[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 13




BELARUS:

Minsk hosts international conference on death penalty


An international conference, Abolition of Death Penalty and Public Opinion, is 
underway in Minsk on 13 December.

Speaking at the event, Belarus' Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Evgeny 
Shestakov noted that the entry list of the conference participants gives hope 
for a constructive and effective discussion of this sensitive issue.

"We are interested in other countries' experience and approaches to the matter 
of the death penalty as well as the expertise accumulated in international 
organizations. We are always open to dialogue and opinion exchange with foreign 
partners," said Evgeny Shestakov.

In turn, Director of the Council of Europe's Political Affairs Directorate 
Alexander Gessel noted that the parties have recently established active 
cooperation. He stressed that, thanks to the position of the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and the Belarusian authorities in general, there is an 
information point of the Council of Europe in the country. This is an 
opportunity to work together and develop cooperation in various areas, he 
added.

The conference on the abolition of the death penalty and public opinion has 
been organized by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs of Belarus. The conference participants will discuss the 
formation of the public opinion in respect to the death penalty. Reports will 
be presented by representatives of the Council of Europe, the United Nations, 
and also international and national experts.

(source: belta.by)






TURKEY:

Istanbul teacher makes students pose with nooses, shares post on social media


An elementary school teacher working in Istanbul's Basaksehir district posed 
with his students holding nooses and shared the picture on his social media 
account saying they "want justice," shortly after the Dec. 10 terror attack in 
Besiktas, news website T24 has reported.

The teacher, identified as Aydin Erekmen, later deleted the picture he shared 
on Facebook and also de-activated his account after drawing angry reactions.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Izmir deputy Tuncay Ozkan drew 
attention to Erekmen's post on his Twitter account, urging the authorities to 
take action and vowing that he too would file a criminal complaint against 
Erekmen.

"Action should be taken against whoever this person is, who made a show with 
death by using children for his dirty political purposes," said Ozkan, calling 
on the families of the children to also sue the teacher.

Fellow CHP Izmir deputy, Murat Bakan, has submitted a parliamentary inquiry to 
Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz over the incident, asking whether any 
investigation has been opened against Erekmen and, if not, what kind of 
punitive action will be taken against him.

Bakan also said that allowing individuals like Erekmen to teach children was 
itself akin to "homicide."

(source: Hurriyet Daily News)






GAZA----female sentenced to death

Silence, concern surround Gaza woman's death sentence


Her death sentence, the 1st for a Palestinian woman in more than 20 years, has 
raised concerns among rights activists in the Gaza Strip, the small enclave run 
by Islamist movement Hamas.

They are trying to prevent her death by hanging, while navigating traditional 
values and Hamas's strict rule in the territory, hit by three wars with Israel 
since 2008 and under an Israeli blockade for a decade.

A wall of silence has also surrounded the case.

The family of the woman, identified only as Nahla A., declined to provide her 
with a lawyer, said Zeinab Al-Ghounimi of the Centre for Women's Legal Research 
and Consulting.

"They were afraid of revenge from the husband's family," she said, explaining 
that her organisation had stepped in and helped.

Her lawyer, Bakr Torkmani, said the woman is the mother of a young boy and had 
been married against her will.

She lived in complete destitution and was repeatedly beaten by her husband, he 
said.

He hopes "public opinion and media reports will have an impact on the judges 
after the haste they showed in handing out this death sentence."

Stabbed in the back?

The woman was arrested on January 31, and Gaza's attorney general Ismail Jaber 
has provided an outline of what is alleged to have happened.

Several days before her arrest, she had asked her husband out for some fresh 
air near their small home in a poor district of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza 
Strip, he said.

They travelled a short distance by donkey cart before her husband "wanted to 
relieve himself," Jaber told AFP in his spacious office cluttered with files.

She is then accused of pulling out the knife she bought several days earlier 
and "stabbing him in the back several times," he said.

Authorities say she confessed and that other testimony showed that the killing 
was premeditated.

She was convicted then sentenced on October 5 after a trial held behind closed 
doors.

"Once all procedural steps have been completed, we will sign off on the 
implementation of the sentence," Jaber said.

She is the first woman to be sentenced to death in the Palestinian territories 
since 1994, said Hamdi Shaqura of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

"There is still the possibility of an appeal and we are placing our hopes in 
future rulings," he said.

Nahla's case has also highlighted rights groups' concerns over the continued 
use of the death penalty in the Palestinian territories -- and especially 
recent developments in the Gaza Strip.

In May, Jaber announced that a number of death sentences would soon be carried 
out in criminal cases.

Later that month, 3 Palestinian men were executed for murder in the strip, 
drawing condemnation from the UN.

Jaber said at the time that the executions were carried out as a deterrence and 
to reduce crime.

Rights activists say there is a lack of transparency surrounding such cases and 
point out there is no evidence the death penalty is more effective in deterring 
crime than prison.

- Son's visit refused -

Under Palestinian law, death sentences can be handed out for those 
collaborating with Israel, murderers and drug traffickers.

