[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 19


NEW ZEALAND/CHINA:

Minister due to decide on extradition


Justice Minister Amy Adams cannot say when she will make a decision on the fate 
of a Korean man who has spent more than three years in an Auckland jail without 
charge.

China has requested the extradition of Kyung Yup Kim, who is wanted over the 
death of a woman in Shanghai in 2009.

Mr Kim left China and lived in Korea for six months before arriving in New 
Zealand in October 2010.

In May 2011, China requested that New Zealand extradite him on a charge of 
intentional homicide.

He has spent more than three years on remand in Auckland's Mount Eden jail, 
fighting his extradition all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Korean man has twice applied to have the hearing to decide whether he is 
eligible for extradition deferred.

In May 2012, Mr Kim applied for a writ of habeas corpus, an ancient legal 
remedy which forces the authorities to bring a person before the court to 
establish whether they are being held lawfully.

When that was declined by the High Court he appealed to the Court of Appeal and 
then the Supreme Court - which dismissed the case in December 2012. Last year, 
a judge at the Auckland District Court determined that Mr Kim was eligible for 
surrender.

In September, Mr Kim abandoned his appeals, and instead sought a final decision 
from the new Justice Minister over whether she should hand him over to Chinese 
authorities.

That decision is due this Thursday.

Last week, Mr Kim's lawyer Tony Ellis received a letter from Ms Adams saying 
she was considering seeking undertakings from China that his client would not 
be sentenced to death or tortured. "The Minister of Justice could have got 
those and should have got those 3 years ago," he said.

Dr Ellis said, under international law, such assurances were not worth the 
paper they were written on.

"The UN Human Rights Committee has said you need the assurances against 
torture, but you need a monitoring mechanism. It's not good [enough] being 
given an assurance."

Dr Ellis said if Mr Kim was returned to China, his client might face the death 
penalty, was more than likely to be tortured and certainly would not get a fair 
trial.

He said his client had been refused bail because he was deemed a flight risk.

But Dr Ellis said that was unlikely, given he had a home in South Auckland with 
his two New Zealand-born children and also lived with his mother, father and 
brother.

Challenge to legal aid decision

The case was funded by legal aid until it was referred to the Justice Minister, 
and Dr Ellis said he had applied for a review of the decision not to grant 
legal aid over the surrender decision.

"The most important decision, the Minister's surrending him or not - and then 
they deny legal aid," he said.

"There can't be anything more important than determining whether you are going 
to be sent back to somewhere you might be put to death and tortured."

Dr Ellis said if he did not receive an answer from Ms Adams by the end of the 
week, he would file an application in the High Court for Mr Kim's release.

According to a spokesperson, Ms Adams said she could not comment while the case 
was under active consideration.

(source: Radio New Zealand)






SOUTH AFRICA:

Death penalty is not a magic wand for SA


THE unacceptably high incidence of violent crime in SA has resulted in 
vociferous demands in the community for the reinstatement of the death penalty 
in our country.

Some people regard this penalty as a magic wand that will resolve the very 
serious problems that we are confronted with in relation to the criminal 
justice system. Furthermore, opinion polls suggest significant support for the 
reinstatement of the penalty.

There are cogent arguments against the death penalty:

-- There is, according to research, no conclusive evidence to prove that the 
death penalty is more of a deterrent than life imprisonment.

-- The death penalty is an irrevocable punishment. In the US there are about 
12 recorded cases in which persons were executed and subsequently it has been 
established that they were innocent.

-- The death penalty is a cruel and barbaric punishment that depraves all who 
are involved with its application.

-- In heterogeneous countries such as SA and the US, it has been established 
that there is invariably a racial bias in the imposition of the death penalty. 
This was the position in apartheid SA and it remains the position in the US, 
where the majority of those executed are poor and black or persons of colour.

-- The death penalty is an arbitrary punishment since it is not imposed with 
any consistency. It depends, inter alia, on the judge???s disposition to the 
death penalty and the quality of the defence available to accused persons.

-- The death penalty is morally, philosophically and theologically 
questionable.

The most powerful argument in favour of the ultimate penalty is that of 
retribution. When unspeakable crimes are committed society demands retribution 
and this can only be satisfied, according to proponents of the death penalty, 
with the ultimate punishment. The eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth 
approach. However great the demand for retribution may be, it is my submission 
that it is outweighed by the 6 arguments above.

Most informed and perceptive commentators are of the opinion that the 
reinstatement of the death penalty would not instantaneously, or even over a 
period of time, resolve the serious crime problem in SA. What is required is a 
far more effective and resourced criminal justice system and a police force 
that is competent and not corrupt, in its fight against crime. There is indeed 
no magic solution.

What is also vitally necessary is the socioeconomic upliftment of millions of 
South Africans, who are poor, unemployed and live in appalling conditions. 
According to the South African Survey (2010-11), 36.5% of our population is 
unemployed. To make matters worse, 72.3% of people between the ages of 15 and 
37 are unemployed. Grinding poverty and people who eke out an existence in the 
informal settlements are the metaphorical breeding grounds for violent crime in 
SA. The call for the reinstatement of the death penalty is a red herring. The 
real problems must be tackled if we are to radically reduce crime in our 
society.

