[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 25



QATAR:

Qatar Court Tells U.S. Family to Decide on Execution



A Qatari court ruled Sunday that the parents of an American teacher murdered in 
the Gulf state should decide whether her alleged killer is executed.

The Pennsylvania-based family of Jennifer Brown can choose between the death 
penalty, compensation -- "blood money" under Islam law -- or a pardon for the 
Kenyan security guard charged with 1st degree murder, the judge ruled.

Although the death penalty can still be handed down as a punishment in Qatar, 
it has been 12 years since the last execution took place.

If the Browns choose to pardon the security guard, who has yet to be convicted, 
court officials said he was still likely to serve a prison term.

Jennifer Brown, 40, was murdered in her company-provided home in November 2012.

She had only arrived in energy-rich Qatar 2 months earlier to teach at the 
English Modern School in the city of al-Wakrah.

The security guard has reportedly confessed, but the case has moved slowly 
through the Qatari legal system and been adjourned several times.

The teacher's father, Robert Brown, has expressed frustration at delays in 
reaching a verdict.

A U.S. embassy representative was present at Sunday's hearing, which the judge 
adjourned until March 8 to hear from the Browns.

(source: Naharnet)








JAPAN:

Slight drop seen for 1st time in Japanese who support capital punishment



In a sign of wavering support for capital punishment, the 1st decline in the 
percentage of Japanese who support the death penalty has been noted, although 
the support rate remains about 80 %, according to a Cabinet Office survey 
released Jan. 24.

The decline in support is the 1st since the survey, which is conducted every 5 
years, began in 1994, it added.

The high percentage in the survey apparently shows the public's continuing 
sympathy for victims of violent crime.

However, movie director and author Tatsuya Mori, who calls for abolition of the 
death penalty, said that the decline in the support rate is attributable to the 
Shizuoka District Court???s approval of a retrial in March for death-row inmate 
Iwao Hakamada, 78.

"(Due to the decision,) many people were made aware of strong-arm investigation 
tactics and unfair proceedings in trials," Mori said.

Hakamada, a former professional boxer, was on death row for decades after being 
convicted of murdering 4 people in 1966. He was released from prison in March 
after the court ordered a retrial.

The Cabinet Office conducted the latest survey in November 2014 on 3,000 men 
and women aged 20 years or older throughout the country through direct 
interviews. A total of 1,826 people, or 60.9 percent, gave valid responses.

According to the survey, 80.3 percent of the respondents said that having a 
death penalty is unavoidable, marking a decline of 5.3 % points from 85.6 % in 
2009. Until then, the corresponding figures had continued to rise from 73.8 % 
in 1994 to 79.3 % in 1999 and to 81.4 % in2004.

On the other hand, 9.7 % of the respondents in the 2014 survey said that 
capital punishment should be abolished. That was a rise of 4.0 % points from 
5.7 % in 2009.

In the 2014 survey, those who replied, "I don't know" or "I cannot reply yes or 
no" constituted 9.9 %.

The survey also asked the respondents about the reasons for their replies. They 
were allowed to give plural answers.

Of the respondents, 53.4 % of those who approved the death penalty said that if 
it is abolished, the feelings of victims or their families will not be 
assuaged. In addition, 52.9 % replied that those who committed heinous crimes 
should pay with their lives.

Besides, 47.4 % answered that if vicious criminals were allowed to live, they 
could commit similar violent crimes again.

On the other hand, 46.6 % of the respondents who sought the abolition of 
capital punishment said that if the results of the trials were later found to 
be false, it is impossible to restore the lives of the executed death-row 
inmates.

The 2014 survey also asked respondents about whether the death penalty should 
be abolished if a sentence of life imprisonment without parole was introduced 
in Japan. In response, 51.5 % replied that it should not be abolished while 
37.7 % said that it should be abolished.

The reply showed that more than 50 % believe that life imprisonment without 
parole cannot become a substitute for capital punishment.

As for the results of the 2014 survey, Mikio Kawai, professor of sociology of 
law at the Toin University of Yokohama, said, "I think that those who approve 
of capital punishment are not giving their all-out support (to it). In their 
minds, the percentage for support and non-support is about 50-50."

However, Kawai added, "When they think about how to punish violent criminals, 
they will have strong resistance to the complete abolition of the death 
penalty."

He predicted that the support rate for the death penalty will continue to 
remain high.

(source: The Asahi Shimbun)








INDONESIA:

Aussie executions 'not in Bali please'----Bali's governor is in favour of the 
death penalty but doesn't want Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran 
executed on the resort island.

