[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 4



UKRAINE:

Kyiv Authorities Slam Separatist Courts Handing Down Summary Death Sentences


Officials in Ukraine say residents in the separatist east may be subject to 
criminal prosecution for participating in so-called "people's tribunals" that 
have handed down at least one death sentence.

Separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, who have sought to shore up their 
authority through widely unrecognized elections on November 2, have also 
established replacement judicial bodies that allow local citizens to vote on 
the outcome -- even delivering sentences, like capital punishment, that violate 
Ukrainian law.

It's a move that has horrified rights activists and irritated authorities in 
Kyiv, who say that participating in such tribunals is a criminal offense in and 
of itself.

Anton Herashenko, an adviser to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, says 
all local citizens who attend such extrajudicial hearings could eventually be 
tried as accomplices to murder.

"There's an article in the Ukrainian Criminal Code that prohibits 
self-government," he says. "No one has the right to perform the work of state 
organs that the organs should perform themselves, in full accordance with the 
law. Also, if this person really is executed, this becomes a murder case."

Show Of Hands

Several hundred people in Alchevsk, a city in Luhansk region, participated late 
last month in what separatists described as the "first people's court of 
Novorossia," a reference to the swathe of Ukrainian territory now under rebel 
control.

During a 50-minute "trial" conducted by separatist militants, the Alchevsk 
residents heard cases against 2 local militants, fighting with the separatists, 
accused in separate incidents of rape.

Aleksei Mozgovoi, the head of the Prizrak (Ghost) battalion, which currently 
controls the area and claimed to have investigated the 2 cases, pronounced both 
men guilty. He then asked for a show of hands on whether one of the alleged 
defendants should be "subjected to the highest form of punishment - death by 
firing squad."

An online video shows a majority of the crowd raising their hands, drawing 
despairing cries from the man's mother, who was attending the proceedings.

The 2nd defendant did not receive the death penalty, but was condemned to be 
sent to the front line to "die with honor."

Capital punishment is banned in Ukraine and has been indefinitely suspended in 
Russia. But Mozgovoi said his people's court and its sentence were legal 
according to the principles of martial law and "narodovlastiye," an ardent 
Soviet-era term meaning "government by the people."

Mozgovoi appeared to vouch for the decision-making authority of the Alchevsk 
tribunal, telling participants, "The voice of the people is the voice of God. 
Let it be as you decide."

DIY Justice

Suspicion of summary executions by separatist militants has existed for months, 
particularly following the formal introduction of the death penalty by the 
self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) in August.

That document, signed by former DNR head Igor Strelkov, said its guidelines 
were in accordance with Soviet-era martial law passed during World War II, 
which permitted capital punishment in the instance of treason and other grave 
crimes.

Yevhenia Zakrevska, a lawyer representing several former separatist hostages, 
says she's heard of several instances of summary death sentences being handed 
down in makeshift tribunals.

"This isn't the killing of someone under any old kind of circumstance," she 
says. "This is killing someone after an imitation trial based on a total 
hodgepodge of existing legal norms taken from the Ukrainian Criminal Code and 
the 1941 decrees on martial law, which naturally provide for executions and 
military tribunals."

A 2nd lawyer, Ihor Holovan, says Kyiv authorities have been slow to investigate 
the unauthorized courts, which he says could be used in a criminal case against 
the separatists and what many believe are their sponsors in Russia.

"Of course, it's not realistic to conduct an investigation there at the 
moment," he says. "But there are plenty of people who are managing to get out 
of there who could have something to say."

'Sit At Home, Embroider'

It's not clear, in the Alchevsk case, whether the man sentenced to death has in 
fact been executed. (The BBC quotes Prizrak battalion members as saying both 
men are being held in custody and that sentences would be carried out in the 
"next few weeks.")

Psychologist Olena Lishchynska says that regardless of whether the sentence is 
carried out, separatists are eager to use such public trials as an opportunity 
to cement their hold on power.

"By participating in these 'people's tribunals,' people are basically telling 
the [separatist] authorities that they share their values" -- something that 
contributes to the separatists' illusion of democratic government, she says. 
"Anyone who's shocked by this is, to the contrary, intimidated."

To that end, Mozgovoi appeared to use the recent rape trial to deliver an 
unexpected edict on appropriate female behavior, threatening to arrest women 
found spending time in restaurants and night clubs.

