[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 9




AFGHANISTAN:

The death penalty will not deliver security in Afghanistan


The death penalty will deliver neither the justice that victims deserve nor the 
security that Afghanistan seeks, Amnesty International said today.

6 men were executed on May 8, 2016 after they were convicted for their 
involvement in a series of high-profile violent attacks - including the 2011 
killing of former President and head of the High Peace Council, Burhanuddin 
Rabbani, and an attack on a Kabul supermarket in the same year.

The executions mark the 1st time the government of President Ashraf Ghani has 
resorted to this cruel, unjust and irreversible punishment this year. Since a 
bombing last month in Kabul that killed more than 64 people, the Afghanistan 
government has vowed to implement the death penalty more frequently.

"The families who lost loved ones in violent attacks deserve justice for these 
appalling crimes," said Champa Patel, Amnesty International's South Asia 
Director. "But the death penalty merely serves as vengeance, perpetuates the 
cycle of violence, and fails to address any root causes."

"Afghanistan should immediately halt all executions and establish a moratorium 
on the implementation of the death penalty as a 1st step towards its full 
abolition. At a time when most of the world has turned its back on this cruel 
practice, President Ashraf Ghani is moving in the wrong direction."

"There is no evidence that the death penalty acts as a particular deterrent. In 
Afghanistan, where there are very serious questions about the fairness and 
transparency of the legal process, and the use of torture or other 
ill-treatment by security forces to extract 'confessions' from the defendants, 
the injustice of the punishment is only compounded."

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to 
carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is 
the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

BACKGROUND

In a recent speech in Parliament, President Ashraf Ghani said that his 
government will "deal severely with those who shed the blood of our innocent 
people and soldiers," and "show no mercy when punishing them." The Taliban have 
repeatedly threatened reprisal attacks for any executions of its members.

In 2015, Amnesty International recorded 1 execution in Afghanistan, and at 
least 12 new death sentences were imposed for murder and rape.

Afghanistan's resort to executions breaks with the global trend towards 
abolition of the death penalty. The majority of the world's countries have now 
abolished this punishment for all crimes and 140 countries are abolitionist in 
law or practice. 4 more countries - Congo (Republic of), Fiji, Madagascar and 
Suriname - abolished the death penalty in 2015 and Mongolia adopted a new 
Criminal Code which will repeal this punishment from September 2016.

The death penalty has often been applied in Afghanistan following proceedings 
that did not meet international fair trial standards.

(source: Amnesty International)






GLOBAL:

It is with great pleasure that ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) 
invites you to register to the 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, 
taking place from the 21st till the 23rd of June at the Oslo Opera House under 
the sponsorship of Norway, France and Australia.

Every 3 years, this international event gathers, political representatives, 
lawyers, and experts from across the world with the aim of developing new 
strategies towards universal abolition.

Following the 2015 regional Congress in Kuala Lumpur, this 6th World Congress 
will focus on the advances and setbacks of our cause on the Asian continent 
during a plenary session. A 2nd plenary session will be devoted to the 
importance of national human rights institutions in the fight for abolition.

6 roundtables, 6 workshops, speed-dating amongst participants, various side 
events, and an entire cultural programme will be organised on the fringe of 
these great debates. For more information on the organisation and the 
programming, please visit our website at congress.abolition.fr

Please note that registration for the Congress is free of charge but 
compulsory.

(source: ECPM)

*********

Every 3 years, the association ECPM organises the World Congress Against the 
Death Penalty, in order to federate abolitionist actors and to create new 
strategies towards universal abolition.

After Strasburg in 2001, Montreal in 2004, Paris in 2007, Geneva in 2010, and 
Madrid in 2013, ECPM invites you to take part in the 6th World Congress Against 
the Death Penalty which will take place at the Opera House of Oslo (Norway) 
from June 21 to 23, 2016.

1300 participants from over 80 countries are expected, including around 20 
ministers, 200 diplomats, parliamentarians, academics, lawyers and members of 
the civil society.

You'll find more information about the debates, the organizers and an online 
form to register here: http://congres.abolition.fr/en/

Don't hesitate to share the information with your networks!

(source: SAS)