[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 27



SINGAPORE:

26-year-old man arrested for murder at Boon Lay Drive----The suspect will be 
charged in court on Saturday with the murder of a 23-year-old woman.


A 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a murder at Boon Lay 
Drive on Thursday night (Nov 26), the police said.

In a news release on Friday, the police said they received a call for 
assistance from a unit at Block 268B Boon Lay Drive at about 8.16pm on 
Thursday.

When the police arrived, they found a 23-year-old woman lying motionless in the 
unit. She was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital where she was subsequently 
pronounced dead at about 11.14pm.

The suspect will be charged in court on Saturday with murder. If convicted, he 
faces the death penalty.

(source: channelnewsasia.com)






CARIBBEAN:

Public opinion not major stumbling block to removal of death penalty - EU forum


A European Union (EU)-organised forum has recommended the formalising of the 
unofficial moratorium on the death penalty in Caribbean countries and it has 
argued that public opinion is not a major impediment to the removal of capital 
punishment.

The 2-day Caribbean Regional Conference on the Abolition of the Death Penalty 
at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre at Liliendaal which ended on Tuesday also 
stressed that the death penalty is incompatible with human rights and human 
dignity and that it does not "deter crime effectively".

A statement from the conference yesterday said that it recommended that 
international and regional human rights law and standards relating to the death 
penalty be respected and that there be engagement and constructive dialogue 
with governments in the Caribbean as they move towards eventual abolition.

The conference, which saw participants from Europe and the Caribbean and a 
clutch of organisations against capital punishment, also recommended the 
strengthening of judicial structures so that the crimes can be effectively 
investigated, that victims are supported and ensuring legal assistance to 
vulnerable sections of society.

(source: Stabroek News)






INDONESIA:

Islet off Madura to host Waseso's Narcotics prison


National News Minister ready to provide more info to ethics council Social 
media further alienates unhappy children Indonesia to show the world how to 
prevent forest fires at COP21 National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Cmr. Gen. 
Budi Waseso said on Thursday that an islet off Madura in East Java would be the 
location for a special prison for drug convicts.Budi said that the secluded 
island was an appropriate location for the special penitentiary for drug 
offenders. "From the several islands that we surveyed, there is an island off 
Madura that is [...] secluded from any kind of communications," he said as 
reported by kompas.com.

The island is a 10-hour away boat ride away from Sumenep district, Madura.

"We will also construct a moat surrounding the prison filled with wild beasts 
like crocodiles and piranhas," he said.

BNN is coordinating with the Legal and Human Rights Ministry on the 
construction of the 250-inmate capacity prison, which will also be used as an 
execution center for drug convicts on death row.

Budi said earlier this month that he had proposed the crocodile-guarded 
penitentiary for drug convicts who had received serious sentences such as the 
death penalty, adding that the project was also in response to overcrowding in 
narcotics prisons nationwide. Around 60 % of prison inmates in the country are 
drug convicts.

The special prison is also intended to prevent drug lords from continuing to 
run their businesses from inside the prison.

According to recent BNN data, there are 5.9 million drug users in Indonesia and 
30 to 40 people who die from drug abuse every day.

(source: thejakartapost.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Poe, Duterte at odds over revival of death penalty


Presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe on Friday declared her opposition to 
the revival of the death penalty espoused by her rival candidate Davao City 
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

"What is alarming about the death penalty is you cannot wipe out all the 
criminals even if you kill some of them)," Poe said in Pilipino in response to 
a question on her stand on the death penalty.

Duterte has been calling for the return of the death penalty for heinous crimes 
like plunder, illegal drug possession, rape, and kidnapping saying executing 
hardened criminals can be an effective deterrent to criminality.

In an apparent rebuke to Duterte's favorite line of public execution of 
criminals to maintain peace and order, Poe said: "There is no need to shoot 
(criminals), what is important is to just do your job."

Poe said that most often, even in America, the victims of death penalty are 
poor and have no means to defend themselves during court trials.

