[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 15





SINGAPORE----female foreign national faces death penalty

Indonesian helper in Singapore faces death for alleged murder of elderly 
employer


An Indonesian domestic helper in Singapore has been charged today with the 
murder of her 78-year-old employer, media reports said.

Wheelchair-bound Tay Quee Lang was found dead in her flat at Block 276 Tampines 
Street 22 with a knife reportedly lodged in her neck.

Channel News Asia reports that Minah, 37, is accused of causing the death of 
Tay at about 2.10pm on Monday in the Tampines flat Tay shared with her husband, 
who was not home at the time of the alleged killing. Police said they received 
a call for assistance at about 2.10pm. When officers arrived at the unit on the 
5th floor, they found the woman lying motionless. She was pronounced dead at 
the scene by paramedics.

In court today, Minah, dressed in a black and white striped T-shirt, appeared 
calm as the capital charge was read to her by an interpreter. She will be 
remanded for a psychiatric evaluation and will next appear in court on Mar 8. 
If she is found guilty of murder, Minah will face the death penalty.

(source: thestandard.com.hk)





NIGERIA:

Lagos NAWOJ to FG, states: Pass death penalty for rape


The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos State Chapter, has 
called on the Federal Government and all state governments to pass death 
penalty for rape.

This call was contained in a communique signed by the Lagos NAWOJ Chairperson, 
Hajia Sekinah Lawal at the association's February Congress which held in Lagos 
State.

The group commended the Lagos State House of Assembly and Governor Akinwunmi 
Ambode for passing death penalty for kidnapping in the state noting that rape 
is also a big problem in the country.

"The Police and parents should be ready to report and follow cases of rape to 
the last conclusion. Mothers should also make sure their grown-up girls were 
well-dressed as a strategy to curb rape while those found guilty should be 
sentenced to death in order to serve as deterrent to others," it added.

Lagos NAWOJ also called on Federal and state governments to urgently do 
something about the economy with a view to tackling high inflation, saying 
access to drugs, medical care and food items is becoming more difficult.

Similarly, members expressed concern over the likelihood of emergence of fake 
drugs due to unavailability of the originals.

The group also commended the first lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari for the women 
empowerment programme through vocational trainings and called for more 
empowerment programmes for unemployed graduates and women.

"A place like Lagos State for instance has a lot of riverine communities; with 
this, we can have more fish farmers so as to meet the deficit of fish farming 
in Nigeria," the communique suggested.

The group urged all and sundry to do everything within their capabilities to 
end female genital mutilation.

(source: The Nation)






IRAN----executions

13 Prisoners Executed


9 prisoners on death row, 3 verdicts for hand amputation

The mullahs' regime's henchmen sent 10 inmates to the gallows in Qum and Zabol 
on February 13. One of them was executed while his appeal had been sent to the 
regime's judiciary. Also, 3 other prisoners, 29 and 30 years old, were executed 
in Jiroft and Mashhad prisons on February 11 and 12.

On the other hand, 9 prisoners have been reportedly transferred to solitary 
confinement in Gohardasht prison for execution. Iranian Resistance calls all 
relevant international authorities to take urgent and effective action to 
prevent these executions.

A few days ago, Ali Alizadeh, an official in the so-called anti-drug campaign, 
called for the continuation of brutal punishments and said, "Adjusting death 
penalty does not contribute to the campaign, and faces it with challenges." 
(Khaneh Mettlat, state-run news agency- 5 February 2017)

In yet another case, the mullahs' judiciary in Tehran issued the ruling for 
cutting off the hands of three individuals charged with theft. (Hamshahri, 
state daily- 12 February 2017)

Unable to cope with the growing domestic and international crises, and in fear 
of public uprising, the hated regime of mullahs finds the only way out in 
intensifying suppression. The regime's officials should be expelled from the 
world community for their anti-human crimes, and must be tried for crime 
against humanity. Silence and inaction before the crimes of this savage regime 
over the past three decades has encouraged it to continue and intensify these 
crimes.

