with drug possession, declare bankruptcy and commit suicide. Smith was also represented by a second lawyer, but he was licensed in a different state and was not licensed in Alabama. The Times notes that the U.S Supreme Court has twice rebuked the 11th Circuit for its rigid attitude toward filing deadlines in death penalty appeals. The appeals court does not seem to be listening, the story says. (source: ABA Journal)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 9 PAKISTAN: No headway: Legislation to abolish death penalty unlikely; Govt finds no takers for converting capital punishment to life term. It appears that the government has dropped plans of introducing new legislation which effectively converts the death penalty into life imprisonment. Earlier there were indications that the government will table a bill in Parliament seeking to ban the death penalty altogether but after failing to forge consensus over the issue, it backtracked finding the matter sensitive. We don't have any plans to introduce legislation to abolish the death punishment, Law and Justice Secretary Yasmin Abbasi told The Express Tribune. At the moment, she explained, Even, I cannot say whether such a law will be introduced in the near future or not. Officials of the law ministry, who were tasked to prepare recommendations on the issue, stated that the Presidency started considering the matter when it was informed about a huge backlog of around 8,000 inmates currently on death row in several jails across the country. President Asif Ali Zardari had directed the quarters concerned - the ministries of interior and law, and provincial home departments - to prepare a comprehensive report advising the move, officials from the law ministry told The Express Tribune on Tuesday. The directions came from the Presidency when it received multiple mercy petitions of condemned prisoners last year - a total of over 522 mercy petitions were received, officials said. Some 462 mercy petitions were received from Punjab, 28 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 20 from Sindh and 12 from Balochistan. When contacted, President's spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said, There is no proposal to abolish the death punishment altogether. However, during the past 4 years (sans one case involving an army man) not a single convicted person has been sent to the gallows. No death sentence has been commuted. The government has been facing tough resistance over such matters whenever it intended to amend laws including legislation on blasphemy laws or the conversion of death penalty into life imprisonment. Last year, Islamabad was close to signing an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom but it could not finalise it due to the absence of such laws. Political parties, while giving their comments on the issue, said that they will not support any such law. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA Ahsan Iqbal said that his party strongly opposed such legislation. My party supports capital punishment as deterrence for crime control, he asserted. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader Abdul Ghafoor Haideri was of the view that these laws were already in place and needed no changes. JUI-F does not see any lacuna in the existing laws, he explained. Awami National Party Senator Zahid Khan stated that such laws were better for a civilised society no matter which country it was. But in view of the existing situation Pakistan is facing, it's next to impossible to amend the law, he said. (source: The Express Tribune) SAUDI ARABIAexecution of juvenile female foreign Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek executed in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has executed a Sri Lankan domestic worker for killing a baby in her care in 2005, a foreign ministry official in Colombo has told the BBC. The maid, Rizana Nafeek, had denied killing the 4-month-old boy. Her supporters say she was only 17 at the time of the killing. They say her execution is a breach of international child rights. The Sri Lankan parliament held a minute's silence on Wednesday in honour of Ms Nafeek. News of the execution came on the same day that the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that laws were needed urgently to give greater protection to domestic workers. The ILO report estimates that only about 10% of all domestic workers - about 5.3 million people - are covered by labour laws to the same degree as other workers. In Sri Lanka itself, the execution has rekindled debate about the safety of expatriate workers in the Middle East and about the poverty which drives people including Ms Nafeek to seek work abroad. In a statement, the Sri Lankan foreign ministry said that President Rajapakse and the government deplored the execution despite all efforts at the highest level of the government and the outcry of the people locally and internationally. Translation problems A Sri Lankan MP who campaigns for Sri Lankan workers abroad, Ranjan Ramanayake, described the Saudi government as dictators who would never execute Europeans or Americans, only Asians and Africans. The parents of Ms Nafeek had repeatedly appealed to King Abdullah to pardon her. Her father is currently in hospital, officials, say, and her mother is too distressed to talk about the execution. Correspondents say that it appears that employment agents falsified Rizana Nafeek's age so that she could work in Saudi Arabia Ms Nafeek
