[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 2



UNITED KINGDOM:

There's a Legitimate Case for the Death Penalty in the UK - It Shouldn't Be 
Taboo


The UKIP leadership contender Paul Nuttall MEP has expressed support for 
restoration of the death penalty.

It was a cautious plea in a measured tone. There were caveats. He would favour 
it in exceptional circumstances "for child and serial killers".

Furthermore he would only wish to see capital punishment restored if it had 
first won support in a referendum. Still, for him to have to be temerity to 
raise the issue at all was still enough to produce indignation.

"UKIP are the only thing the death penalty should be used on," was the measured 
response of one member of the Lib Dems via Twitter.

Milder responses to Nuttall's view was that it was "extreme", "barbaric", 
"uncivilised" and that he proved himself to be a "demagogue" by proposing it.

Yet Nuttall's opinion is widely shared. The last time YouGov polled on the 
matter - in 2014 - there was support from 45% for the reintroduction of the 
death penalty for murder, opposition from 39%.

Often the debate is characterised as encompassing left wing" and "right wing" 
divide.

However, 35% of Labour voters support capital punishment. Yet not a single one 
of the 231 Labour MPs in the House of Commons shares their view. I suspect that 
if any of them were to do so they would be deselected.

There has been much reflection on how out of touch Labour proved with its 
working class supporters over Brexit. In a way this disconnection is even more 
stark with regard to the death penalty.

Inevitably there will be strong emotions - but sensible people will consider 
the evidence. The real justification for capital punishment is not some 
bloodthirsty desire for retribution but the conclusion that it would mean fewer 
lives being lost.

The overwhelming verdict from the academic research in the United States is 
that it does. One study by professors at Emory University in 2003 estimated 
that each execution deters an average of 18 murders. That ratio was 
exceptionally high, but other research confirms that basic message.

A 2006 study by professors at the University of Houston found that the Illinois 
moratorium on executions in 2000 led to 150 additional homicides over the 
following 4 years.

Professor Naci Mocan of the University of Colorado undertook another research 
project which found that each execution results in 5 fewer homicides.

He said: "The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect. The results are 
robust, they don't really go away. I oppose the death penalty. But my results 
show that the death penalty [deters] - what am I going to do, hide them?"

What is even harder to dismiss is that capital punishment deters repeat 
offending.

When Ronald Reagan was Governor of California he kept a sheet of paper on his 
desk which he would bring out when challenged on the issue.

"It was a list of the names of 12 criminals, 12 murderers, who had all been 
sentenced to prison, who had all served their terms or been paroled, and 
released, " he said.

"And at the time the list was on my desk, their total number of victims then 
was 34, not 12. I think capital punishment in the beginning might have reduced 
that figure considerably."

Barack Obama has said, in the past at least, that he supports the death 
penalty: "We have to have this ultimate sanction for certain circumstances in 
which the entire community says this is beyond the pale." Hillary Clinton says 
she supports its use under "federal jurisdiction, for very limited purposes".

Certainly the use of the death penalty has declined, and some argue its use is 
outdated. But the reality is that new technology strengthens the case for it. 
DNA evidence greatly reduces the risk of miscarriage of justice.

Just as there is a moral case for pacifism, so the moral objection to capital 
punishment deserves respect.

Yet the abolition of capital punishment since 1965 in the UK has had the 
practical consequence that innocent lives have been lost that otherwise could 
have been saved.

This is why ordinary people continue to debate the issue in a rigorous and 
intelligent manner. Its consideration should no longer be a taboo among the 
political establishment.

(source: Harry Phibbs, heatst.com)






TURKEY:

Is Erdogan really serious about bringing back death penalty? President Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan continues to respond to calls from his supporters for the 
plotters of the July 15 attempted coup to receive the ultimate punishment, and 
he is signaling his keenness on seeing the death penalty reinstated in Turkey.