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

**********

9 Prisoners Hanged


2 unidentified prisoners were reportedly hanged at Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison 
on Sunday February 12 on murder charges, and 7 unidentified prisoners were 
reportedly hanged at Qom's Langroud Prison on Monday February 13 on drug 
related charges.

According to the state-run news agency Rokna, 1 of the prisoners from Vakilabad 
Prison comitted murder on March 11, 2007 at the age of 19 while the other 
prisoner committed murder on December 19, 2007 at the age of 21.

The human rights news agency HRANA reported on the 7 executions carried out at 
Langroud Prison. Their report identifies one of the prisoners as Saeed Shokri, 
26 years of age.

"The prosecutor of Qom is newly appointed, and these seven executions were his 
way of spreading fear. Unfortunately, they didn't even allow Mr. Shokri's 
lawyer to file a request for a retrial. Instead, they ridiculed him and said 
that he should attend his client's funeral the next day," a source close to Mr. 
Shokri tells Iran Human Rights.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been 
silent on these 7 executions.

(source: iranhr.net)






PHILIPPINES:

ASEAN parliamentarians urge Duterte: Reject death penalty


Parliamentarians from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 
Wednesday urged Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies at the 
House of Representatives to reject the re-imposition of the death penalty in 
the country, and to respect the Philippines' international obligations and 
standing in the ASEAN as a regional leader in human rights protection.

Instead of bringing back the death penalty, the Philippines and ASEAN should 
think about reforms, preventive measures, and rehabilitation, as ways of 
deterring crimes instead of the old "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" 
doctrine, Cambodia Rep. Mu Sochua, Battambang Representative of the National 
Assembly of Cambodia, said.

"Killing, in whatever form, is a form of violence. Death penalty is the extreme 
form of violence," Sochua said.

Malaysia, a nation that still imposes capital punishment, still gets opposition 
from its legislators lobbying for the abolition of the punishment that has been 
labeled as anti-poor.

Malaysian Batukawan Representative Kasthuri Patto of the Parliament of Malaysia 
said most victims, if not all, of capital punishment in Malaysia are the poor.

"The ones who are normally victims of this are the marginalized, the poor. 
Members of the opposition have been lobbying to push for the abolition, 
particularly in drug trafficking," Patto said.

"Of the 1,000 people who are in death row, 600 are foreigners," Patto added.

She added that the Malaysian government has already put up a committee that 
will look into the methods of the death penalty.

The Philippines, represented by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, argued that there is 
consensus worldwide that the death penalty is not an effective means of 
combating crime, including illegal drugs.

"Iran has had the death penalty since 1959 and yet they admitted the death 
penalty did not solve their drug problem," she said.

"Singapore and Hongkong...Hongkong has no death penalty, Singapore does, but 
they have the same crime rate," Hontiveros added.

The ASEAN Parliamentarians also reminded the Duterte administration about the 
country's international obligations.

The Philippines formally abolished capital punishment in 2006 and ratified in 
2007 the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights (ICCPR) aimed at the worldwide abolition of the death penalty.

"We have always been inspired by your people power movement, democracy. We want 
to continue to put you in that high platform, to play that role to protect 
fundamental rights for our people," Sochua said.

"The Philippines must commit to its true self of being a righteous nation, a 
nation of faith, a nation that is looked upon," Patto said.

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said that since the 
Philippines abolished capital punishment in 2006, it has inspired other 
countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam to restrict the use of the 
death penalty, which denotes positive regional progress in the move toward 
abolition.

(source: abs-cbn.com)

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

Palace to ASEAN lawmakers: Death penalty 'apt' for PH----The Philippine 
government, responding to criticism from Cambodian and Malaysian lawmakers, 
says the death penalty is needed to enforce discipline


Malacanang reacted to Southeast Asian lawmakers' opposition to the revival of 
the death penalty in the Philippines, arguing that capital punishment is an 
appropriate measure for the country.

"While some countries may have their opinion, we find the move to reimpose 
death penalty, reserved for certain heinous crimes, as apt for exercising 
discipline in a culture that now treats adherence to law an option rather than 
a rule of community life," said Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella in a 
statement on Wednesday, February 15.