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 9 INDIA: India Gang Rape: 3 Suspects 'To Plead Not Guilty' 3 men accused of brutally gang raping and killing a 23-year-old student in New Delhi are to plead not guilty to the charges, their lawyer has revealed. Lawyer M L Sharma told the AFP news agency he will challenge evidence the police claim they have linking the suspects with bloodstains on the victim's clothes. Nothing is proven yet, he said outside the court. 5 men have appeared in court, with a 6th suspect expected to be tried separately in a juvenile court as he is 17. Under Indian law juveniles cannot be prosecuted for murder. The suspects have been named as bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur. The suspects have been accused of carrying out an attack on December 16 The men are likely to face the death penalty if found guilty, despite the sentence rarely being passed in India. The sheer brutality of the rape has galvanised the nation into action, with angry protesters accusing the government of not doing enough to tackle violence against women. During the rape, the victim was attacked by 6 men on a bus. A metal rod was inserted in her body as the bus drove around for 40 minutes. The sustained attack resulted in the removal of almost all of her intestines. The attack has prompted protests A police report seen by the Hindustan Times alleges the youngest suspect extracted her intestine with his bare hands and suggested she be thrown off the moving vehicle devoid of her clothes. The victim and a male friend, who was also attacked, were thrown from the bus while it was still moving. Police in Delhi said the bus then tried to mow them down. The medical student died in a Singapore hospital after suffering multiple organ failure and a heart attack. The government is now being accused of trying to run away from the problem, with critics saying the student should never have been sent to Singapore for treatment. Vigils have been held around the world for the victim With women's rights firmly at the top of the social agenda, the government is struggling to defend the poor rape conviction rate, especially in Delhi, which has been dubbed 'the rape capital' after figures revealed a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours. Despite this, official figures show that there was only one conviction for rape in the whole of 2012. (source: Huffington Post) *** Will Asaram Bapu tell women in his family to surrender to rapists, asks Delhi gangrape victim's father Headlines Today correspondent Preeti Choudhry spoke to the father of the 23-year-old Delhi gangrape victim. In this exclusive interview, he spoke on many issues, including Asaram Bapu's brazen remark against the girl who was brutally gangraped in moving bus on December 16. Here are some of the excerpts of the interview. I'm standing today because people stood behind me. I thank them. I would have fallen if they were not there. I'm a broken man today. I only have the will of the people with me. On Asaram Bapu: How can he say what he did? He should be ashamed 'chullu bhar pani mein doob jana chahiye'. He would know if he had a daughter. Would he tell her to resign herself or beg to hooligans! Being a godman he is spewing venom. People should stone him. On the juvenile accused in the case: All 6, including the minor, should be hanged! Only death is the right punishment for the crime he has committed. I plead with the authorities that he should get death penalty. On law named after his daughter: True honour for my daughter would be if the law gets changed and named after my daughter. On his daughter: If I have to do it again, I would bring up my daughter with the same values - independent and fearless like she was. She was ambitious, fearless and proud. She wanted to go home. She wanted that all 6 be hanged, she told me that in the hospital. On the night (December 16) of the incident: We got a call from the Safdarjung Hospital that my daughter had met with an accident. It took us a lot of time to find her. The lady attendant told us what happened and that time there was no police. The cops and the politicians have done a lot. They have done their best. We have no complain. On shifting her to Singapore: We wanted the best treatment for our child and when advised we agreed. We also thought that if we take her outside India. She will live. Sonia Gandhi and the PM came to receive us when we got her body back. We did not know people would have wanted to come for her cremation. We wanted to cremate are as soon as possible. No pressure on us. Political pressure: People's anger justified but maybe politicians should have refrained from jumping in. I thank the entire country, who joined us in our grief. I urge them to keep the flame burning. All fathers should do their best to instil confidence in their daughters. They should make them
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARIZ., MD.