It is not clear, though, whether he is doing this for its own sake or if he is 
using the topic to increase his support base as the debate on changing Turkey 
from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency gathers steams.

Turkey, a Council of Europe member and a signatory to the European Convention 
on Human Rights, abolished the death penalty in 2002, except in times of war. 
It subsequently abolished it in times of war in 2003, under Erdogan as prime 
minister, which is ironic from today's perspective.

Responding to supporters chanting "We want the death penalty" during the Oct. 
29 inauguration of Ankara's new fast-speed-train station, Erdogan said, "It is 
close, God willing. Don't worry."

He said the government would bring it to parliament soon, and he expressed his 
belief that it would pass. "And when it comes before me, I will endorse it. 
Why? Because the people will get what they want," he said, adding, "Sovereignty 
belongs to the people."

Responding to journalists later in the day, during his Republic Day reception 
in Istanbul, Erdogan reiterated his support for the death penalty.

"I believe it is not right to delay this any longer, because there is a demand 
from the nation," he said. "I believe parliament will pass this in the most 
appropriate manner, because we know that the death penalty is implemented in 
the larger part of the world."

When the topic first came up after the July 15 coup attempt, European 
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that reinstating the death 
penalty would end Ankara's EU membership negotiations.

When asked about this, Erdogan signaled his indifference toward the EU. He 
questioned whether the EU could give back the 246 people killed by the coup 
plotters or those killed fighting terrorism.

"Decisions by the EU are not unalterable for us. Let's first look to see how 
much of the world the EU corresponds to," Erdogan said, citing the United 
States as an example of a country where the death penalty exists.

Talking to reporters during the Republic Day reception, Prime Minister Binali 
Yildirim was more cautious. He said the Justice and Development Party (AKP) 
could not reintroduce the death penalty without a broad consensus in 
parliament. He nevertheless acknowledged that there was a public demand for 
this penalty and said the AKP would make an effort to secure this consensus.

Murat Yetkin, the editor-in-chief of Hurriyet Daily News, detects a shift in 
Yildirim's position on the topic, despite his apparent lack of enthusiasm 
immediately after the failed coup attempt for reinstating the death penalty.

"This shows that the death penalty was discussed at the highest level in the 
AKP, and like other topics, such as introducing a presidential system, Erdogan 
emerged victorious from the debate," Yetkin argued in his column.

Yetkin also referred to claims in Ankara that Erdogan was pursuing this matter 
for tactical reasons. "There are claims that Erdogan is trying to make the 
death penalty an article of the new constitution, which will also enable the 
transition to a presidential system, and is trying to guarantee the support of 
the Nationalist [Action] Party [MHP] [for a presidential system]," Yetkin said.

The right-wing MHP wants the death penalty to be reinstated, especially against 
members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its leader, Abdullah 
Ocalan, who is in prison in Turkey. Ocalan received the death sentence after 
his arrest in 1999, but this was commuted to aggravated life imprisonment when 
the death penalty was abolished.

The MHP, which was a member of the ruling coalition at the time, was forced by 
political circumstances to accept the lifting of the death penalty, but this 
never sat well with its ultra-nationalist constituents.

Addressing his party's parliamentary group Oct 31, MHP leader Devlet Bahceli 
reiterated that they were more than ready to support the AKP if it was 
genuinely serious about bringing back this penalty.

Detecting in Bahceli's words a political challenge to his party, Yildirim told 
his own parliamentary group the next day that the matter was a constitutional 
one that required the cooperation of all parties in parliament.

"We are not in a position to close our ears to demands [for the death penalty], 
but it has to be known that we can't do this on our own, and that if 
reintroduced, it will not be retroactive," Yildirim said.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish 
Peoples' Democratic Party remain staunch opponents of the death penalty.

There have been calls from other groups to reinstate this penalty, especially 
in cases involving child abuse, honor killings or the killing of women, but 
these have not translated into a coordinated campaign. Many seem satisfied with 
life imprisonment without parole for such crimes.

