[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 2



KUWAIT:

Kuwait sentences parents to death for killing toddler----Kuwait's interior 
ministry says the parents were drug addicts


A court in Kuwait on Monday, January 2, sentenced a couple to death after 
finding them guilty of torturing their 3-year-old daughter until she died, it 
said in a statement.

The parents, both Kuwaitis, were arrested in May and accused of beating and 
torturing the girl until she died and then keeping her body in a freezer for a 
week.

The court statement only gave the verdict but, according to media reports at 
the time of their arrest, they had been annoyed by their daughter's constant 
crying.

The father, 26-year-old Salem Buhan, and mother, 23-year-old Amira Hussein, 
were charged with murder after police found burn marks on the shoulders and 
legs of the toddler's body, according to the interior ministry.

The ministry also said they were drug addicts.

The verdict is not final as it must be reviewed by the appeals and supreme 
courts.

Executions in Kuwait are carried out by hanging.

Barring the execution of 5 men in mid-2013, the Gulf emirate has stopped 
executing people since 2007 although dozens of men and women are on death row.

(source: rappler.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Death penalty is no guarantee of a crime-free Philippines


(This column gives way to the following article on the now-raging issue of the 
re-imposition of the death penalty written by Dr. Ricardo S.D. Ledesma, an 
active Church leader and a Papal Awardee, "Pro-Ecclesia et Pontificie." A 
physician, he was former president of the of the Laity of Manila. He sent the 
article to this columnist with his request that it be considered for 
publication.)

During these stressful times, our country is enveloped with more shadows than 
light, more darkness of fear, doubts, hopelessness, and anxiety with the rising 
cases of extrajudicial killings, drug addictions, and acts of terrorism. People 
are living in darkness. There is an impending crisis in our country... crisis 
of FAITH and a crisis of HOPE.

As the year 2016 draws to a close, we are reminded of the wonderful script of 
CHRISTMAS, intensely preparing for the joyous coming of JESUS, our Savior and 
Redeemer.

Recent available surveys showed that many Filipinos are getting discouraged by 
the sad state of the nation with more than 6,000 lives reportedly lost to 
unresolved extrajudicial killings (EJKs) being linked to war on illegal drugs. 
Daily print, broadsheets, and TV channels show gruesome photographs of corpses 
covered by cardboards with print messages, "I am a fixer," "I am a pusher." "Do 
not emulate me."

The story of Christmas although ancient is always made new - "how God became 
flesh and lived among us, to be like us in all things but sin... to be 
"Emmanuel" reminding men and women that God is with us at all times. Our 
welcoming Jesus this Christmas is to highlight that Jesus is the "Unconquered 
Son of Justice" who come to dispel the darkness of the world held captive by 
sin and ignorance. His coming tells us that He made Himself human to be one of 
us, to bring His love to all of us, especially the poor, the orphan, sick, 
disabled, and the oppressed.

For the past 6 months, people have been seriously bothered by a growing concern 
on the government's brutal war on drugs, and lately the urgent priority to pass 
the death penalty by the Committee on Justice in the House of Representatives.

Our celebration of Christmas is a celebration of LIFE and a celebration of 
Hope. Jesus Christ came to liberate human beings from the clutches of sin and 
death. The first purple candle lighted on the First Sunday of Advent signified 
that JESUS is the light of the world. Revival of the death penalty is not a 
solution to the mounting crimes of drugs and criminality. There are no 
scientific or reliable statistical grounds that the death penalty has a 
significant deterrent effect on rising heinous crimes.

On the contrary, death penalty has produced more collateral negative damage 
such as it does not discourage criminals from recommitting the same crimes but 
it encourages a cycle of revenge from relatives or friends, and creates more 
suffering to families of victims. Let us be reminded of the message of Pope 
Francis, a Call to Mercy, "to open our hearts to the mercy of God and to treat 
one another with love. Let us enable the power of God's love to transform our 
lives" (Urbi et Orbi).

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy may have closed this year but Pope 
Francis in his apostolic letter "Missericordia et Misera" emphasized the "work 
of mercy must continue."

The Catholic Church is absolutely opposed to the death penalty in any form or 
circumstances. It is immoral and violates the right of LIFE. Only God can fill 
such shadows of rising unresolved EJKs. The bigger attendance of devotees 
during the 9-day "Simbang Gabi" showed to their strong faith that the Church 
and God are their final refuge.

To all our leaders in government, together with our netizens, let us put God in 
the center of our lives, particularly in this trial moments in our noble drive 
to stop the mounting crimes due to drug addiction. Let us all be open to God, 
allow us to discover Him, to listen to Him and His teachings, how to gain Peace 
not by force but by careful and diligent adherence to the Rule of Law and due 
process which is functional, reformative, and humane.

Let us ask JESUS for the grace to see the Light so that we may know the Truth 
and have the courage to live up to the life of fullness.

Let us keep the life of hope burning in the shadows of each day and be part of 
a real transformation, a self-transformation from our attitudes, and spirit of 
selfless love for God, country and people.

God bless us all.

(source: Column, Elinando Cinco; Manila Bulletin)