"You want to stay honest and faithful to your husband. Sit at home, embroider," 
he said, ignoring audible gasps from the crowd. "Stay at home, bake pies, and 
celebrate March 8 [International Women's Day]."

(source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)






BELARUS:

Rights Group Says Convict Executed In Belarus


Authorities in Belarus, the only country in Europe that practices capital 
punishment, has reportedly executed a sentenced to death on a murder 
conviction.

The unregistered Vyasna (Spring) human rights center in Minsk said on November 
4 that Alyaksandr Hrunou, who was sentenced last year after being convictyed of 
stabbing a woman a woman to death in 2012, had been executed.

Vyasna cited Hrunou's mother as saying that she had received her son's 
belongings, including clothes he wore in a death row cell, by mail.

Vyasna also said it learned on November 3 that Hrunou's appeal for clemency was 
denied in early October.

Relatives of people executed in Belarus are rarely informed officially and are 
not told what has been done with the body.

Belarus is known to have executed 2 other convicts this year.

Vyasna says 5 people were executed in Belarus from 2010 to 2012 and at least 1 
person remains on death row.

(source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)






INDIA:

Child rape, Murder: 56-yr-old's Death Penalty Commuted to Life


A 56-year-old man, facing gallows for brutally raping and murdering a 
3-year-old girl, has been spared death penalty by the Delhi High Court which 
has commuted it into life term.

The court considered a report of probation officer (PO) on possibilities of 
reformation and rehabilitation of convict Bharat Singh and concluded that he 
can be "reformed".

The high court on April 17 had upheld the conviction and sentence awarded to 
Singh for raping the minor. However, it had deferred its decision as to whether 
Singh can be sent to the gallows for murder, as awarded by the trial court, or 
serve life imprisonment.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Mukta Gupta, which was to decide on the 
appeal of Singh and the death reference plea of the state, had asked the Delhi 
government to appoint a probation officer for giving a report as to whether 
there was any chance of convict being "rehabilitated or reformed" or if he is 
still a threat to the society.

"... Relevant to the present case, the court notes the positive feedback 
received by the PO from the jail authorities as regards the appellant's (Singh) 
conduct in jail and his preparedness to render services to his old and ailing 
inmates.

"In light of the above reports, the court is persuaded to conclude that there 
exists a probability that convict can be reformed and rehabilitated. He has 
been in custody only since April 2011. In the course of his serving 
imprisonment for life, there would be sufficient opportunity to evaluate the 
positive effects of the correctional measures," the court said.

The lower court had on January 15, 2013 awarded death penalty to Singh for the 
murder and life imprisonment for the rape of the child, saying the case "fell 
in the category of rarest of rare cases warranting the capital punishment".

The judge said, "His continued incarceration would ensure that he would not 
commit criminal acts as would constitute a continuous threat to the society."

"Consequently, the court declines to confirm the death sentence recommended to 
be awarded to Singh by the trial court and instead sentences him to 
imprisonment for life for the offence under Section 302 (murder) IPC," the 
court said, adding that the fine amount of Rs 50,000 for the offence under 
Section 302 IPC "is left unaltered".

The girl, who went missing on April 9, 2011 from her home, was kidnapped by the 
convict, a private security guard posted at a farm house, and was raped in the 
guards' room there.

The medical report said the victim was not murdered after the rape, rather she 
died due to "neurogenic shock caused by forceful and painful sexual 
intercourse".

The high court while upholding Singh's conviction relied on the DNA test 
reports that proved that it was the convict who had ravished the little girl.

The court, however, concurred with the submissions of the defence lawyer that 
the death penalty cannot be awarded on the sole ground that the offence was 
grave in nature.

Taking note of the report, the court said, "The report of the Medical Board of 
IHBAS, which has been referred to in the Social Investigation Report (SIR) of 
the PO gives a definitive unanimous conclusion that there is nothing to suggest 
that Singh cannot be reformed and reintegrated, and put on to the reformative 
process through social correctional measures."

"The PO has mentioned in the SIR that a second review should be undertaken 
after imparting social and correctional measures. In this regard the court 
would like to draw the attention of the prison authorities to the 'Introductory 
Handbook on Prevention of Recidivism and Social Integration of Offenders' 
brought out in December 2012 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes.