Bali's pro-death penalty governor doesn't want Australians Andrew Chan and 
Myuran Sukumaran executed on his island, believing it may spoil the harmonious 
climate.

Made Mangku Pastika, a former head of Indonesia's national narcotics agency, 
testified against members of the Bali Nine in a 2007 challenge of their death 
sentences.

Then, he described drug traffickers as "mass murderers" who were deserving of 
death.

Sukumaran and Chan have now been denied presidential clemency and only a 
last-ditch legal bid stands between them and the firing squad.

Indonesia has yet to set a time and place for the executions.

But General Pastika says they shouldn't be carried out in Bali.

"If it's possible, please not in Bali, just somewhere else," he told reporters, 
without giving his reasons.

Asked if it was for the sake of Bali's people, he said: "I think they want Bali 
to keep in harmony, remain safe, remain peaceful. So if possible, not in Bali, 
please." Aussies still make up the bulk of tourists to the so-called Island of 
the Gods.

Indonesia is awaiting data to confirm it had a record one million visits from 
Australians in 2014, the vast majority of them to Bali.

The Australian families of Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, will also arrive in 
Bali this week.

Both families spoke on Saturday about their anguish for the Sydney men, who 
they believe have reformed and deserved to have their sentences commuted to 
life.

"I've been told my son will be taken out and shot at any time," Raji Sukumaran, 
mother of Myuran, told reporters.

"I don't know what to do."

Both families said they trusted Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Australian 
government would do all they could to stop the executions.

However, diplomatic efforts failed to save citizens of The Netherlands and 
Brazil, who were among 6 drug offenders executed last week.

Of those 6, 5 were shot at Nusakambangan, an island prison in Central Java 
known as "Indonesia's Alcatraz".

(source: sbs.com.au)

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

1 on death row, 5 face life term



6 Nepali nationals are languishing in Indonesian prison since a decade, with 1 
of them being on death row on charge of drug smuggling.

Documents retrieved from Indonesia's Office of the Attorney General show Indra 
Bahadur, who was arrested with 900 gram of heroin in 2001, is currently waiting 
capital punishment there.

Other Nepalis Nar Bahadur Tamang, Bala Tamang, Til Bahadur Bhandari, Bir 
Bahadur Gurung and Gopal Sherpa Lama are doing lifetime after the court found 
them guilty of smuggling drugs into the country.

Indra Bahadur (referred as 236 Pid.B/2001/PN.TNG) was given death sentence by 
Indonesia's district court on August 13, 2001. That ruling was upheld by High 
Court on October 30, 2001 and by the Supreme Court on August 28, 2002. Local 
newspapers reported that Indra???s request for clemency was denied by then 
President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Not much has been known about Indra and other Nepalis, while government 
officials in Kathmandu are completely unaware of their plight. Nepal does not 
have embassy in Indonesia, though Nepal's mission in Malaysia looks after its 
affairs in the world's largest Muslim nation.

Indonesia executed 6 convicted drug traffickers, including 5 foreigners, by 
firing squad last week.

Indonesian authorities have pledged no clemency for drug offenders despite 
widespread international pressure. Australia, Nigeria and Brazil have strongly 
reacted to the execution of their citizens in the past weeks.

Nar Bahadur Tamang and Bala Tamang (referred as Case 351/Pid.B/1999/PN.TNG) 
were the 1st Nepalis to be arrested in Indonesia on charge of drug smuggling. 
The duo, caught with 1.75 kg of heroin in 1999, were initially sentenced to 
death by a district court on January 25, 2000. The death sentence was commuted 
to life imprisonment by the High Court in West Java on May 29, 2000 which was 
upheld by the Supreme Court on April 23, 2001.

Til Bahadur Bahandari and Bir Bahadur Gurung (referred as Case 346 / Pid.B / 
1999 / PN.TNG), arrested in connection with the same case, were also sentenced 
to death initially but the High Court commuted it to life prisonment on May 25, 
2000 and upheld by the apex court on April 23, 2001.

Another Nepali Gopal Sherpa Lama (passport no: 2939586) was arrested on March 
26, 2007 with 650 gram Shabu, a narcotic.

Last week, the Informal Sector Service Center (Insec) had issued a statement 
claiming that five Nepali nationals were awaiting death sentence in Indonesia. 
The Insec's statement follows the condemnation by the Commission for the 
Disappeared and victims of Violence (KontraS), an INGO, of the execution of 6 
foreigners by the Indonesian government on January 18.

