[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 20



INDIA:

Death penalty cannot be arbitrarily imposed: Expert


Of the over 1600 convicts awarded the death penalty in the last 15 years, the 
Supreme Court confirmed the sentence in only 5% of cases while rest were either 
commuted to life or acquitted.

A recent study by the National Law University that has researched death row 
convicts since 2000 has found that of the 1,617 prisoners sentenced to death by 
trial courts, the capital punishment was confirmed in only 71 cases. While 22 
convicts were acquitted, in the case of 115, it was commuted to life.

No wonder voices against the death penalty are growing. Roger Hood, professor 
of criminology at Oxford University and a renowned advocate of abolition of 
death penalty, has told the Law Commission in a consultation that "capital 
punishment is not an option for India as there were very few convictions, and 
most were wrong".

Hood has said India is violating Article 6(1) of International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the UN human rights charter, according to 
which 'no death penalty can be arbitrarily imposed'. An opportunity of 
reformation after long retention must be given to the accused which is their 
one of the rights according to ICCPR, he said.

"Failure to provide judicial support may lead to crimes but there is no proof 
that death penalty helped in deterring crimes," Hood said. He was invited by 
the Law Commission last week for a consultation on capital punishment. Legal 
luminaries, social thinkers and politicians were part of the day-long 
deliberations in the capital on July 11.

Making a strong case for abolition of death penalty, Law Commission chairman 
Justice A P Shah, while initiating the discussion, said about 2/3 of the world 
has abolished death penalty and "it is time we revisited our stand". "Mahatama 
Gandhi and his principles have always been against death penalty," Justice Shah 
observed.

There were 6 politicians who were part of the consultation process, including 
Varun Gandhi of BJP, Kanimozhi of DMK, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari of 
Congress, who advocated abolition of death penalty.

Wajahat Habibullah, former chairperson of the National Commission for 
Minorities and the first Chief Information Commissioner, said he had personal 
confrontation with terrorism, and still felt that death penalty was not the way 
to deal with terrorism. "We won the Independence struggle through the 
principles of 'ahimsa', so we must follow it also," he said.

Prashant Bhushan, senior advocate, blamed the trial courts for arbitrary and 
irresponsible judgments on death sentences. "Death penalty is a form of 
retribution and violence by the state. It promotes a lynch mob mentality and is 
not a significant deterrent for people. There is always a chance that the 
judicial system might go wrong," he said and cited instances how in many cases 
people got acquitted after being awarded the death penalty.

Suhas Chakma of the Asian Centre for Human Rights blamed executions by the 
state as 'politically motivated'. "The fact that very few number of sentences 
have been confirmed by the high courts and even fewer by the SC in comparison 
to the number of cases reported in the NCRB, shows that death penalty has no 
impact and it has no use," he said.

********************

Here's proof that poor get gallows, rich mostly escape


The fact that our legal system is skewed against the poor and marginalized is 
well-known. And to that extent, it's only expected that they get harsher 
punishment than the rich. But here are figures that tell the full story.

A first of its kind study, which has analyzed data from interviews with 373 
death row convicts over a 15-year period, has found 3/4 of those given the 
death penalty belonged to backward classes, religious minorities and 75% were 
from economically weaker sections.

The reason why the poor, Dalits and those from the backward castes get a 
rougher treatment from our courts is more often than not their inability to 
find a competent lawyer to contest their conviction. As many as 93.5% of those 
sentenced to death for terror offences are Dalits or religious minorities.

The findings are part of a study conducted by the National Law University 
students with the help of the Law Commission that is currently engaged in a 
wider consultation with different stakeholders on the issue of death penalty 
and whether it should be abolished.

Law panel chairman Justice A P Shah, himself a strong proponent of abolition of 
death penalty, is to submit a final report to the Supreme Court by next month.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said: "It is true that there is a class bias, 
otherwise why would we have so many people languishing in jail because they 
cannot afford a lawyer to get bail?" He said only 1% of the people can afford a 
competent lawyer. Afzal Guru hardly had any legal representation at the trial 
court stage, he added.

