[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 11




EGYPT:

Muslim Brotherhood: Death Penalty and World Conscience


On the International Day Against the Death Penalty, the world rose up against 
loss of life outside the law, and to save the lives of innocent people 
wrongfully sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian people live a tragedy that is claiming the lives of 
innocent citizens through extrajudicial killings on identity, medical neglect 
and politicized death sentences. In 2016 alone, executions outside the 
framework of the law reached unprecedented highs, and unjust death sentences 
since the 2013 military coup were issued against 1841 citizens, in 44 cases, 
with the death penalty confirmed for 688 people.

"Coup Egypt" won the first place in the world in executions, according to 
several international organizations, as death sentences issued in the past 3 
years by the junta's heavily politicized judiciary outnumbered those issued in 
the last 110 years of Egypt's history.

All the absurd charges in those death penalty cases, brought against innocent 
people, were totally removed from reality. They were nothing but political 
account-settling, and the general heinous approach adopted by the villainous 
coup regime that has no regard for Egyptians' lives.

The executions, which are intended to terrorize, intimidate, demonize and 
eliminate all those who reject the military coup, will not discourage the 
Egyptian people from moving forward in their Revolution until they uproot and 
oust this criminal gang that has dragged Egypt into chaos and destruction, and 
turned it into a big prison.

There will come a day soon where magic shall turn against the magician, and 
Egyptians will achieve retribution for the blood of their martyrs and the 
wounded, and reap the fruits of the great sacrifices they made.

Dr Talaat Fahmi

Muslim Brotherhood Media Spokesman

(source: ikhwanweb.com)






LIBERIA:

EU Supports World Day against Death Penalty


On Monday, October 10, European Union Charge d'Affaires Emma Sundblad 
participated in a panel discussion to mark the observance of this year's World 
Day against the Death Penalty.

During the function organized by local civil society organization 'Action by 
Christians for the Abolition of Torture - Liberia' in the borough of New Kru 
Town, Madame Sundblad said the Council of Europe and the European Union 
welcomed the global trend towards the abolition of capital punishment.

She applauded Liberia for keeping in place the moratorium the government of 
Liberia has imposed on the death penalty, stressing that more than 2/3 of all 
countries have abolished the death penalty in either law or practice.

Madame Sundblad noted that the European Union continues to underline that the 
death penalty is cruel, inhumane and incompatible with human dignity and the 
right to life. Also, the death penalty is irreversible in cases of miscarriage 
of justice and does not deter crime more effectively than other punishments. 
When the death penalty is abolished it does not lead to an increase in crime.

Panel members, including representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the 
judiciary, the Inter-Religious Council and the ECOWAS Commission, discussed the 
relevance of abolishing the death penalty in Liberia, a press release said.

(source: Daily Observer)






UGANDA:

Former MPs Push For Reintroduction of Anti-Death Penalty Bill


Speaking to URN on phone this morning, Odoi explained that under the Coalition 
against the Death Penalty Uganda, they are lobbying for support to have the 
bill re-introduced and passed.

(source: ugandaradionetwork.com)






SIERRA LEONE:

That Threat of the Gallows:


The admonition of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Paolo Conteh to the 
authorities at the correctional facility to sanitize the gallows seems as if 
the Judiciary is on the threshold of breaking the silence.

This followed after the verdicts passed by Justice Alusine Sesay of the 
Freetown High Court to the 2 culprits for partaking in the murdering of D J 
Cleff.

When one takes into consideration the spate of killings within the last couple 
of months in the capital city, it is sufficient for the Judiciary to act 
promptly to prevent further killings of peaceful Sierra Leoneans.

What the judiciary has demonstrated appears merely a wakeup call to Sierra 
Leoneans that the death penalty is still lynching in our necks and it is also 
imperative that these slaughters learn bitter lessons that, enough is enough.

The judiciary is not witch-hunting any citizen as many people perceived it to 
be but to restore peace and order to reign in this country. The days when some 
individuals think they can play pranks in the justice system is gone.

This pronouncement has also taught the citizens of this country that, some laws 
are still in force and were never expunge from our law books though laws that 
the citizens considered dreadful can be repealed for the good of the all.

Some killings were undertaken by some unknown people given the police a serious 
headache to track down the murderers. Other killings were grossly perpetrated 
by people in our midst without any consideration for the law.

It is disheartening to learn that when the law comes in to deal with such 
issues some pessimist will stand up against government by castigating the 
judiciary for the wrong reasons while ignoring the fact that every life is 
precious and nobody should be above the law.

It would also appear immoral to catalogue the numerous corpses that have been 
discovered by the police within the last couple of months.

The SLP would prove this fact that there have been higher incidences of crimes 
associated with killings but the perpetrators were always no were to be found 
except in some cases when these perpetrators ran out of luck.

The judiciary can best be described as a lookalike keeper that also gives 
opportunity to the wrongdoer to appeal if possible. This explains that even 
wrongdoers have the right to appeal in a court of law.