"Our statement was based on information provided by rights group in Indonesia. 
They claim that 5 Nepalis are waiting the death penalty and many more could be 
imprisoned. We had asked them to meet the 5 Nepali in person, but the 
Indonesian law does not allow it," said Subodh Raj Pyakurel, Insec chairperson.

"The government should appeal for clemency and repatriate these citizens. It 
needs to tackle the situations where an growing number of Nepalis going for 
overseas jobs are being used as drug couriers."

Meanwhile, the government officials concede their ignorance about the case. "We 
are not aware about such cases. The ministry will do needful after finding out 
the truth and nature of their case," a Foreign Ministry official said. Minister 
of State for Labour Tek Bahadur Gurung said his ministry is ready to help if it 
gets such requests.

(source: ekantipur.com)

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

Foreign Office: UK strongly opposes the death penalty



The Foreign Office says it's recently made representations to the Indonesian 
Government about the death penalty. It is offering consular assistance to 
Lindsay Sandiford who is sentenced to death by firing squad in Bali.

"We continue to offer consular assistance to Lindsay Sandiford and her family 
at this difficult time. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all 
circumstances without exception. We have recently made representations about 
the death penalty to the Indonesian government, and we will continue to do so." 
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office

(source: itv.com)

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

Executing reformed prisoners is absurd



As far as reversals go, they do not come much more galling: after campaigning 
successfully to have its own citizens spared the death penalty in other 
countries, Indonesia has - in the words of Prime Minister Tony Abbott - 
returned to the "pretty barbaric" practice of killing criminals by firing 
squad.

Unless the archipelago nation has a last-minute change of heart, the executions 
of Bali nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran appear imminent. 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has rejected pleas for clemency for both men. 
While there is a slim possibility of a further judicial review, their prospects 
are dire.

Last Sunday, Indonesia executed five foreigners and one Indonesian for drug 
crimes. Mr Joko has vowed that the remaining drug convicts on death row - now 
numbering 58 - will face the same fate.

Some have put the argument that, as Chan and Sukumaran committed a crime in a 
country where it has long been well known that drug traffickers face the death 
penalty, they should suffer the consequences. They were part of a plot to 
transport more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Sydney in 2005.

But this simplistic line ignores key points, both general and specific to this 
instance.

The Sunday Age has long argued that the death penalty is wrong in all cases. 
Human life is sacrosanct; taking a life in response to a crime lowers the state 
to the level of the criminal, and is not effective as a deterrent to would-be 
criminals.

Even if it were, it would not be justified: revenge is a primitive motive that 
civilised societies should strive to rise above, and there is a long, 
inglorious history of jurisdictions that impose the death penalty killing 
people later proved to be innocent. Once the state kills someone there is no 
going back.

In this case, there is no doubting Chan and Sukumaran's guilt, and there is no 
doubting that the penal system has worked. There may never have been a clearer 
case of unrepentant criminals, as the pair initially were, having turned over a 
new leaf.

In a decade in prison, Chan has gained a certificate in ministry and now runs a 
prison church service. Sukumaran teaches computing and design to other inmates, 
runs a T-shirt printing business and has learned to paint, winning praise for 
his exhibited work. They have arranged for inmates to receive a first-aid 
course, cooking lessons, philosophy and psychology classes. Successive 
governors of the notorious Kerobokan jail, where they are held, have backed the 
call for clemency. Former governor Siswanto went so far as to appear as a 
witness on their behalf. Melbourne Pastor Christie Buckingham, who has visited 
the pair regularly, said: "We've never actually seen people so totally 
reformed."

To execute rehabilitated prisoners is not only absurd, but would be an 
opportunity lost: Mr Joko would be better served by promoting the pair as 
examples of the efficacy of the Indonesian prison system, and as role models to 
fellow convicts.

As Sukumaran put it himself in a message via his lawyer on Friday: "We are 
trying really hard to make up for what we did. If you don't accept that people 
can change, no one has the incentive to change."

The Sunday Age accepts Mr Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have made 
sincere efforts to convince their Indonesian counterparts to commute the 
Australians' sentences, and praises their efforts. We accept that much of this 
lobbying has necessarily occurred behind the scenes, but it is possible the 
time for raising the stakes has arrived.

Both Brazil and Holland recalled their ambassadors following the execution of 
their citizens last Sunday despite pleas for clemency from the highest levels. 
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she was "outraged and dismayed" over 
the executions, and that relations between the two countries had been affected.

It is hoped Australia's leaders are warning that Indonesia killing its citizens 
would have similar ramifications for the vital relationship between these 2 
neighbours.