Jan. 9 ARIZONA: Arizona court reduces Shawn Grell's death sentence to life The Arizona Supreme Court reduced the death sentence of man who doused his own daughter with a gasoline and watched her burn to death more than a decade ago in east Mesa. The court ruled in a decision announced Wednesday that Grell's sentence will be natural life in prison, without possibility of parole, because of evidence he is mentally retarded. Grell was sentenced twice to death for the gruesome murder of his 2-year-old daughter, once by a judge and once by a jury, with both focused on whether he is retarded and if he could be held responsible for her death. We are fully aware of the horrific nature of this crime and the devastation it has brought upon Kristen's family, Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch wrote in the ruling. But given the recognition under our Constitution that defendants with mental retardation are less morally culpable for their crimes ... Grell is ineligible for execution, the ruling said. Kristen Salem's murder on Dec. 2, 1999, is considered among the most heartless and senseless crimes in the East Valley. Grell picked up Kristen at a day-care center, took her out to the desert on the eastern fringe of Mesa, doused her with gasoline and lit her on fire. But the issue of whether Grell is mentally retarded has dominated the case for more than a decade. Grell pleaded guilty to murdering his daughter, leaving the mental retardation issue the focus of his sentencing. Now-retired Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Jarrett sentenced Grell to death in 2002, ruling that Grell's attorneys did not prove conclusively that he is mentally retarded. The state Supreme Court ordered a 2nd sentencing when Arizona's death penalty law was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, which required that jurors, not judges, establish the aggravating factors for the death penalty. After the evidence was presented to jurors, they sentenced Grell to death again in 2009, a ruling that triggered an automatic appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court. (source: The Arizona Republic) MARYLAND: Md. Senate president: Voters might decide whether to repeal death penalty Maryland voters could get the final say on whether the state repeals the death penalty, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Wednesday, just hours before the General Assembly was set to convene for its annual 90-day session. During a radio interview, Miller (D-Calvert) said repeal legislation - a long-stymied priority for Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) - has a good shot at passage if the governor puts the full power of his office behind it this session. If O'Malley can show he has 24 votes needed in Senate, President Miller has said he'll free bill from committee. I think if the governor uses his persuasive techniques, of which he has many, I think the bill will pass the Senate, quite frankly, Miller said. Miller predicted that the bill would also pass in the House and that opponents of the measure would petition it to a ballot, as happened with same-sex marriage last year. Under that scenario, Maryland voters would decide in November 2014 whether to end capital punishment in the state or keep in on the books. Miller's prediction was among several made by state leaders during Wednesday morning's taping of The Marc Steiner Show on WEAA FM 88.9. O'Malley said he believes a statewide ban on assault weapons will pass the General Assembly. The measure is likely to be included in a package of legislation that the governor will propose next week in response to last month's massacre in Newtown, Conn. Comments by the 3 leaders Wednesday underscored growing momentum for a death penalty repeal, which has been bottled up in a Senate committee in recent years. Miller repeated a recent promise made to O'Malley to allow debate on the Senate floor if the governor can show he has the 24 votes needed for passage. A count this week by The Washington Post identified 23 likely Senate votes for a repeal bill, one short of passage. But an additional 4 members have said they would consider supporting O'Malley-backed legislation, which is also a priority this session for the NAACP and the Catholic Church. Advocates for repeal say support is stronger in the House, a view bolstered by a statement made Wednesday morning by Busch: I believe it's time to repeal the death penalty. Under the legislation, death sentences would be replaced with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Miller reiterated that he is personally supportive of the death penalty in some cases but said he is willing to give the issue a full airing nevertheless. If you've got a bull by the tail, you let the bull go, Miller said. (source: Washington Post) *** Make death penalty quicker, cheaper and more effective Amnesty International's Frank Jannuzi wrote one of those letters that
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 9 SAUDI ARABIA: Beheading of domestic worker shows Saudi Arabia at odds with international standards The beheading of a Sri Lankan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia for a crime she allegedly committed while still a child shows once more that the Gulf kingdom is woefully out of step with international standards on the death penalty, Amnesty International said. Rizana Nafeek was executed in Dawadmi, a town west of the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, on Wednesday morning. Her death sentence had been handed down by a Dawadmi court on 16 June 2007, based on allegations that she murdered an infant in her care when she herself was 17 years old. Earlier this week Amnesty International and the Sri Lankan government had urged Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah - who ratified her death sentence - to show clemency in her case, given her young age at the time of the alleged crime as well as concerns she had received an unfair trial. Despite a chorus of pleas for Saudi Arabian authorities to step in and reconsider Rizana Nafeek's death sentence, they went ahead and executed her anyway, proving once more how woefully out of step they are with their international obligations regarding the use of the death penalty, said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. As a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Saudi Arabia is prohibited from imposing the death penalty on persons who were under 18 years old at the time of the alleged offence for which they were convicted. If there is a doubt as to the correct age, courts have to treat an accused as a juvenile offender unless the prosecution can prove he or she was an adult. Before Nafeek's execution, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had appealed to the Saudi Arabian King to exercise clemency, and Sri Lanka's Parliament reportedly held a minute of silence on Wednesday after receiving news that her death sentence had been carried out. A statement on the Sri Lanka's Ministry of External Affairs website said that President Rajapaksa and the Government of