(source: sierraexpressmedia.com)






NIGERIA:

Lawyers Without Borders seek abolition of death penalty


The Avocats Sans Frontieres France (ASF-France) commonly referred to as Lawyers 
without Borders, has renewed its call for the abolition of death penalty in 
Nigeri'???s criminal justice system.

ASF France, Head of Office, in Nigeria, Angela Uwandu, in a statement yesterday 
urged the Nigerian government to officially implement the moratorium on death 
penalty to celebrate the 14th World Day against the Death Penalty.

"Avocats Sans Frontieres France/Lawyers Without Borders France renews its call 
to the Government of Nigeria to put in place an official moratorium on the 
death penalty. The theme for this year's celebration, 'The death penalty and 
terrorism' is particularly relevant to the Nigerian situation in the wake of 
terrorism in the North East of the country," she said.

According to Uwandu, it is unfortunate that Nigeria is one of the countries 
that have introduced the death penalty as one of its measures for fighting 
terrorism within its territories.

"As the Nigerian government continues its brave fight against the Boko Haram 
group, the point however must be made that the death penalty has never been a 
solution for addressing terrorism in any country.

"So far, 103 states have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, 6 have 
abolished it for ordinary crimes, 32 respect a moratorium on executions making 
141 States in total who have taken steps against the death penalty," she said.

She however urged Nigerian government to join the league of progressive nations 
that have abrogated the death penalty from its laws.

She added that Nigeria should work towards restorative justice and ensure full 
adherence to due process and the rule of law by reforming its criminal justice 
system.

"The legislature both at the national and state levels must also refrain from 
imposing the death penalty for future offences while steps are taken to review 
existing laws prescribing the death penalty in Nigeria. The death penalty is 
barbaric, absolute."

(source: today.ng)

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

UK, others urge Nigeria to abolish death penalty


The United Kingdom, UK, yesterday, appealed to the federal governmment to end 
death penalty in the country. A statement by the British High Commissioner to 
Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, on the 2016 World Day against Death Penalty, said the 
British government believed death penalty had no place in the modern world and 
that its use undermined human dignity.

Arkwright, who said there was no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value, 
added that any miscarriage of justice leading to its imposition was 
irreversible and irreparable. He explained that the past 2 decades had seen a 
significant rise in the number of countries that had abolished capital 
punishment, noting, "I am concerned, therefore, that Nigeria, a model for 
democracy in Africa, still retains the death penalty in its laws. In 2013 
Nigeria carried out 4 executions, the 1st since 2006. At the time of the 
execution, all 4 individuals still had appeals to halt their executions, a 
violation of international law and I believe Nigerian law too."

He said while no death sentence had been implemented since 2013, Nigeria had 
more than 1,000 prisoners on death row, the highest number of death sentences 
in Africa.

"In 2015, Nigeria recorded 171 death sentences. This year too, there have been 
death sentences handed down by Nigerian courts," he said.

The high commissioner pointed out that capital punishment fuelled hatred, 
extremism and terrorism, stressing.

"With the security challenges Nigeria faces today, some argue that retaining 
the death penalty is a just response to terrorism. My response to this view is 
that there is evidence that shows that judicial killing fuels hatred, extremism 
and terrorism. The real risk is that executing terrorists can generate many 
more to take their place," he said.

On its part, Avocats Sans Frontieres France/Lawyers Without Borders France, has 
renewed its call to the government to put in place an official moratorium on 
the death penalty.

Angela Uwandu, Head of Office, Avocats Sans Frontieres France in a statement, 
yesterday, said: "Unfortunately, Nigeria is one of the countries that have 
introduced the death penalty as one of its measures for fighting terrorism 
within its territories. As the Nigerian government continues its brave fight 
against the Boko Haram group, the point, however, must be made that the death 
penalty has never been a solution for addressing terrorism in any country."

Also, Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP, called on the government to 
take urgent steps to protect its citizens facing the death penalty in foreign 
countries especially in South East Asia.

National coordinator LEDAP, Mr Chino Obiagwu, in a statement, yesterday, said: 
"We are concerned that the arrests, interrogations and trials of these 
Nigerians usually violated basic norms of fair hearing. Most of them had no 
interpreters during questioning upon arrest and even during trials.

"We call on Nigeria to enter into diplomatic negotiations with countries of the 
South East Asia and Saudi Arabia to secure prison transfers of all Nigerians 
currently convicted and sentenced to death in those countries, and to ensure 
that consulate services are provided in future to any Nigerian arrested and 
charged in any foreign country. We also urge the Nigerian National Assembly to 
adopt laws to abolish the use of death sentence as punishment for any crime."

Human Rights Law Service, HURILAWS, also expressed concern that despite the 
progressive abolition of the death penalty globally, Nigeria had opted to 
expand the scope of the death penalty by including acts of terrorism among the 
offences punishable by death. It said that often, these offences, which didn't 
necessarily result in lethal consequences, were drafted in very broad and 
undefined language, meaning they could be applied to a wide variety of 
activities.

(source: vanguardngr.com)