[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 7



NORTH KOREA:

N. Korea is one of 11 nations with record of executions for past 5 yrs


The nongovernmental human rights group, Amnesty International (AI), has listed 
North Korea as 1 of 11 countries that have carried out executions for the past 
5 years, a U.S. media report said Thursday.

AI said in its annual report released a day earlier that information on North 
Korea cannot be verified on its own, but reports have shown that North Korea 
has carried out capital punishment on various crimes, according to the 
Washington-based Voice of America (VOA).

The report said the purging of North Korea's former defense chief Hyon 
Yong-chol and ex-vice premier Choe Yong-gun are examples of the country 
executing its people, the report said.

The North Korean government's use of execution is excessive, especially over 
crimes that do not deserve capital punishment under the international law, one 
AI official was quoted as telling the VOA.

The court process leading to a death penalty is also very unfair, the official 
said, calling on the communist country to stop the practice of executions.

The official added that North Korea's executions are only the tip of the 
iceberg in terms of other serious human rights violations perpetuated by the 
government.

(source: Yonhap News)






INDIA:

Perarivalan planning book against death penalty----Says last 25 years in prison 
have been horrible and painful


After penning his experiences as a death row convict in a book, An Appeal from 
the Death Row (Rajiv Murder Case - The Truth Speaks) in 2008, A.G. Perarivalan 
alias Arivu, is looking forward to document his views against the death 
penalty.

In his written reply to questions posed by The Hindu through his lawyers, 
Perarivalan, now a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, said, 
"I have a definite idea to write a book on my experience about how death 
penalty is wrong.

The book may be in documentation form or novel form."

Whatever be the form of the book, the 44-year-old prisoner is certain that it 
would "shake the conscience of persons" who think death penalty is the only 
solution to tackle most of the crimes.

Describing the last 25 years in prison as "horrible and painful," he said, "It 
is not a prisoner's or a convict's pain. It is more than that - the pain of an 
innocent."

For quite sometime now, Perarivalan, who is lodged in the Vellore Central 
Prison for Men, has been undergoing treatment including for high blood 
pressure, orthopaedic and urological problems.

Mental stress

"Now, I am taking medicines for health reasons. But I do not know what medicine 
I have to take other than freedom to cure my mental stress," he added.

Perarivalan has completed BCA and MCA from Indira Gandhi National Open 
University and a number of certificate courses from the prison.

He disagreed that the State government's letter to the Centre on March 2 
seeking its views on the release of the 7 convicts was with the elections in 
mind.

"There is no 2nd opinion that seeking the view of the Union government before 
our release is the best possible solution," he noted.

(source: The Hindu)






CHINA:

Beijing Says AI Death Penalty Report Is Biased against China


The Chinese government said Amnesty International has "biased opinions" on 
China and refused to comment on its death penalty report released on Wednesday, 
which estimates that "thousands" were executed in China last year.

Asked at a press conference about the AI report, spokesperson of the Chinese 
foreign ministry Lu Kang refused to comment and said AI tends to have biased 
opinions on China.

According to the human rights organization, the number of death penalty 
executions in 2015 at 1,634 were the highest in 25 years.

The global rise in the figure was attributed to 3 countries - Saudi Arabia, 
Iran and Pakistan - who were responsible for 89 % of all the executions carried 
out in 2015, excluding China.

Data from the world's 2nd largest economy were not included as China considers 
this information to be a "State secret," although the AI report notes that 
"thousands of executions" were carried out in the Chinese territory.

AI Hong Kong's William Nee told EFE, AI asks governments across the world for 
information on capital punishment to prepare the report, and a "majority" 
responds to the request in "a professional manner."

"It is not a complicated task. It is completely hypocritical that China calls 
our report biased when it refuses to give us information and continues treating 
capital punishment figures as a State secret," he denounced.

Despite the lack of transparency, he said AI has "no doubt" that China is in 
top spot as the country with the highest number of executions in the world.

(source: Latin American Herald Tribune)






BANGLADESH:

197 got death penalty in BD last year: AI


Bangladesh ranked the 3rd after China and Egypt among countries of the world in 
awarding death sentences in 2015, according to a report of Amnesty 
International (AI) released globally Wednesday. The global rights group in its 
'Death Sentences and Executions Report 2015' said ordinary and special courts 
of Bangladesh sentenced at least 197 people to death including four under the 
ICT trials. At least 1,425 prisoners were under death sentence in the country 
at the end of the year. About Bangladesh, the report alleged that the 
proceedings of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a special court 
established to try people accused of crimes committed during 1971 war of 
Independence, violated international fair trial standards, including by denying 
the defence the possibility to challenge the credibility of prosecution 
witnesses. Bangladesh, Iran, the Maldives and Pakistan also sentenced juvenile 
offenders to death in 2015, the report said. It said Bangladesh also carried 
out four executions by hanging along with Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iran, 
Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Sudan and Sudan in 
the same year. No execution was recorded in Bangladesh in 2014.

