[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 26



KENYA:

Kenyans to give views on death penalty from Monday


A debate seeking public views on the administration of capital punishment and 
management of capital offences will kick off on Monday in Kisii County.

The power of mercy and advisory committee and national crime research centre 
will be conducting the discussions in other 5 counties, in Nyanza region, 
within the next 2 weeks.

PMAC secretary general Michael Kagika said his committee and the NCRC will 
visit Kisii, Nyamira, Siaya, Migori, Homabay and Kisumu counties to seek views 
from representatives of churches, youth, women, local leaders and other members 
of the public on the subject of capital offences and capital punishment.

"The objective of the debate is to provide an open dialogue on what Kenyans 
want in regard to the handling of capital offenders and the management of 
capital offences," he said.

Kagika in a statement said on Sunday that the debate that comes after the 
conclusion of the 6th World Congress against the death penalty in Oslo, Norway 
provides a platform for Kenyans to express their opinions on capital offences 
and what form of punishment capital offenders should be subjected to.

He said Kenya had noted recommendations made to move towards abolition of the 
death penalty in the past Universal Periodic Reviews at the United Nations 
Human Rights Council.

He said the country had decided to continue debating the management of capital 
offences and administration of the death penalty before making a stance on the 
subject of abolition, retention or otherwise.

Kenya seeks to collect public views which will later be used to prepare a 
cabinet paper to inform our final decision.

Capital punishment was formally introduced into the Kenyan legal system by the 
British during the colonial era.

After independence in 1963, the country retained and continued to apply the 
capital penalty.

Kenya has 118 penal institutions with a holding capacity of 26,000 inmates. 
But, currently the average prisoners' population stands at 52,517 of who 32,300 
are convicted inmates and 20,217 remands.

The average female prisoner population is 3,617 with about 400 children 
accompanying their mothers in prisons.

At present, there are 2,664 prisoners who have been handed the death sentence, 
87 being female.

(source: The Star)






SYRIA:

ISIS executes 5 media activists in Syria


The Islamic State murdered 5 Syrian media activists as it continues its assault 
on the press, maintaining tight control of the message that comes out of 
regions under the terrorist group's control.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has viewed a video released by ISIS in 
Deir Ezzor, in eastern Syria. The video shows the execution of five media 
activists via 5 different, sadistic methods.

The militants also issued a warning that any journalists or media activists 
opposed to the group and working to reveal their crimes are not safe, even 
outside of Syria. They cite the killing of Mohammed Zaher al-Shirqat.

Shirqat worked for Halab Today TV, an independent satellite channel from 
Aleppo. He was shot in the neck at close range on the street in the Turkish 
city of Gaziantep in early April. He had previously received death threats from 
ISIS, who claimed responsibility for his murder.

The United States condemned the killing. "Freedom of the press, including 
ensuring that journalists can safely report on the crisis in Syria, remains 
critical as reporters keep working to expose the truth about this brutal 
conflict and Daesh's atrocities," reads a statement issued by John Kirby, 
Assistant Secretary and Department Spokesperson for the US state department. 
"[W]e stand ready to support Turkey as it works to bring to justice those 
responsible for attacks on the media."

The 5 media activists killed in Deir Ezzor were executed on charges of "acting 
against the Islamic State, communicating with outside parties and receiving 
funds, and other charges," reported the Observatory on Sunday.

The Islamic State has murdered at least 3 other journalists in Turkey. The 
media advocacy group Reporters Sans Fronti???res (Reporters Without Borders) 
has urged Turkey to "take whatever measures are necessary to guarantee the 
security of Syrian exile journalists."

(source: rudaw.net)