The death penalty was suspended during the administration of then president and 
current Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and was repealed in the 13th 
Congress during the term of then president and now Pampanga Representative 
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Ironically, one of Poe's strong supporters and re-electionist Senator Vicente 
Sotto III recently filed a bill that aims to bring back the death penalty for 
heinous crimes. His bill remains pending at the Senate.

Poe urged the government to reform the justice system as solution to 
lawlessness and criminality.

She said the country's judicial system is most often tilted in favor of the 
rich and influential people.

Poe urged the courts to speed up trials, for the national government to provide 
the right compensation to judges as a deterrent to corruption, to strictly 
implement the law and ensure fair penalty to all lawbreakers.

She also lamented the massive anomalies inside the New Bilibid Prison in 
Muntinlupa.

She said that if she would be elected president and would become frustrated 
with jail anomalies, she vowed that she would hold office inside the prison 
facility to stop all shenanigans by jail officials and inmates.

(source: inquirer.net)



SRI LANKA:

Sri Lanka's top killer cop, son get death penalty


Sri Lanka's 1-time super cop and darling of the former administration, deputy 
inspector general Vaas Gunawardena and his son were condemned to death after 
they were found guilty of a 2013 killing.

The father-son duo along with four other policemen were convicted for the 
abduction and murder of businessman Mohamed Shiyam sometime between April and 
May 2013 at a time when "white vans" had a free run abducting people.

Extra judicial killings were rife at the time and the authorities turned a 
blind eye to abductions carried out using ubiquitous white vans, but the Shiyam 
case was a chance investigation after CCTV footage showed his abduction.

Gunawardena's son Ravindu, who was already the subject of a previous abduction 
and assault of a fellow student Nipuna Ramanayake in 2009. In that case, 
Gunawardena's wife was also accused of beating the student.

The 3-judge bench of the Colombo High Court on Friday read out a 802-page 
judgement holding Vaas Gunawardena guilty of killing Mohamed Shiyam in return 
for 10 million rupees ($71,000) from a business rival.

Gunawardena becomes the highest-ranking officer to be convicted of murder.

His role in the murder was discovered when CCTV footage showed Shiyam being 
taken away in a vehicle of Gunawardena. His son was among several policemen in 
abducting Shiyam. All of them were sentenced to death.

Sri Lanka's security forces regularly kidnapped and killed opponents during the 
island's ethnic war, a practice that continued after the conflict ended in 
2009.

The practice was so well-known that people began referring to it as being 
"white-vanned", after the vehicles used to abduct victims.

White vans

Former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the local media this month 
that forces under his command arrested the leader of the Frontline Socialist 
Party Premakumar Gunaratnam in April 2012 although at the time it was an 
unsolved "white van" abduction.

Gunaratnam was freed by his abductors following intense international pressure, 
including Australia, his adopted country. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's admission that 
he had instigated the "arrest" of Gunaratnam underscored the military's 
involvement of extra judicial abductions carried by the former regime.

Former president Mahinda Rajapakse and his administration faced international 
censure over their failure to ensure accountability for extrajudicial killings 
carried out by security forces and the police.

Rajapakse, who was ousted in a January election, has denied his son was 
involved in the controversial murder of a rugby player in May 2012.

Police had initially dismissed the death of national rugby skipper Wasim 
Thajudeen as the result of a road accident, but following the change of 
government, police have reopened the case and launched a murder investigation.

The Rajapakse government always denied any involvement in the abductions.

(source: economynext.com)






SOUTH AFRICA

ANC saddened by death of 'Mother Theresa of the Vaal'


The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng on Thursday said it was "deeply 
saddened" by the death of Theresa Ramashamole, "the only woman in South African 
history to face the death penalty for political reasons".

Ramashamole. affectionately known as the "Mother Theresa of the Vaal", passed 
on at her home in Sharpeville, Sedibeng on Tuesday.

"She was a resilient and gallant warrior in the fight against apartheid," a 
statement said.

"At a tender age of 24 she was arrested during the Vaal 1984 uprising against 
rent increases."

In September that year, she was, "along with 5 men known then as the 
Sharpeville 6 ... charged for the killing of a Lekoa township councillor who 
was killed by an angry crowd on the 1st day of the uprising".