"Chapter IX of the said document has a section focusing on social reintegration 
of elderly prisoners," the judge said.

(source: New Indian Express)






PHILIPPINES:

Philippines called to lead campaign against the death penalty in Asia


Hundreds of people who gathered at a public square here for a rally against the 
death penalty lit candles and joined in singing "Heal the World" to close a 
historic dialogue on human rights and respect for the dignity of life.

It may have ended months of work for the 1st Asia Pacific dialogue on the theme 
"No Justice without Life." But Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr. and other speakers 
pointed out that much work remains for Filipinos to foster dialogue on the 
death penalty and ensure that the country's laws do not again allow executions.

The Oct. 27-28 conference was co-organized by Mandaluyong City, the Department 
of Justice and members of the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, a lay 
Christian community.

Mandaluyong, east of Manila, belongs to the network of more than 1,600 cities 
around the world that have declared themselves "Cities for Life," committed to 
raising awareness about the death penalty. Abalos, addressing a gathering 
organized by Sant'Egidio in Rome, offered Mandaluyong as this year's venue for 
its dialogue on human rights and the respect for the dignity of life.

More than 30 mayors from around the Philippines attended the sessions with 
government and law enforcement officials, religious leaders and scholars, 
members of international and civic organizations, and activists. Philippine 
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, as well as an undersecretary and directors of 
the department, lent support. Foreign participants came from Cambodia, India, 
Italy, Japan and the United States.

The closing program, which was open to the public, included words from victims' 
relatives, letters from prisoners on death row, prayers and singing. Seven 
participants from various countries read the final appeal to stop the death 
penalty.

The appeal summarizes reasons for their opposition to the death penalty, 
including a lack of evidence that capital punishment deters crime or makes life 
safer and its failure to bring closure to victims' families.

In their appeal, supporters committed "to work to create a larger consensus to 
the call for a universal moratorium on executions, adopted by the majority of 
countries" at the U.N. General Assembly. "We ask our governments and the 
governments of the world to be pro-active in supporting and implementing this 
Resolution," dialogue participants said.

In 2007, the United Nations first approved a resolution calling for a 
moratorium on executions, restrictions on the number of offenses punishable by 
death penalty, and respect for the rights of people on death row. The General 
Assembly is expected to vote in November on a new resolution, according to 
Mario Marazziti, president of the Italian Parliament's Commission for Human 
Rights.

While the votes are not binding, Marazziti noted that the resolutions and 
dialogue have helped countries that retain the death penalty move toward 
abolishing it. He cited among examples Gabon, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, 
Turkmenistan and Benin, as well as various states in the United States.

In his view, Marazzitti said, the Philippines has "the authority today and the 
credibility to encourage the abolition process in Asia."

Keeping watch

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Cambodia are the only two of 10 
governments that do not allow the death penalty, Abalos noted in his welcome 
address. Indonesia allows execution by firing squad, Malaysia and Singapore by 
hanging, and Thailand and Vietnam by lethal injection.

There have been no recorded executions in Brunei since 1957 or in Mayanmar 
since the 1980s. Nor has Laos reported executions for a long time, Abalos said.

The history of the death penalty in the Philippines shows people must be 
vigilant, Abalos said, even in a country where 93 percent of the population are 
Christians, and "Filipinos believe in the sanctity of life."

Then-President Corazon Aquino abolished the death penalty in 1987. Her 
successor, Fidel Ramos, enacted the Death Penalty Law, which reinstated the 
death penalty for 46 crimes, and another law mandating lethal injection as the 
method.

Executions started in 1999. Despite 7 executions under President Joseph 
Estrada, the national crime volume increased 15.3 % that year, Abalos said.

Estrada later placed a moratorium on the death penalty after a church-led 
clamor, but his successor, Gloria Arroyo, lifted the moratorium in 2003 during 
a spate of kidnappings for ransom. Then, in 2006, Arroyo changed course, 
enacting a law banning the death penalty and imposing life imprisonment 
instead.

Arroyo also commuted the death sentences of 1,230 death row inmates to life 
imprisonment of a minimum of 30 years.

"The fight is not over," Abalos said, citing a bill filed in Congress seeking 
to impose the death penalty for drug trafficking.