But there are stark differences between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West 
Bank, the territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated 
by president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party.

No execution has been carried out in the West Bank since 2002, while only 2 
were carried out there between 1994 and 2002.

In Gaza, 33 people have been executed since 1994.

Since Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, 96 death penalties have been 
handed out, mostly by military courts and often for spying on behalf of Israel, 
said Shaqura.

21 death sentences have been handed out in Gaza in 2016 alone.

Gaza's attorney general says the sentences are necessary due to "pressure by 
victims' families" and the need to avoid revenge attacks.

"The aim is not to increase criminality," he said. "What we want is to reduce 
it and eliminate it."

He added that "Palestinian law does not make a distinction between criminals 
according to their sex."

Nahla meanwhile remains behind bars at a jail in Gaza City, where the 
territory's only women's prison unit is located.

She would like to be able to see her son, but "her husband's family refuses," 
her lawyer said.

source: dailymaverick.co.za)






PHILIPPINES:

Lagman: House lacks numbers to restore death penalty----But Speaker Pantaleon 
Alvarez tells the public to wait when congressmen finally vote on the death 
penalty bill during plenary, saying, 'I'll take care of it'


Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman believes the House leadership 
has not yet secured enough support for the bill that would reinstate capital 
punishment for heinous crimes in the country.

Lagman made the statement on Tuesday, December 13, after Majority Leader 
Rodolfo Farinas said most of the supermajority lawmakers would vote in favor of 
House Bill (HB) Number 1.

Farinas said that during last week's supermajority caucus, 50 of the 
congressmen who attended are pro-death penalty while only 15 are strongly 
against it. 35 remain undecided.

There are 267 lawmakers belonging to the supermajority, which means there are 
still 167 legislators unaccounted for.

"On percentage, I don't know where he got [those] percentages, but we have 
reports from those who attended the caucus that those who were opposed and 
those undecided were more than those who said they were for the reimposition," 
said Lagman in a press conference of the independent minority bloc called the 
"Magnificent 7."

But Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, one of the co-authors of HB Number 1, insisted 
that the measure would be passed on 3rd and final reading.

"Here in Congress, I think we can muster the majority ... Let's just wait when 
we vote on it. I'll take care of it.

Alvarez initially wanted to have the bill approved by December, but agreed to 
extend debates on the death penalty to January 2017.

Lagman previously accused the House leadership of "railroading" the passage of 
HB Number 1 into law, a claim Alvarez denied.

HB Number 1 has been met with strong opposition from various groups, lawmakers, 
and the Catholic Church, who all say the death penalty is not a true deterrent 
to crime.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop 
Socrates Villegas have both denounced the proposed return of the capital 
punishment.

Increasing numbers for anti-death penalty vote?

During the press conference, Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin said he 
believes that the number of congressmen against the death penalty would 
increase in the coming weeks.

"Definitely, many congressmen are pushing for a conscience vote. The main 
consensus is dapat this is (this should be) a conscience vote," said Villarin.

"We are gaining ground and hopefully, by the next few weeks, even after 
Christmas, puwedeng mag-gather itong mga anti-death penalty (we can possibly 
gather those who are anti-death penalty). We are fighting for this to win, 
meaning to win against the reimposition of the death penalty," he added.

Lagman also welcomed the position of Pampanga 2nd District Representative 
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to continue opposing the death penalty despite being a 
member of the supermajority. It was under Arroyo's term as president when 
capital punishment was abolished in 2006.

"We welcome the position of the former president that she is steadfast in the 
crusade against the death penalty... We are banking on [the fact] that all 
those under her party will also vote against the death penalty reimposition," 
said Lagman, referring to Arroyo's Lakas-CMD party.

(source: rappler.com)





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

1,500 Catholics march in Bacolod City vs death penalty billM


At least 1,500 parishioners and students joined a prayer rally on Monday 
afternoon to protest the plan to reimpose the death penalty.

The group converged at the Bacolod Public Plaza about 5 p.m. and walked in a 
procession to the San Sebastian Cathedral.

Fr. Felix Pasquin, rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral, the seat of the 
Bacolod diocese, said the prayer rally kicked off the diocesan-wide education 
campaign against the reimposition of the death penalty.

Last week, the House committee on justice approved for plenary deliberation a 
bill that sought to impose death penalty for more than 20 heinous offenses, 
including drug offenses, rape with homicide, kidnapping for ransom, and arson 
with death.

Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon called for prayers against the passage of the 
death penalty and for lawmakers to vote against the measure.

"We, in the Diocese of the Bacolod, are joining the urgent initiative of many 
dioceses in the country to oppose the railroading of the passage of the death 
penalty bill," he said

Buzon officiated a concelebrated Mass after the procession to commemorate the 
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Monday.

The San Sebastian Cathedral has for the past years served as a symbol for the 
diocese's continued effort to educate the faithful regarding the teachings of 
the Catholic Church on various issues.

The Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the pro-life movements, according 
to Pasquin.