9 members of the Cambodian Parliament and 6 from the Malaysian Parliament 
signed a solidarity statement opposing the planned reimposition of capital 
punishment, a measure strongly supported by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Cambodian and Malaysian lawmakers called the death penalty a "barbaric and 
outdated form of punishment" and one that "puts the Philippines' internatonal 
credibility at risk."

Despite the criticism, the Palace said the reimposition of the death penalty 
"remains a priority legislative measure."

It pointed out that several other Southeast Asian countries, like Singapore, 
continue to impose the death penalty in order to deter crime.

The Philippines' House of Representatives is currently holding debates on the 
bill for the revival of the death penalty. Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is eyeing 
the bill's passage by mid-March.

The Senate, however, is not keen on approving the measure.

Last February 10, Duterte reiterated his support for the reimposition of 
capital punishment, saying that government statistics prove it is an effective 
deterrent against crime.

The Philippine President, elected partly for his hardline stance against crime 
and drugs, said he also believes the death penalty is the only fitting 
punishment for certain crimes.

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

Death penalty lifting did not increase incidence of heinous crimes


President Duterte last week argued for the return of the death penalty by 
referring to the purported statistics reported by the Bureau of Corrections 
head Benjamin de los Santos in his recent testimony to the Senate.

The bureaucrat testified: "BuCor statistics show that before the abolition of 
the death penalty we had 189 inmates convicted for the commission of heinous 
crimes. After such abolition, a staggering 6,024 were sentenced for heinous 
crimes, an astonishing 3,280 percent increase."

That's a total lie, a patent fabrication: The Senate must cite the BuCor 
official for perjury, and for attempting to fool it to pass a law re-imposing 
the death penalty by presenting false information.

There is no such data: Neither the BuCor nor its mother agency, the justice 
department, has collated information on convictions on heinous crimes.

The only BuCor data that could approximate the number of "inmates convicted for 
heinous crimes" are the number of its yearly admissions of convicts. The number 
of those convicted of heinous crimes - such as murder, rape, and kidnapping - 
may be estimated based on its data that 48 % of convicts in its prisons are 
"maximum security" inmates.

(To clarify, the BuCor under the justice department is charged with supervising 
6 national prisons, including the biggest, the national penitentiary at the New 
Bilibid Prison, with its inmates consisting of those already convicted and with 
sentences of more than 3 years. On the other hand, the inmates in the jails of 
the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which is under the Philippine 
National Police, are those still on trial and with convictions of less than 3 
years.)

As the data below show, after the June 2006 ban of the death penalty, there was 
very minimal increase in the number of those convicted for murders and rapes, 
the 2 most frequent crimes punishable by death, with very little deviation from 
the yearly average of 2,558 incidences.

The slight increases are due of course to the increases in our country's 
population, which grew from 87 million in 2006 to 101 million in 2015. Indeed, 
for both 2016 when there was no death penalty, and 2005 when there was, the 
heinous crime rate per 100,000 population, was the same, at 2.8.

Lifting of capital punishment in 2006 had no impact on incidence of murder and 
rape.

The data therefore indisputably shows that the abolition of the death penalty 
had not encouraged more heinous crimes, contrary to the claims of the BuCor 
official and proponents of the death penalty.

The Philippine data isn't at all surprising: rigorous, scientific studies show 
that the death penalty has no impact on the incidence of heinous crimes. 2 
studies in the United States that claimed to prove that the abolition of the 
death penalty increased murder rates in certain US states, were later proven to 
be "fundamentally flawed" by that country's National Research Council.

In fact, murder rates from 1900 to 2010 in American states in which there is no 
death penalty were even lower than in states with capital punishment. A 2009 
survey of criminologists showed that over 88 % believed that the death penalty 
was not a deterrent to murder.

The issue is really so commonsensical. As Amnesty International has pointed 
out: "The threat of execution at some future date is unlikely to enter the 
minds of those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, those who 
are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing 
another crime (such as a robbery), or those who suffer from mental illness or 
mental retardation and do not fully understand the gravity of their crime."