At any rate, no executions took place in Turkey after 1984, even though the 
death penalty was in force. Executions required parliamentary approval, and 
many deputies were reluctant to provide this after the return to civilian rule 
following the Sept. 12, 1980, coup. Courts under the tutelage of the ruling 
junta then had executed 50 people, mostly on political grounds.

However, government supporters believe that there is a need for this penalty 
today in order to deter backers of the PKK and Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic 
cleric accused of masterminding the July 15 plot.

Bulent Orakoglu, a former police chief who headed an anti-terror squad in the 
1990s, goes a step further and claims that the West forced Turkey into 
abolishing the death penalty in order to protect its interests.

"It is clear that Europe and the US, who openly support terrorism, forced the 
Human Rights Convention on other countries in order to protect their agents," 
Orakoglu reasoned in his column in daily Yeni Safak, which is pro-Erdogan and 
staunchly anti-Western.

Yetkin declared that reinstating the death penalty would place Turkey 
politically and economically in a different and qualitatively lesser league of 
nations. "We don't deserve this," he argued.

Riza Turmen, a former judge on the European Court of Human Rights and a current 
CHP deputy, said bringing back the death penalty would not only end Turkey's EU 
bid, but also endanger its 67-year Council of Europe membership.

"Moving in that direction will raise questions about Turkey's commitment to 
Western values," Turmen told Al-Monitor. "It will also mean Turkey is severing 
its ties with the West," he added.

Echoing Yildirim, Turmen pointed out that even if the death penalty was brought 
back, it would not be retroactive. It would not apply to those arrested for 
allegedly planning and executing the July 15 attempted coup.

"Under the European Convention and our own constitution, a new law cannot apply 
to crimes committed before its introduction. To make a new law retroactive is 
inconceivable," Turmen said.

Turmen said Erdogan's legal advisers know this and argued that Erdogan's 
support for the death penalty is, at the end of the day, "no more than cheap 
populism."

(source: al-monitor.com)






IRAN:

Deceptive maneuver of changing the law and reducing the number of executions by 
the mullahs


In a deceptive maneuver that has been started since several years ago mullah 
Pour Mohammadi, Rouhani's Minister of Justice, underscoring the fact that death 
penalty cannot be ignored said, " the number of death penalties and its 
application should be reviewed.... However, death penalty continues to be in 
the agenda but not as much as it is being done nowadays" (ILNA, state news 
agency- 29 October 2016). Coincident with the General Assembly session, he is 
repeating this crude pledge while the regime sent to the gallows 77 people just 
in this September.

Pour Mohammadi is one of the members of Death Committee in Tehran in the course 
of political prisoners massacre in 1988. Defending such a crime against 
humanity, he said 2 months ago, " we are proud to have implemented the God's 
law against the PMOI, and stood firm in the face of the enemies of God and the 
nation... There should be no mercy for the Monafeqin (the term used by the 
regime for PMOI members and supporters)."

There is no doubt that the remarks of Pour Mohammadi and other regime's 
officials are on the one hand to prevent ratification of a strong resolution by 
the UN General Assembly condemning violation of human rights in Iran, and on 
the other hand because of the regime's fear of growing public opposition to 
executions. Accordingly, the time has come for the international community to 
hold the religious fascism ruling Iran accountable for its crimes, and to 
prevent it from continuing repression, instead of falling prey to it hollow 
maneuvers and making concessions to it by helping it get released out of the 
corner and encourage it to continue executions and killings.

Since 2 years ago the leaders of the Iranian regime have pledged repeatedly 
that the number of executions will be reduced by changing the law. Coincident 
with the sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, or on the eve 
of the regime's sham elections, such lies, extremely needed more than before by 
the regime's appeasers to justify their deals with the regime, are being heard 
more and more. Also, in these days that the Justice Seeking movement for 30,000 
martyrs of the 1988 massacre is getting widespread, the mullahs' regime is in 
more need of such ridiculous maneuvers.