He assured participants from Sant'Egedio and other advocates, "As mayor of 
Mandaluyong, let me say we are one with you."

The number of countries that do not impose the death penalty has increased from 
20 in the mid-1970s to 140, Marazziti said. However, the number of recorded 
executions in countries increased from 682 in 21 countries in 2012 to 778 in 22 
countries in 2013.

The figures do not include numbers from China, Syria and Egypt, which Amnesty 
International could not verify. Almost 80 percent of executions outside these 
countries were recorded in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The United States was 
the only country in the Americas that carried out executions.

Encounter

The Community of Sant'Egedio, which claims 50,000 members in 70 countries, 
attracted a variety of people to the conference.

College Freshman J.C. Mangmang told NCR that Manuel Co, head of the Parole and 
Probation Administration in the Philippines, moved him to see the issue 
differently. Co during the dialogue talked about his experiences of riots in 
the national penitentiary when he served as a prison guard.

Co recalled the days when he was in charge of switching on the electric chair. 
"My knees then were trembling and my conscience was bothering me," he said. He 
said when then President Ferdinand Marcos called off an execution in the last 
minute so the case could be reviewed, he felt relieved.

Mandaluyong resident Rose Katilogo told NCR she was "surprised" and "inspired" 
to hear de Lima speak candidly of her disfavor for death penalty.

"I hope the other officers of the Justice Department have the same attitude and 
that her words will have some impact on ordinary people's lives," Katilogo 
said.

At the rally, de Lima said her job as secretary of justice is to arrest and 
prosecute alleged offenders, not order their killing. "None of us has the 
mandate or right to order the killing of any person."

The death penalty especially harms the poor who cannot afford to pay for good 
lawyers, she added, and has not been shown to deter crime.

"The truly effective deterrent to crime is to ensure that our police and 
investigators, our prosecutors and judges are doing their job well, because the 
best deterrent to criminality is certainty of punishment," she said.

(source: N.J. Viehland is a correspondent for National Catholic Reporter based 
in the Philippines)






INDONESIA:

Indonesia's SBY didn't save Bali 9 Australians from death penalty before 
leaving office--Dilemma of being left at death's door


Indonesia's former president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, failed to save 2 
Australians from death row before he left office last month, leaving their fate 
in the hands of the administration.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, members of the so-called Bali Nine, had 
appeals for clemency before Dr Yudhoyono for about 2 years.

There were hopes the former president, who took special care in maintaining 
good relations with Australia throughout his decade in office, would grant the 
pair a reprieve as one of his final acts.

But a source within Indonesia's office of the state secretary told AAP that 
didn't happen.

The clemency requests were not among the last decrees SBY signed before 
departing on October 20 and have gone back to ministerial level.

The source, who could not be named because they were not authorised to speak 
publicly, said the new president, Joko Widodo, would receive his own advice on 
the cases.

"The documents have gone for ministerial legal consideration," the source said.

"This means that the decree hasn't been signed yet."

The pair's lawyer, Julian McMahon, says in prison, the 2 men have made the most 
of the chance to change.

"They have rehabilitated, and helped re-educate and train many prisoners for a 
better life after prison," he said.

"When the new government comes to consider the clemency case, we are very 
hopeful that the clients' hard work and rehabilitation over many years will be 
recognised.

"It is really a story about the success possible in the penal system."

New Law and Human Rights Minister Yasona Laoly is likely to be asked for an 
opinion.

Mr Joko's cabinet is only a week old and experts agree he is likely to be more 
focused on domestic issues than the administration of SBY.

The president, better known at home as Jokowi, may make his 1st official 
Australian trip for this month's G20 summit, but is yet to confirm his 
attendance.

In August, the then-governor of Kerobokan jail, where Chan and Sukumaran are 
incarcerated, revealed he had recommended the pair serve life in prison, rather 
than receive the death penalty.

It's understood his advice to the ministers advising Dr Yudhoyono is available 
for consideration by the new ministers.

Chan and Sukumaran were among 9 young Australians convicted over a 2005 heroin 
trafficking plot.

In August, Sukumaran told reporters he was trying to spend his time 
productively in the prison's art school.

He said the terrible wait for news on his punishment was hard to articulate, 
summing it up as: "I just don't want to be shot, really."

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)