"In December 1985, the 6 were convicted and sentenced to death for their 
alleged 'association with the crowd' that killed the councillor, with no direct 
evidence linking them to the murder.

"During her incarceration she suffered torture and was injured during the trial 
when her arm was broken inside a police vehicle."

She sat on death row for 6 years, before being released on December 13, 1991 
"as part of the amnesty for political prisoners arising from agreement of the 
talks about talks between the ANC and the apartheid regime".

The ANC said Ramashamole "passed on after serving the people of Emfuleni in 
Sedibeng as a councillor for 9 years".

"We send our sincere condolences to Comrade Ramashamole's family, comrades and 
friends. Their loss is our loss."

(source: sowetanlive.co.za)

**********

NFP wants wider debate on death penalty


The National Freedom Party says participation in the debate around the death 
penalty should not only be limited to politicians but extended to the public to 
weigh in on the matter.

The party as well as the IFP and the Minority Front are supporting the call for 
a referendum on the death penalty.

But Community Safety MEC Willies Mchunu dismissed the call during a debate in 
the Provincial Legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday - saying there is 
no evidence a death penalty results in the reduction of crime.

The NFP disagrees with party member Erickson Zungu saying criminals are having 
it easy because punishments are not severe.

''Now the time has come where they have to revisit that what was done by the 
apartheid regime. So be it."

''However the people should be allowed to express themselves because it is 
them, the people from the grassroots that suffer the most and that are exposed 
to all these criminal cases,'' he said.

(source: East Coast radio)






AUSTRALIA:

AFP says it has learned Bali 9


Were the Bali 9 case to occur now, Australian Federal Police could still 
provide information to Indonesian authorities without first seeking ministerial 
approval.

That's because guidelines, adopted in 2009, require the minister to approve 
cooperation with foreign police forces in possible death penalty cases once 
arrests have been made.

In the Bali 9 case, no-one had been arrested when the AFP tipped off Indonesian 
police about a group of Australian drug traffickers.

They soon were, with ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran executed in 
April this year.But the AFP now says it does things differently.AFP assistant 
commissioner Scott Lee said the organisation focused on senior leaders of 
organised crime groups.

'In recent days and weeks we have had individuals that we are aware of who are 
travelling offshore as drug couriers,' he told a parliamentary inquiry in 
Canberra on Friday.

'We have taken active decisions not to communicate that information.'AFP 
assistant commissioner Leanne Close said you could 'never say never' about 
providing information to foreign law enforcement agencies.

'We certainly have strengthened the processes for our officers working offshore 
and in Australia to make sure they always consider this (the death penalty) 
first before the provision of any information,' she said.

The parliamentary committee, chaired by long-time death penalty opponent Philip 
Ruddock, is examining how Australia presses for the international abolition of 
the death penalty and what more could be done.

In its submission, the AFP said it had to deal with police in other countries, 
including some that imposed the death penalty, and that cooperation had been 
demonstrably successful in protecting Australians.

Since 2012, federal agencies had seized 10 tonnes of amphetamines, 2 tonnes of 
cocaine, a tonne of heroin plus other drugs weighing 20.3 tonnes - enough for 
more than 8 hits for every person in Australia.

'Without the ability to work with all of our international partners the AFP 
would be hindered in performing the roles expected by Government and the 
Australian community,' it said.

In deciding whether to cooperate with foreign police, the AFP now assesses a 
range of factors.

That includes assessing the reliability of information, seriousness of the 
alleged criminal activity, nationality, age and personal circumstances of the 
person involved and potential risks to the person, including the death penalty.

(source: skynews.com.au)





IRAN----executions

7 Executions in North & South Iran - Including Kurdish and Pakistani Prisoners


According to the Baluchestan Activists Campaign, 5 people were hanged at Minab 
Prison (in Hormozgan province) on the morning of Tuesday November 24. The 
prisoners were reportedly executed for alleged drug related offenses; one of 
the prisoners was Kurdish and another was a Pakistani citizen. The names of the 
3 other prisoners have been reported as: Mousi Kadkhodaie, Shokrollah Baluchi, 
and Ali Faramarzi. The names of the 2 other prisoners are not known at this 
time.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reports on 2 executions at Tabriz Central 
Prison (in East Azerbaijan province) which were carried out on Wednesday 
November 25. The prisoners, Reza Purna and Nouralodin Purna, were hanged for 
drug related offenses.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, 600 people are estimated to be 
on death row in Tabriz Central Prison. In response to the high number of 
prisoners awaiting execution, Iran's Judiciary has in recent weeks begun to 
accelerate the rate in which death sentences are being carried out in this 
prison. At least 8 people have been hanged at Tabriz Central Prison in the last 
2 weeks.

