[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

my postings to this list will resume on Sat. March 14 or Sun., March 15

Rick


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March 4


GLOBAL:

'No evidence death penalty deters any crime,' senior UN official tells Rights 
Council



Despite progress in recent years to universally abolish the death penalty, 
major challenges persist, the United Nations top human rights official said 
today at a high-level debate in Geneva, expressing concern that the death 
penalty, in practice, is "too often applied to the poor and marginalized foot 
soldiers" rather than the powerful organizers of the drug business.

"We can do better. We need not kill immigrants, minorities, the poor and those 
with disabilities to show that we are committed to fight crime," Ivan 
Simonovic, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said in his opening 
remarks to the UN Human Rights Council on the third day and final day of 
meetings.

The Council kicked off its 3-day High-Level Segment on Monday. This is the 
47-member body's 28th session.

At this afternoon's meeting on regional efforts aiming at the abolition of the 
death penalty and challenges faced, Mr. Simonovic underscored the need for a 
unified approach to the global abolition of what he called an "inhuman and 
outdated punishment."

"Several countries continue to use the death penalty for drug-related crimes, 
with the argument that this harsh punishment is needed for deterrence purposes. 
However, there is no evidence that the death penalty deters any crime," he 
emphasized in his remarks.

The Americas were the first to abolish the death penalty in Venezuela in 1867. 
Following that, many other countries in the region abolished the death penalty 
leading to the 1990 adoption of the Protocol to the Inter-American Convention 
on Human Rights.

In Africa, many States have taken an abolitionist stance. Meanwhile, in the 
past 16 years, no death sentence has been carried out in any of the 47 member 
States of the European Union. And in the Middle East and Asia, national human 
rights institutions and civil society are moving the abolitionist movement 
forward.

As it stands now, some 160 countries have either fully abolished the death 
penalty or do not practise it. In the last 6 months, the death penalty was 
abolished in Chad, Fiji, and Madagascar.

However, despite these strides some countries are seeing a move towards the 
preservation and even reintroduction of the death penalty, said Mr. Simonovic, 
pointing out that in 2013, there were more executing States and more victims of 
execution than in 2012.

"Some States justify the death penalty on the grounds that it is demanded by a 
large majority of the population, or that without it, it is impossible to fight 
drug trafficking or terrorism," he added.

While the need to tackle drug-related offences has to be acknowledged, the 
focus of crime prevention should be on strengthening the justice systems and 
making it more effective. And while public opinion cannot be ignored, a country 
concerned with human rights should not merely accept opinion polls as a reason 
for retaining the death penalty.

"Indeed, there is clear evidence of mistakes, abuses and discrimination. It has 
been empirically proved that the more the population is informed on facts, the 
less it supports the death penalty."

In recognition of the crucial role that regional organisations play in 
promoting the abolition of the death penalty, the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) plans to hold several regional seminars 
on moving away from the death penalty this year.

"We hope to gather State officials, lawmakers, practitioners and civil society 
to discuss at the regional level the challenges aced in moved away from the 
death penalty and ways to overcome them," Mr. Simonovic said.

(source: UN News Centre)