(source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com)

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

SC upholds JMB man's death penalty


The Appellate Division on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of Masumur Rahman 
alias Masum, a member of the banned militant outfit Jama???atul Mujahideen 
Bangladesh (JMB), in a case over bomb blast at Laxmipur Judge Court.

A 4-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by chief justice SK Sinha, 
passed the order, reports UNB news agency.

Besides, the SC scrapped the High Court judgment that had acquitted condemned 
convict Mohammad Amzad Ali, another JMB man, and ordered Amzad's retrial.

The SC also asked the authorities concerned to shift Amzad Ali to general cell 
from the condemn cell of the jail.

Lawyer Delwar Hossain stood for Masum while deputy attorney general Shashank 
Shekhor Sarkar represented the state.

According to the prosecution, miscreants carried out the bomb attack on 
Laxmipur district Judge Court during working hours on 3 October 2005.

Majibullah, a litigant, was killed and several other people, including Judge MA 
Sufian and bench officer Shafiqullah, were injured in the bomb blast.

Later, a case was filed against JMB member Masumur Rahman alias Masum in this 
connection.

On 15 August 2006, Laxmipur Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced 3 JMB men-Masum, 
Ataur Rahman Sunny and Amzad Ali-to death in 2 cases.

Later, the convicts filed an appeal with the High Court against the tribunal 
verdict.

After hearing, an HC bench upheld the death sentence of Masum while acquitted 
Amzad Ali in the case in 2013.

Later, the state filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the verdict and 
the convicts filed petitions seeking acquittal.

(source: prothom-alo.com)






GHANA:

Amnesty International Ghana to adopt new strategy to abolish death penalty


Amnesty International, Ghana is adopting a new strategy for the death penalty 
to be abolished.

The Country Director, Lawrence Amesu said the organization will work closely 
with a group of parliamentarians who are against the death penalty law.

Mr. Amesu said there are indications that many people in Ghana want the death 
penalty revoked, but will be difficult to achieve if the law exists.

Mr Amesu was speaking in Accra at the launch of the 2015 Death Penalty Report.

(source: bgcghana.com)






GLOBAL:

3 Countries Cause World Death Penalty Rates to Soar


Between January 2005 and August 2008, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and 
Yemen, are known to have executed at least 32 people for crimes they committed 
as children. The majority of those executions were by hanging.

In fact, last year saw the highest number of executions globally in more than 
25 years, with 3 countries - Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia - accounting for 
nearly 90 % of known executions, even as much of the world seems to be 
rejecting the practice. (Amnesty International's figures exclude executions in 
China, which regards information on its use of the death penalty as a state 
secret.)

In contrast, the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by children 
dropped to nine known executions last year as compared with 14 in 2014. Even 
with this decline, that's too many executions of juvenile offenders - 
international law flatly prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed under 
age 18.

Only 2 countries are known to have carried out death sentences against juvenile 
offenders in 2015. Pakistan put 5 people to death for crimes they had committed 
while under age 18, and Iran executed 4. In comparison, in 2014, Iran -- the 
only country known to have carried out such executions in that year -- put 14 
juvenile offenders to death.

This year Bangladesh and Maldives joined the list of countries that, although 
still handing down death sentences for juvenile offenders, have not carried 
them out. Juvenile offenders convicted in previous years also remained under 
sentence of death in Indonesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, and Saudi Arabia, as 
well as Iran, Amnesty International reports.

While Iran has for years been the world leader in executing juvenile offenders, 
Pakistan's execution spree, including of juvenile offenders, began in December 
2014 as part of a misguided response to a horrific attack by the Pakistani 
Taliban splinter group Tehreek-e-Talibam on a school in Peshawar that killed 
over 130 children.

Overall, 4 countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2015, and 
169 of the 193 United Nations member countries were execution-free during the 
year. Despite the rise in executions in Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, 
there's reason to conclude that most of the world is on a trajectory toward 
total abolition.

In short, it's clear that the few countries that continue to rely on this 
particularly inhuman punishment - whether for juvenile offenders or for adults 
- are increasingly isolated.

(source: Human Rights Watch)

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

There's no such thing as a humane execution - I know, because I've seen the 
autopsy photos----The use of the death penalty is at its highest for 25 years. 
And it shouldn't matter how executions are carried out: lethal injection has 
been described as "the chemical equivalent of burning at the stake"


My 1st real execution left me horrified.

Brandon Rhode was executed in Georgia in September 2010. Six days before his 
execution, terrified of what was to come, he tried to commit suicide by 
slashing his veins with a razor blade. Prison officials rushed him to hospital 
to suture his wounds and save his life so that - in the name of justice - the 
state could execute him one week later.

I only found out that British drugs had been used to kill Brandon Rhode after 
his execution. And it was only after his execution when I received the autopsy 
photos that I came to know that, like Rudy's, Brandon's execution had been 
torturous.

Brandon was executed using the then standard lethal injection 'cocktail': 
sodium thiopental (an anesthetic agent), pancuronium bromide (a paralytic 
agent) and potassium chloride (which stops the heart). This 'cocktail' was 
specifically designed to mask any suffering of the prisoner being put to death 
- the 2nd drug serving to paralyse him so that he is unable to scream or thrash 
if something goes wrong.