Iranian authorities and official sources have been silent on the executions 
mentioned in this report.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






VIETNAM:

Vietnam lawmakers ease death penalty on corruption


Corrupt Vietnamese officials could be spared the death penalty if they repay at 
least 75 % of their ill gotten gains, state media reported Friday, after 
lawmakers amended the penal code.

The Communist country's rubber stamp parliament lifted the death penalty from 
seven crimes, ranging from the military charge "surrendering to the enemy" to 
low level drug crimes, the VNExpress newspaper said.

The measures approved Friday also include a revision making it possible for 
death penalty sentences for graft to be commuted to life in prison providing at 
least three quarters of the stolen assets are returned, VNExpress added.

The Ministry of Justice had earlier sought to abolish the death penalty for 
corruption but provoked strong public criticism online and in state-run media.

Vietnam has sentenced officials to death in high-profile corruption cases in 
the past, including 2 top executives at disgraced state shipping firm Vinashin. 
Those officials remain on death row.

After the vote Friday, 15 crimes now carry the death penalty in the country, 
down from 22.

The changes Friday show that Vietnam is following "progressive trends" in 
international policy making, lawyer Bui Quang Nghiem told AFP.

"The National Assembly is also determined to fight against corruption by 
maintaining the death penalty for the crime," he added.

Vietnam has been struggling with a large death row population after a two-year 
hiatus on executions between 2011 and 2013 as the country changed from using 
the firing squad to lethal injections.

The country stopped using firing squads in July 2011 in favour of "more humane" 
lethal injections but was unable to import the necessary drugs due to a 
European Union export ban.

In May 2013, Vietnam amended its laws to allow locally-produced chemicals to be 
used, and it executed its 1st prisoner after the 2-year hiatus that August.

Vietnamese authorities do not disclose the number of executions they carry out 
but there are believed to be hundreds currently on death row.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






PAKISTAN:

Punjab for sweeping amends in federal laws


Punjab apex committee yesterday met Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and 
recommended a set of changes in the federal laws for speedy trial and execution 
of terrorists. Vowing to eliminate banned religious outfits, the meeting also 
decided to expand the scope of operation against the facilitators of terrorists 
on the basis of intelligence.

The decision comes after a government investigation found that students and 
teachers from 54 seminaries, of the total 13,782 religious seminaries in the 
province, were actively involved in terrorism and sectarian activities while 
people at 244 Madrassas were identified as terrorists??? facilitators. The 
chief minister observed in the meeting that terrorists and their facilitators 
would be made an example and those destroying peace in the country would be 
brought to their logical end.

Lahore Corps Commander Lt-Gen Sadiq Ali, MPA Jehangir Khanzada - who is a son 
of former Home Minister Col (r) Shuja Khanzada-, Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat 
Gondal, Punjab Rangers DG Maj-Gen Umar Farooq Burki, General Officer Commanding 
10th Division Maj-Gen Tariq Aman, inspector general of police, home secretary 
and senior civil and military officers attended the meeting. The committee 
recommended seven amendments in different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code 
(PPC), CrPC and ATA, 1997 Fair Trial Act, 2013 and Protection of Pakistan Act, 
2014 as proposed by the Punjab government.

The proposed changes are aimed at tightening noose around the terrorists. The 
Punjab government has already sent its recommendations to the federal 
government in this regard. Through a new insertion (Section 297-A) in the PPC, 
the offence of misuse of loudspeakers to outrage religious, ethnic or sectarian 
feelings may be made punishable with imprisonment ranging from 3 to 7 years 
with fine. And if the misuse of loudspeaker triggers violence; then besides 
application of other relevant provisions of laws, the offence may be punished 
with imprisonment from 5 to 10 years and fine up to Rs10 million.