Founder of Human Rights Law Network and senior advocate Colin Gonsalves holds 
similar views. "I think the finding that 75% of the death row convicts are poor 
is the absolute minimum. The rich mostly get away while the very poor, 
especially Dalits and tribals, get the short shrift."

The NLU students have interviewed all the death sentence convicts and have 
documented their socio-economic background. The psychological torture these 
prisoners face before they are hanged are some of the observations in the 
study. Prisoners on death row are not allowed to attend court proceedings most 
of the time. In many cases, those interviewed revealed they were unable to 
understand proceedings even when they got an opportunity to be in the court as 
there was not much interaction with their lawyers.

"Gallows are only for the marginalized. The first thing when a person is 
arrested is his access to a lawyer. The poor don't get that access while the 
well-off do and that completely changes their case," said Suhas Chakma of Asian 
Centre for Human Rights. For the economically weak, legal aid or advice comes 
at the trial stage by which time it is too late, he added.

Within the prison, death row convicts are put in separate barracks and kept in 
solitary confinement. They are not allowed to work unlike other prisoners or 
mingle with anyone else, leading to many psychological disorders. The result is 
startling. Many prisoners interviewed said they wanted to die and should be 
hanged without delay. A few mentally strong ones said if represented well they 
could escape the gallows.

Between 2000 and 2015, 1,617 were sentenced to death by the trial courts - 42% 
of them from UP and Bihar. The conviction rate, however, at the stage of high 
courts and the SC was much lower at 17.5% and 4.9% respectively. Most death 
sentences were commuted to life imprisonment or acquitted.

(source for both: Times of India)






UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

UAE imposes harsh penalties for religious crimes


The United Arab Emirates on Monday announced new legislation imposing harsh 
sentences including the death penalty for crimes related to religious hatred 
and Sunni extremism.

A presidential decree criminalises any act that stirs religious hatred and also 
prohibits discrimination "on the basis of religion, caste, creed, doctrine, 
race, colour or ethnic origin".

Offenders risk up to 10 years in prison or the death penalty if convicted of 
"takfirism" or Sunni Muslim extremism, according to the text of the decree 
distributed by the official WAM news agency.

Proponents of such ideology adopted by Al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist 
groups describe as infidels non-Muslims as well as Muslims who do not share 
their beliefs.

The oil-rich Gulf state last year brought in strict new legislation and listed 
83 groups classified as "terrorist", including the Muslim Brotherhood.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






LEBANON:

Lebanon justice minister urges death penalty for road rage killer


The death sentence could be issued against a motorist who stabbed another 
driver to death in Beirut last week to deter other would-be killers, Justice 
Minister Ashraf Rifi said Monday.

Wednesday's attack was both "ferocious and torturous," Rifi said, asserting 
that the crime met the legal qualifications for a death sentence.

"The trial should be quick so that the perpetrator will serve as an example for 
others," he said after meeting with the wife of George al-Reef, who died after 
being stabbed 15 times in the chest in the Ashrafieh neighborhood of Saifi.

Reef succumbed to his wounds at Haddad Hospital in Ashrafieh late Thursday, one 
day after being attacked by Tarek Yateem. Yateem, who is in custody, already 
had several arrest warrants issued against him for previous assaults.

State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud will preside over investigations of the crime, 
Rifi said, adding that he will instruct the judiciary to speed up 
investigations ahead of a "hopefully swift" verdict.

The justice minister said that even though the judiciary is overwhelmed with a 
large number of cases, "special crimes" such as the one committed against Reef 
should be given priority over others.

Rola al-Reef, the victim's wife, urged the death penalty against Yateem and 
called for the punishment to "take place on the same street where George was 
killed."

(source: The Daily Star)