(source: George Devenish is professor emeritus and senior research associate at 
the University of KwaZulu-Natal----Business Day Live)



PAKISTAN:

Honour killing: Pakistan court awards death penalty to 4 relatives


An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan today sentenced to death the father, 2 
brothers and former husband of a pregnant woman, who was stoned to death by 
them outside Lahore High Court in a case of 'honour killing'.

Judge Haroon Latif awarded death penalty to Farzana Parveen's father Muhammad 
Azeem, brother Muhammad Zahid, former husband Mazhar Iqbal and cousin Jumah 
Khan.

A fine of Rs 1 Lakh has also been imposed on each of them.

Ghulam Ali, another cousin of her, has been awarded 10 years imprisonment.

Farzana, 25, was killed on May 27 when her father, former husband, 2 brothers 
and some other relatives attacked her on Fane Road near the court with bricks.

She was going to the Lahore High Court along with her husband Muhammad Iqbal, 
45, to attend hearing in an abduction case.

Farzana, of Nankana Sahib district, some 80 kilometers from Lahore, was 
pregnant at that time.

She died on the spot while Iqbal escaped unhurt. The killing sparked a 
countrywide debate demanding strict laws and their implementation to check the 
'honour killing'.

The Pakistani prime minister, the chief justice and even foreign countries like 
the US and the UK condemned her murder.

The government had vowed for speedy justice in this case. Farzana's family had 
accused Iqbal of kidnapping her. It also claimed that Farzana was already 
married to her cousin Mazhar and Iqbal had lured her into second marriage 
without getting divorce from the first husband which is "illegal and 
un-Islamic."

Iqbal had killed his 1st wife some 6 years ago but was freed from jail after 
his son, the complainant in the case, pardoned him.

Advocate Mansoor Rehman Afridi, a counsel for the accused, told reporters they 
would file a review petition in the superior court against the verdict of the 
ATC.

The honour killing incidents are on the rise in Pakistan especially in Punjab, 
a province of 90-million. Last year, 870 women were killed in the name of 
honour here.

(source: Economic Times)






SRI LANKA:

Sri Lanka releases Indian fishermen on death row


The Sri Lankan Government on Wednesday released the 5 Indian fishermen, 
sentenced to death in a case of alleged drug trafficking.

An official told The Hindu that the 5 fishermen had been released to the care 
of the Indian High Commission in Colombo, before being sent back to India.

It is learnt that they will serve no further jail term in India.

PTI adds:

The release came after Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa commuted their 
death penalty.

Prison officials said the 5 fishermen have been handed over to the immigration 
authorities for further action.

Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet, all hailing from Tamil 
Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 and were sentenced to death by the Colombo High 
Court on October 30 for alleged drug trafficking.

The court ruling had triggered fiery protests in parts of Tamil Nadu and 
sporadic violence broke out in and around Rameswaram island as a large number 
of people staged protests.

India on November 11 had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka 
against a verdict of the high court awarding death sentence to them.

Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation last 
week on the issue.

The issue of fishermen is a very emotive matter for both Sri Lanka and India, 
where Tamil Nadu???based parties including AIADMK and DMK have been regularly 
pressing the government to take up the matter with the Lankan authorities 
seriously and have often resented high - profile visits from the island nation.

(source: The Hindu)






TAIWAN:

MOJ to review case after rapist-murderer escapes death penalty


The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said Wednesday that it will review a case in 
which a man was sentenced to life imprisonment a day earlier for repeatedly 
raping the daughter of his partner and later murdering her.

Amid concerns by lawmakers that the sentence was too lenient, Vice Justice 
Minister Tsai Pi-yu said the case is still under legal proceedings and has yet 
to receive a final ruling.

After the court hands down its final verdict, the ministry will ask the Taiwan 
High Prosecutors Office to weigh the possibility of an appeal or review.

The case revolves around Hsu Chuan, 58, of New Taipei, who lived with the 
victim's mother 13 years ago and allegedly began to sexually assault the girl 
twice per week since 2006 for a period of five years. She waited until after 
her mother's suicide to report the matter to police in the company of her 
biological father on Sept. 19, 2011. She also moved out to live with her 
biological father.

Hsu, who had been jailed previously for sexually assaulting members of his 
family, pleaded with the victim to drop the case, but her father persuaded her 
not to.

Hsu then sneaked into the victim's house Nov. 29 and strangled her to death 
with a steel wire, arranging the scene so that it looked as if she had 
committed suicide.

The district court 1st handed down the death sentence to Hsu in 2013, which the 
high court maintained, as well as a single conviction for sexual assault.

The supreme court earlier this year revoked the death sentence and instructed 
that a retrial should take place, following which he was handed down the life 
sentence.

(source: Focus Taiwan)