(source: Comment, The Age)

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

They shoot from the lip over drugs



I went to sleep half expecting to wake up to the sound of gunshots. That's 
ridiculous, of course. The executions were more than 500km away. Still, it's 
surreal knowing you're in the same country as 6 people counting down the hours 
until they're taken out and shot.

The next day, it was all everyone was talking about. We tourists hadn't 
expected it would happen at midnight. We didn't think any countries still used 
firing squads.

The guy taking us on the tour of Bali sat in the front passenger seat of the 
car. We told him about the New Zealander in jail near our resort. We explained 
how Antony de Malmanche says it wasn't his fault, that he was duped by someone 
else, but authorities would have to believe his story to save him from being 
shot. Because, that's what may happen to him. And for us, that's hard to accept 
because, back home, even if his story wasn't true, we wouldn't shoot de 
Malmanche.

"In New Zealand," the tour guide asked, "you don't kill them for drugs?"

He didn't seem surprised to hear that no, a bag of P won't get even the worst 
reoffenders killed.

"So for what crimes do you kill?"

Well, for nothing, of course, we replied. We haven't used capital punishment 
since 1957. At that he seemed surprised.

"Not for murder even?"

Not even for that. And I will admit I felt a little smug revealing that. 
Showing off our sophisticated judicial system with its balance of punishment 
and rehabilitation, justice and forgiveness, made me feel just a little proud.

I expected the tour guide to want to know more, to be keen to better understand 
our clearly superior ideas. Capital punishment is abhorrent and so, surely, the 
Indonesian people will be embarrassed at their Government's brutality. But no, 
our tour guide was unapologetic.

"Executing the drug bosses," he explained, "that's fair. The workers at the 
bottom, no, but the bosses, yes. It saves our young people. It saves them from 
drugs."

In Indonesia, they call the drug trade an "extraordinary crime". The risk of 
death is supposed to deter anyone from trying to make a buck off smack, but it 
doesn't work. Drug-running foreigners turn up anyway. They move in and live the 
high life. They rub it in the locals' faces, driving luxury cars down narrow 
streets along which they - the Balinese - hock knock-offs and trinkets to eke 
out a living.

If they get caught - and can't buy their way out of trouble - it's Kerobokan 
they'll end up in. That's the jail Antony de Malmanche may find himself in. 
It's where Schapelle Corby spent years. Capital punishment or not, the sight of 
the prison should be enough to deter mules. The walls badly need paint. The 
iron roofing is falling off the guard turrets. If it's that bad on the outside, 
it must be hell on the inside. We tell the guide we wouldn't stick prisoners in 
anything that bad.

Then he wants to know more about this crazy judicial system in New Zealand, 
with no death penalty.

He asks, "If you don't shoot, how do you punish someone who kills another 
person?"

To that I answer that they go to jail. "For how long? Forever?"

No, not forever. For life. But, I explain, "life" isn't a whole life. It means 
the murderer could sometimes be out in 10 years. And then I see his absolute 
surprise and all my smugness evaporates.

(source: Heather du Plessis-Allan is a columnist for the (New Zealand) Herald 
on Sunday)








UNITED KINGDOM:

UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia: Officials' fury after 
Foreign Secretary claims he couldn't 'find time' to help father-of-3 facing 
execution

Andargachew Tsege was snatched by officials at Yemen airport last June

The 59-year-old was transferred to Ethiopia where he is thought to remain

Father-of-three moved to London in 1979 from native African country

He was dubbed 'Ethiopian Mandela' after exposing government corruption

Leaked emails revealed British officials' frustration at political inaction

Philip Hammond said he could not 'find time' for phone call on issue



An explosive row has erupted between diplomats and Ministers over their 
reluctance to help a British man on death row in Ethiopia.

A series of extraordinary emails, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, reveal 
officials' increasing frustration at political inaction over Andargachew Tsege.

Tsege, 59, a father-of-t3 from London, was snatched at an airport in Yemen last 
June and illegally rendered to Ethiopia. There are concerns he may have been 
tortured.

Yet Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he could not 'find time' for a phone 
call to raise the issue and did not want to send a 'negative' letter.

In one email, an exasperated official asks: 'Don't we need to do more than give 
them a stern talking to?'

Tsege, who has lived in the UK since 1979, has been called Ethiopia???s Nelson 
Mandela. Tsege fell out with his university friend ex-Prime Minister Meles 
Zenawi, after he exposed government corruption and helped establish a 
pro-democracy party.

In 2009, he was sentenced to death in his absence for allegedly plotting a coup 
and planning to kill Ethiopian officials - claims he denies.