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)

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

Halt Plans To Reinstate The Death Penalty (Philippines: UA 282/16)


Urgent Action

December 12, 2016

The House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippines will consider and 
vote on draft legislation to reintroduce the death penalty from as early as 13 
December. If adopted, the draft law would allow for the imposition of the death 
penalty for a wide range of crimes, against international law obligations on 
this issue.

On 7 December the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines adopted draft legislation to reintroduce the death penalty, paving 
the way for its consideration by the House of Representatives and Senate. The 
government had pledged to make the House of Representatives adopt the draft law 
before the end of 2016. If adopted, the law would allow for the use of the 
death penalty for a several crimes ranging from murder to drug-related offences 
and aggravated circumstances of kidnapping, among others.

The Philippines, which fully abolished the death penalty for the 2nd time in 
2006, has ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights, an international treaty which categorically 
prohibits executions and commits the country to the abolition of this 
punishment. The adoption of legislation to reintroduce this punishment in 
national law would violate the Philippines' obligations under this treaty and 
put into question how the authorities value the country's international 
commitments.

At a time when more and more countries have been abolishing this punishment, a 
move to reintroduce the death penalty would set the Philippines starkly against 
the global trend towards its abolition. It would additionally undermine the 
country's strong track record of assisting and advocating for the commutation 
of the death sentences imposed on Filipino nationals abroad, such as overseas 
workers.

TAKE ACTION

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

-- Asking the authorities of the Philippines to fully oppose the adoption of 
draft legislation to reintroduce the death penalty in the country;

-- Reminding them that the Philippines has undertaken international law 
commitments to the abolition of the death penalty and that the move would 
undermine positive efforts to support Filipinos overseas workers facing the 
death penalty abroad;

-- Highlighting that there is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique 
deterrent effect and more and more countries have been abolishing the death 
penalty.

Contact these 2 officials by 23 January, 2017:

Speaker of the House

Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez

House of Representatives

Rm. S-217-218

Constitution Hills 1126

Quezon City, Philippines

Fax: (632) 9316277
Email: speakerpda at congress.gov.ph

Twitter: @speakeralvarez

Salutation: Dear Mr. Speaker

--

Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr.

Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines

1600 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036

Fax: 1 202 467 9417 I Phone: 1 202 467 9366

Email: ambassador at philippinesusa.org

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source: Amnesty International USA)






UNITED KINGDOM:

Brother of Serial Killer Victim Requests to Have Sister, Niece Exhumed From 
Pauper's Grave in London to Be Buried With Him in Jewish Cemetery


An elderly Briton is asking to have the bodies of his sister and baby niece - 
both murdered by a notorious serial killer 67 years ago - exhumed from a 
Catholic graveyard in Chelsea, so that he can be buried next to them in a 
Jewish cemetery, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.

According to the report, Peter Mylton-Thorley, 82, wants permission from the 
Archbishop of Westminster to exhume Beryl Evans and her daughter, Geraldine, 
who were killed by John Christie, the subject of Richard Fleischer's 1971 film, 
"10 Rillington Place," starring Richard Attenborough and John Hurt.

Mylton-Thorley explained his quest - which began in 2003, when he and his wife 
discovered the location of his sister's and niece's shared pauper's grave at 
the Gunnersbury Cemetery - by telling the Sunday Mirror, "I haven't got long 
left. All I want is to be buried with my sister. It would be wonderful to have 
that closure." He also said his sister was Jewish and therefore the current 
grave is unsuitable.

John Christie, a special constable during WWII, whose case has been brought 
back into the public eye as a result of a new 3-part BBC series about the 
killer, who murdered at least 8 women between 1943 and 1953 at his home at 10 
Rillington Place in west London.

Mylton-Thorley's sister - who was pregnant at the time of her murder - had 
lived at that address with her husband and daughter. Mylton-Thorley, a teenager 
at the time, said he came to know Christie in this context.

"If Beryl wasn't in I would wait for her. Christie would invite me in and sit 
playing cards. [His wife] Ethel [whom he later strangled and buried beneath the 
floorboards] would give me a cup of tea and a sticky bun," he recounted.

The case was widely reported not only because of the brutal slayings, committed 
by the seemingly respectable man, but because Timothy Evans - Beryl's husband 
and Geraldine's father - was convicted of the crime and hanged in 1950. When 
the truth later emerged, his conviction was ruled a miscarriage of justice. 
Evans' wrongful death sentence contributed to the abolition of the death 
penalty in the UK 15 years later. Christie, who eventually confessed to his 
crimes, was executed in July 1953.

According to Mylton-Thorley, if the Archbishop of Westminster grants his 
request, it will not be the 1st time that his sister's body will have been 
removed from the grave it shares with her daughter. "Beryl is on the top 
because the police exhumed her twice before," he said.

According to the Daily Mail, Mylton-Thorley was invited by the BBC to watch the 
drama before it aired, and after viewing it, he said he was grateful it did not 
show the moment Beryl died.

(source: algemeiner.com)