Sri Lanka deplore her beheading. Unfair trial concerns The passport Nafeek used to enter Saudi Arabia in May 2005 states her year of birth as 1982, giving the appearance she was 23 years old when she entered the country to take up her job as a domestic worker. But her birth certificate states she was born 6 years later, making her 17 years old at the time of the infant's death. According to information gathered by Amnesty International, she was not allowed to present her birth certificate or other evidence of her age to the 1st instance court during her trial in 2007. While she may have been able to do so in later legal proceedings, it appears not to have swayed the decision of the judges, who in Saudi Arabia have discretion to decide the age of majority for children. It also appears that the man who translated her statement to the court may not have been able adequately to translate between Tamil and Arabic. He has since left Saudi Arabia. Nafeek had no access to lawyers either during her pre-trial interrogation or at her trial in 2007. Although she initially confessed to the baby's murder during her interrogation, she later retracted and denied it was true, saying she had been forced to make the confession under duress following a physical assault. She had argued that the baby died in a choking accident while drinking from a bottle. Widespread use of the death penalty Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty to a wide range of offences, and many of those executed in recent years have been foreign nationals - mostly migrant workers from poor and developing countries. Court proceedings in Saudi Arabian capital cases typically fall far short of international fair trial standards. Defendants are rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer and in many cases are kept in the dark about the progress of legal proceedings against them. In 2012 Amnesty International recorded the execution of at least 79 people, of whom 27 were foreign nationals. At least two death sentences have already been carried out this year, both foreign nationals. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. (source: Amnesty International) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA
Jan. 9 USA: U.S. Death Penalty Support Stable at 63%; Decade-long decline in support after 2001 seen mostly among Democrats Americans' support for the death penalty as punishment for murder has plateaued in the low 60s in recent years, after several years in which support was diminishing. Sixty-three percent now favor the death penalty as the punishment for murder, similar to 61% in 2011 and 64% in 2010. Gallup first asked Americans for their views on the death penalty using this question in 1936, and has asked it at least annually since 1999. The latest results come from a Dec. 19-22, 2012, USA Today/Gallup survey, conducted in the first few days after the Newtown, Conn., school shooting massacre. Although views on the death penalty have been fairly static since 2010, support has been gradually diminishing since the high point in 1994, when 80% were in favor. By 2001, roughly two-thirds were in favor, and since then it has edged closer to 60%. The death penalty is not relevant in the Newtown case, given that the lone gunman took his own life after his rampage; however, the tragedy could have influenced Americans' thoughts about capital punishment and may be a reason support for it held steady this year, rather than declining any further. Most Groups, but Not Liberals, Lean in Favor of Death Penalty The majority, or at least plurality, of most demographic and political groups are in broad agreement about supporting the death penalty as punishment for murder. One exception to that is adults who describe their political views as liberal. Just under half of liberals, 47%, favor the death penalty, while 50% oppose it. However, most conservatives and moderates support it, as do majorities of all party groups, including 51% of Democrats. Additionally, nonwhites are closely divided on the issue, with 49% in favor and 45% opposed. That contrasts with whites, among whom 68% are in favor. These patterns of support are consistent with previous Gallup findings on the death penalty. In addition, men continue to be more supportive than women of the death penalty, this year by 67% to 59%, and those without a college degree are more supportive than those with a college degree. Consistent with their more Democratic political leanings, residents of the East are the least likely to favor the death penalty, while residents of the South and Midwest -- who tend to be the most Republican -- are the most likely. Despite the moral nature of the death penalty as a political issue, with teachings on it differing among the various faiths, Gallup finds virtually no difference in support for it on the basis of respondents' religious background. Two-thirds of Protestants and Catholics, alike, are in favor of the death penalty as a punishment for murder, as are at least six in 10 adults regardless of whether they attend church weekly, monthly, or less often. Only among those who say they have no religious preference, which would include atheists and agnostics, is there a difference, with a slightly smaller 56% in favor of the death penalty. There are, however, sharp differences in views about capital punishment by gun ownership. Those who report personally owning a gun are much more likely than those who do not have a gun to favor the death penalty: 80% vs. 55%. Long-Term Drop in Support Seen Mainly Among Democrats Gallup's annual measurement of death penalty views since 2001 shows that support for it has declined more among young adults (aged 18 to 34) than among those 55 and older, and more among men than among women. Additionally, the trend differs by party ID, with support dropping most precipitously among Democrats, from 59% in 2001 to 51% today. Gallup found a dip in support for the death penalty among independents in 2003, but their views since returned to prior levels and, at 65%, independents' current support for the death penalty is similar to what it was in 2001. At 80%, Republicans' current support also matches the 2001 level. Bottom Line Americans' support for the death penalty has varied widely over the 77 years Gallup has measured it, and now stands at 63%, which is about average for the full trend. Gallup's initial reading in 1936 found 59% in favor, but support then dipped well below 50% at points during the 1960s, only to surge above 70% in the 1980s. Support remained high through the 1st part of this century, but has since waned, possibly relating to several states recently imposing moratoriums on executions or abolishing their death penalty statutes altogether. The future course of public support for the death penalty may depend as much on the impact of unforeseen tragedies such as the Oklahoma City bombing or Newtown shootings, as it does on political campaigns by death penalty supporters and opponents. However, for now, views appear to be at a standstill, with just over 6 in 10 Americans in favor, essentially unchanged