A proposed amendment in Article 164 of Qanoon-e-Shahadat 1984 would make 
conviction on sole basis of modern devices or techniques lawful, thereby 
leaving no room for terrorists to get scot free mainly due to lack of credible 
evidence. Through amendment in section 182 of PPC, the offence of fake 
registration of FIR (false information) would be made a cognisable offence with 
same quantum of punishment as is for the offence in which false information is 
given. An amendment in section 511 of CrPC, offences under Arms Act, may be 
made non-bailable.

A new section - 11 WW of ATA, 1997 - has been proposed to be inserted in the 
Anti-Terrorism Act by which lynching by a mob would be made punishable with 
imprisonment up to 3 years and with fine up to Rs100,000 (in case of hurt); 
life imprisonment and fine up to Rs500,000 (in case of grievous hurt); death 
penalty and fine up to Rs1,000,000 (in case of death). Proposed amendments in 
Fair Trial Act, 2013 and Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 will give concurrent 
powers to the provincial government for detention and issuance of warrants of 
suspected persons. Through an amendment in section 143 of PPC, the punishment 
for unlawful assembly will be enhanced from existing six months imprisonment to 
one year and fine up to Rs100,000 but not less than Rs50,000.

Proposed amendments in Pemra (Amendments) Act, 2015, will bar the media 
organisations from broadcasting of any material, including statements by 
proscribed organisations or militants, which amounts to projection or 
glorification or abetment of terrorists. Moreover, broadcasting of any program 
involving violence or hatred, live actions, operations or tactical moves of 
LEAs, scenes with violence including close up shots of persons killed or 
tortured will not be allowed. Such offences will be cognisable on a written 
complaint from an authorised officer.

The committee also approved reforms in police and other law enforcement 
agencies to cope with the challenge of terrorism. According to an official 
handout, the meeting reviewed in detail the measures taken in the province 
under National Action Plan and expressed its satisfaction over the steps taken 
for curbing terrorism in Punjab. Timely measures taken by the Punjab government 
in this regard were also appreciated. Addressing the meeting, Shahbaz Sharif 
said that officers and Jawans of Pak Army, police as well as all segments of 
society have rendered supreme sacrifices in the war against terrorism. He said 
that military and political leadership of Pakistan is moving forward against 
terrorism with complete unity.

(source: The Nation)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Black Friday Saudi-style: Riyadh to behead more than 50 people


Saudi Arabia is planning to execute more than 50 people, found guilty of 
terrorism, in a single day. The move was immediately slammed by Amnesty 
International, which said the Saudis are "using the guise of counter-terrorism 
to settle political scores."

The information about executions was recently released in Saudi media, which 
said that up to 55 'Al-Qaeda terrorists' and 'criminals' from the town of 
Awamiyya will be executed in the next few days. However, it hasn't been 
specified when and how exactly the executions will take place. Awamiya, in 
Eastern Province where the authorities suppressed protests in 2011, has a 
predominantly Shiite population. According to sources, the executions may be 
carried out after Friday prayers.

Reuters cited the Saudi Okaz newspaper as saying these 55 people are accused of 
sedition, attacks on security officials, and attempts to overthrow the 
government and carry out attacks by using explosives and surface-to-air 
missiles. According to Okaz, those on death row have killed more than 100 
civilians and 71 security personnel.

One of the prisoners is accused of attempting to buy nuclear material in Yemen 
worth $1.5 million for use inside Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi plan has been slammed by Amnesty, which said that executing dozens of 
people "in a single day would mark a dizzying descent to yet another outrageous 
low for Saudi Arabia."

"Saudi Arabia's macabre spike in executions this year, coupled with the 
secretive and arbitrary nature of court decisions and executions in the 
kingdom, leave us no option but to take these latest warning signs very 
seriously," said James Lynch, deputy director of the Middle East and North 
Africa Program at Amnesty International.

Earlier the mothers of 5 teenagers who are among those on death row implored 
King Salman to show clemency.