In his report to the current session of General Assembly regarding the human 
rights in Iran, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon worte, "since 2009, there 
has been a pattern of executions dropping significantly before polling day then 
dramatically increasing afterwards."

Javad Larijani, in charge of the so-called human rights in the regime", told 
France 24 two years ago, "we have this much drug-related crimes according to 
the existing law which they are receiving capital punishment. We are crusading 
to change this law and if we are successful to pass it in the parliament almost 
80 % of the executions would go away and it is a big news for us." (5 December 
2014)

70 days ago he said, "we are against full removal of capital punishment because 
for some very dangerous crimes there should be capital punishment. Furthermore, 
there are cases such as castigation that is related to divine Law. Even 
regarding drug-related crimes, we do not advocate full removal of capital 
punishment, rather we are after reviewing the law???reviewing drug law is not 
equivalent to removal of death penalty. ...one of the issues for which we 
execute capital punishment is of course the issue of castigation that... we are 
very proud of." (state media- 23 August 2016)

The regime's parliament (Majlis) has also participated in this deceptive and 
ridiculous maneuver for the last 2 years. Mohammad Ali Esfanani, the spokesman 
of the Majlis judicial committee, talked 2 years ago about the bill of 
reduction of capital punishment. He said, "the idea of reducing capital 
punishment about drug-related crimes will be definitely welcomed by many in 
Majlis.... At the same time the legal and judicial committee of Majlis in the 
Code of Criminal Procedure that is going to be enforced from July 2015 has 
referred to commutation of the punishment for drug-related crimes." (IRNA news 
agency- 23 December 2014)

Last year and coincident with the session of General Assembly, Mir Hadi 
Gharaseyyed Roomiani, member of the judicial committee board of directors of 
Mjlis informed that more than 70 MPs had signed for the plan of removal of 
capital punishment from the drug law and said, "By ratifying this plan, capital 
punishment will be implemented only in armed smuggling cases." He added, "Once 
this plan has been ratified, all prisoners who are currently in prison will be 
released." (state media- 8 December 2015)

Once again this same disgusting game was repeated this fall when the General 
Assembly started. Mullah Hassan Nowrouzi, the spokesman of Majlis legal and 
judicial committee, informed of the plan of commutation of capital punishment 
signed by 100 MPs. He said, "Today this plan is going to be presented to the 
parliament's board of directors." He reiterated, "This plan will cover only 
those individuals who have carried drugs for the first time or a small amount 
of it." (Tasnim- Quds Force news agency, 4 October 2016)

A month later on 30 October 2016, this same mullah said in his interview with 
the regime's radio and TV news agency, "We presented a plan with 76 signatures 
to the Majlis board of directors today which says individuals who have carried 
drugs or were fallen prey to drug traffickers, provided that they do not have 
criminal record, should not be executed," however "those who act as a gang and 
have criminal record are referred to as corrupt on earth and should be 
eliminated and executed???we are not against destroying corrupt on earth."

These deceptive maneuvers are indicative of weakness and fragile situation of a 
regime that is deeply scared of frustrated people uprising, and has no way 
forward and no way back in the deadlock of increasing domestic and 
international crises.

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

Execution lingers in Iran Prisons


Tuesday morning 2 prisoners were hanged in the Salmas prison. Their names is 
Sami Mamedi and Iraj Hamedi.

According to published reports, the Iranian clerical regime intends to execute 
9 more prisoners in Salmas prison (North Western Iran) on drug related charges.

On October 29, these prisoners have been transferred to solitary confinement 
for execution.

According to same reports on Sunday, October 30th the prisoners had their last 
meeting with their families. The execution of prisoners is pending.

Today, also 3 prisoners called, Farhad, Darius and Shoaib have been transferred 
to solitary confinement in Urmia prison (who are under an imminent risk of 
execution.

(source for both: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)