Paradoxically, the drug that is used to make the lethal injection look humane 
to the public is precisely the one that can cause the most suffering to the 
prisoner.

Something did go wrong in Brandon's execution. His autopsy photos show him with 
his eyes wide open, evidence that the anesthetic had failed and that - 
paralysed but still conscious - Brandon had suffered the excruciating pain of 
the administration of potassium chloride, a sensation that Supreme Court 
Justices recently described as "the chemical equivalent of being burnt at the 
stake."

Having worked as an investigator into cases concerned with the death penalty - 
and specifically on lethal injection executions in the US - for many years, I 
thought I was pretty hardened to the subject. But as I watched the guards drill 
into Rudy Jones' ankle in a botched execution attempt in the first episode of 
Peter Moffat's fictional drama, Undercover, whatever professional detachment 
I'd built up over the last 6 years fell away.

In the first episode of Undercover, Peter Moffat achieved something I've spent 
years fighting to do: expose the myth that lethal injection is in some way 
clean and clinical, a "humane" method of execution.

As Undercover illustrated so deftly, when lethal injection executions go wrong, 
the result is torture. Viewers may have wondered if the execution scene in 
Undercover was exaggerated for dramatic effect. Sadly, real life executions can 
be just as bloody and brutal.

Oklahoma prisoner Clayton Lockett, for example, moaned for an hour as officials 
jabbed his body in fruitless attempts to find a vein. Ultimately they hit an 
artery in his groin causing blood to spray over a medic's white coat. After 
some back and forth with the state's Governor about exactly how one might go 
about halting an execution, proceedings were called off. Clayton died of a 
heart attack behind the curtain.

And Undercover's hour-long execution lasted only 1/2 as long as that of Arizona 
prisoner, Joseph Wood, whose lawyers convinced the Supreme Court to assemble 
and consider staying the execution while the state was still attempting to kill 
him. The Justices were still arguing the toss when Wood died on the gurney, 
just shy of the 2-hour mark.

Lethal injection is unquestionably grisly. But its brutality is not all blood 
and gore. Perhaps the most chilling moment in the show was Louisiana's tuxedoed 
Assistant Attorney General reassuring a Judge that Haysbert's execution could 
press ahead because "we don't think his breathing is actual breathing...it's a 
kind of snorting".

This kind of argument, distant and dehumanising, is familiar in states' legal 
submissions in death penalty cases. It reduces a human being to a process which 
the law says must go ahead. The kind of process where trying to kill yourself 
ahead of an execution is deemed to be a "misdemeanour", and where you can't 
have a cigarette for your last meal, because it's "bad for your health".

As the number of death penalties worldwide skyrocket, it's more important than 
ever to emphasise that there's no such thing as a humane execution. The use of 
the death penalty is at its highest in 25 years, with 3 countries (Saudi 
Arabia, Iran and Pakistan) accounting for almost 90 % of the killings. After 
what I've seen, this is more than unacceptable.

(source: Maya Foa, The Independent)





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

Billionaire calls for worldwide abolition of death penalty, says its 
"barbaric"----The report revealed that at least 1,634 people were executed in 
25 countries in 2015, which is over 50% increase from the 2014 figure.


British billionaire, Richard Branson has called for the abolition of death 
penalty across the world following the Amnesty International global report on 
death sentences and executions, which was released on Tuesday, April 6, 2016.

The report revealed that at least 1,634 people were executed in 25 countries in 
2015, which is over 50% increase from the 2014 figure.

Branson described the capital punishment as "inhumane and should have no place 
in any society. Those are non-negotiable beliefs."

According to the report, which shows that the 2015 statistics is the highest 
recorded by Amnesty in the last 25 years, nearly 90 % of the executions carried 
out last year were just in 3 countries - Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

Al though it is believed that China execute more people more than the 3 
countries, it is not included in Amnesty's number of recorded executions 
because the country does not release official figures on capital punishment.

Giving a US case study and lamenting the erroneous conviction of innocent 
persons, Branson said over 150 death-row inmates in the US have been freed in 
the last decades.

He said: "It doesn't take much to understand how fraught with problems the 
death penalty is. Last year, I wrote about the case of Richard Glossip in the 
US state of Oklahoma, a man widely believed to be innocent of the crime he was 
sentenced to die for. Richard came within minutes of lethal injection, and is 
still facing an uphill battle proving his innocence against a criminal justice 
system that hates admitting error.

"More than 150 death-row inmates in the US have been exonerated and freed in 
the last decades, but many only after decades on death row, fighting unethical 
prosecutors, incompetent lawyers and politicians who presume the public wants 
them to pull the trigger or flip the switch.

"I hope a new generation of political leaders will take a clear-eyed view of 
this problem.

"I can't say it often enough. It's time to abolish the death penalty for good, 
in the US and around the world."

In what appears to be a glim of hope and progress, the report said four 
countries abolished death penalty for all crimes and expunged it from their law 
books in 2015.

The countries include Republic of Congo, Fiji, Madagascar and Suriname.

(source: pulse.ng)