He was abducted on June 23 while en route to Eritrea, emerging 2 weeks later in 
Ethiopia, where he has since been paraded on TV. It is not known where he is 
being held.

The diplomatic exchanges disclose how officials were dismayed when British 
Ministers rejected requests to raise the case with Ethiopia.

'I feel so shocked and let down,' said Tsege???s wife Yemi Hailemariam. 'I 
thought Britain was a nation driven by fairness but it seems my husband's life 
is simply not valued.'

The series of emails begins on July 1, with Foreign Office officials confirming 
his capture: 'His detention in Yemen is significant news, and could get 
complicated for the UK.'

Diplomats noted that neither Yemen nor Ethiopia informed Britain about the 
rendition of its citizen. 'It feels a bit like I'm throwing the kitchen sink at 
the Yemenis but I want them to think twice before they do this again,' wrote 1 
senior figure at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa.

He also noted that a prominent Ethiopian minister had given assurances over 
Tsege's treatment - 'but I wouldn't take them with complete confidence'.

Ethiopia has claimed Tsege tried to recruit other Britons to become involved in 
terrorism. But the regime has used anti-terror laws to jail journalists and 
silence political rivals, and UK officials had not seen credible evidence.

One diplomatic cable says: 'All we have seen are a few pictures of him standing 
in an Eritrean village - hardly proof that he was engaged in terrorist 
training.'

3 weeks after Tsege's kidnap, the Foreign Office's Africa director wrote that 
Ministers 'have so far shied away from talking about consequences... their tone 
has been relatively comfortable'.

On July 21, Hammond's office was still reluctant to talk to his Ethiopian 
counterpart on the phone.

'I don't think we are going to be able to find time for that at the moment,' 
wrote his private secretary. He also turned down sending a 'negative' letter, 
asking for it to be rewritten 'setting out areas of co-operation. It can end 
with a paragraph on the Tsege case.'

Despite concerns over Ethiopia's human rights record, the nation receives 376 
million pounds a year in UK aid. One farmer there is suing Britain, claiming 
the money was used to usurp him from his land.

Hammond is believed to have finally called his counterpart at the end of July, 
1 month after the kidnap. It is understood he focused on requesting consular 
access rather than condemning the capture.

Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty said: 'These shocking 
emails show the Foreign Secretary appears to have blocked any meaningful action 
that could potentially bring this British father home to his family, unharmed.'

The Foreign Office said they were 'deeply concerned' by Tsege's detention and 
were lobbying for further consular access as well as seeking confirmation the 
death penalty would not be carried out.

(source: Daily Mail)

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

Voters split along party lines over reintroducing death penalty



A YouGov poll for the Evening Standard suggests that more Londoners support a 
reintroduction of the death penalty than oppose it.

The death penalty was abolished 50 years ago in the UK.

Between the 19th and 21st of January the poll of 1,034 London adults (18+) 
asked:

'The death penalty for murder was abolished in 1965. It has been suggested that 
a full review of how Britain deals with terrorists should be carried out, 
including possibly a debate on bringing back capital punishment. To what extent 
would you support or oppose the re-introduction of the death penalty for murder 
in the case of terrorist attacks?'

31% said they strongly favoured reintroducing the penalty for these cases, 
whilst 18% tended to support it, making the total in favour stand at 49%.

On the other hand, 28% said they strongly oppose any reintroduction of the 
penalty for these cases, with 14% saying they tend to oppose it, meaning that 
42% oppose the idea.

Additionally, a total of 10% said they did not know.

The poll, whilst only asking London adults showed an interesting split.

Despite the small sample sizes for those intending to vote Liberal Democrat, 
63% said they would oppose any reintroduction, whilst just 30% said they would 
be in favour of a change. The party is strongly pro-human rights so such 
numbers are unsurprising.

The party with voters most in favour of reintroducing the penalty was UKIP. 80% 
of those planning to vote for the party said they would support the 
reintroduction, whilst 19% disagreed. Back in August 2014, UKIP's health 
spokesperson, Louise Bours MEP, called for the reintroduction of the penalty, 
according to the Independent. However, it is important to note that the sample 
size for UKIP voters was also quite small in the poll.

As for those voters intending to vote Labour, 44% said they supported 
reintroduction, compared to the 49% who said they opposed a change to the 
current system, suggesting a near even split.

And as for those intending to vote Conservative, a majority said they would 
favour a change. 61% said they would support reintroduction, whilst 30% would 
be against such a change.

Overall, it's unlikely that the death penalty will come back any time soon, 
with countries continuing to abolish it across the world, but the data shows an 
interesting divide amongst voters for different parties.

(source: hereisthecity.com)