"The sentences handed down to our children are unique in the history of Saudi 
justice," the statement from the mothers said.

"They were based on confessions extracted under torture, trials that barred 
them from accessing defense counsel, and judges that displayed bias towards the 
prosecution."

This year has seen a sharp increase in the number of executions in the Kingdom. 
About 150 people have already been put to death. This is already a 26-% 
increase on 2014.

The number of executions in 2015 is catching up with the Kingdom's all-time 
annual record of 192, which was documented by Amnesty International in 1995. 
The watchdog has been scathing of the Kingdom's human rights record, saying 
they "fall far short" of global norms.

(source: rt.com)

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

Execution looms for at least 50 on death row, including Shi'a activists


More than 50 people are at increased risk of imminent execution following 
reports in national media outlets close to the Saudi Arabian authorities that 
they will soon be put to death in a single day, warns Amnesty International.

The mothers of 5 Shi'a Muslim activists who are among the prisoners have 
implored King Salman for clemency, after learning that preparations potentially 
associated with impending executions have taken place.

"Saudi Arabia's macabre spike in executions this year, coupled with the 
secretive and arbitrary nature of court decisions and executions in the 
kingdom, leave us no option but to take these latest warning signs very 
seriously," said James Lynch, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North 
Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

"These executions must not go ahead and Saudi Arabia must lift the veil of 
secrecy around its death penalty cases, as part of a fundamental overhaul of 
its criminal justice system."

Among the 5 activists named in the mothers' appeal are juvenile offenders Ali 
al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher and Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon. Amnesty International 
has campaigned for their death sentences to be quashed, because of credible 
allegations they were tortured and had grossly unfair trials at the Specialized 
Criminal Court, which is used in counter-terrorism cases. International law 
prohibits the use of the death penalty against anyone under the age of 18.

Besides Amnesty International campaigning on their behalf, a group of UN 
experts and the European Parliament have both urged Saudi Arabia to halt the 
execution of Ali al-Nimr. The UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has publicly 
stated he does "not expect [Ali] al-Nimr to be executed".

Ali al-Nimr and his uncle Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'a Muslim cleric, 
were among 6 activists arrested following protests calling for political 
reform, which began in the kingdom's predominantly Shi'a Eastern Province in 
2011.

"Among those who are at imminent risk of execution are these 6 Shi'a Muslim 
activists who were clearly convicted in unfair trials. It is clear that the 
Saudi Arabian authorities are using the guise of counter-terrorism to settle 
political scores," said James Lynch.

"3 of those 6 activists were sentenced for 'crimes' committed while they were 
children and have said that they were tortured to confess. Given what we know 
about the deep flaws in the Saudi Arabian criminal justice system, we have 
serious concerns about the fairness of death penalty trials in the country."

The mothers went public with their fears after learning this week that their 
sons had been subjected to a "random" medical examination in prison, which they 
believe is potentially a sign of impending execution. 4 of the 5 have been kept 
in solitary confinement, in a prison wing housing death row inmates, since they 
were moved to al-Ha'ir prison in Riyadh in early October.

In the letter, they call for their sons' convictions to be quashed and retrials 
to be carried out in public proceedings that meet international fair trial 
standards, with independent observers allowed to attend.

Earlier this week, a number of Saudi Arabian newspapers close to the 
authorities reported that up to 55 "from al-Qai'da terrorists and al-Awamiyya" 
will be executed "in the next few days". Al-Awamiyya is a predominantly Shi'a 
area of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province where demonstrations took place in 
2011.

"Beheading or otherwise executing dozens of people in a single day would mark a 
dizzying descent to yet another outrageous low for Saudi Arabia, whose 
authorities have continued to show stone-faced cynicism and even open defiance 
when authorities and ordinary people around the world question their sordid 
record on the use of the death penalty," said James Lynch.

Saudi Arabia has long been one of the most prolific executioners in the world, 
and its record is worsening following a massive recent spike in executions. 
Amnesty International will release its annual report on death sentences and 
executions around the world in early 2016.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times and in all cases 
without exception - regardless of who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence 
or method of execution.

(source: Amnesty International)