Same finding here: Death penalty no impact on murder rates.

In essence, the death penalty has been a remnant from our civilization's 
violent past, unenlightened by humanity's higher values, mainly the recognition 
of the mystery and wonder of a human life, that took more than 1,000 years to 
develop. We have only learned in the past 50 years that a human does not 
totally have free will, with his baser instincts capable at times of completely 
taking over his reason or values, even as we have to pretend we are captains of 
our souls.

>From being a penalty imposed by all nations in the past, 140 nations have 
abolished it in law and in practice, and only 54 retain it in practice. Only 
the US (31 out of its 52 states) among the Western nations retain it, and not 
even "violent" Russia in practice.

It's not a coincidence that many of the American states that do have the death 
penalty are those where Christians who take the Bible literally dominate.

Excluding in the discussion China and other nations whose cultures are still 
dominated by the primacy of the group - as in an ant colony - rather than the 
individual, the most important reason why there is still capital punishment in 
this day of enlightenment and age of reason will surprise you.

Religion

It is religion, particularly Christianity and its offshoot, Islam. Christianity 
and Islam have molded most of humanity's values for at least a thousand years, 
and these 2 have always brainwashed people to believe that God himself sees 
vengeance as a value to be upheld, that an eye must be paid for an eye taken, a 
life for a life extinguished.

As late as 1952, Pope Pius XII even made the ridiculous argument that the 
"State does not dispose of the individual's right to life." Rather, he argued, 
"in expiation of his crime, [the criminal]has already disposed of his right to 
life." Until 1969, the Vatican City's statutes had capital punishment - for the 
crime of attempting to assassinate the Pope.

Pope Francis has stated that he is against the death penalty, but that it is 
his personal opinion and he is appealing for a consensus to end the death 
penalty on the ground that it is "cruel and unnecessary." The Vatican had 
officially supported the 2015 United Nations campaign against the death 
penalty.

But believe it or not, Catholic dogma still doesn't see anything wrong with 
capital punishment as a right of the state to defend itself. No wonder the 
support of many, if not most, Filipinos for the return of capital punishment in 
this unlucky, dominantly Catholic nation.

We will be the 1st country to re-impose the death penalty, and the second time 
around after the ex-general Fidel Ramos rammed a law through Congress in 1993 
authorizing it. Gloria Arroyo abolished it in 2006. Duterte wants it back, 
after given false information.

What a country that keeps changing its mind on such a fundamental issue.

(On Friday, it was not the 2006 abolition of the death penalty that encouraged 
more crimes, rather it was the incompetence of the BS Aquino III regime and I 
will show that with facts, figures, and logic.)

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

House opposition: Pointless to push for death penalty if Senate rejects it


Representative Raul Daza says the House debate on capital punishment will be 
'moot and academic' if the Senate kills the death penalty bill Opposition 
lawmakers advised the House leadership to "pause and think" given that a 
majority of senators are not keen on passing the controversial death penalty 
bill.

In a press conference on Tuesday, February 14, Northern Samar 1st District 
Representative Raul Daza cited a resolution passed by 14 senators declaring 
that the Senate has a say in the termination of any treaty or international 
agreement.

During the Senate's first hearing on the proposed revival of capital 
punishment, anti-death penalty Senator Franklin Drilon forced a government 
lawyer to admit that restoring the death penalty is illegal under an 
international treaty that the Philippines ratified in 2007.

The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights bans states party to it from reimposing capital punishment.

"So this raises a prejudicial question: Should the House now proceed on HB 4727 
given that the Senate or a majority of the Senate has already put in writing 
their sentiment that we should not tamper with our treaty obligations without 
first according to the Senate due respect to look at how the bill will affect a 
treaty that has been ratified by it?" asked Daza.

He said that if the Senate ultimately decides to block the passage of the death 
penalty bill, all the efforts of the House leadership to push for the measure 
will be "moot and academic."

"I think the House leadership, given this new development, should pause and 
think. Because in the event that the Senate asserts its authority and expresses 
its sentiment to uphold and restate our treaty commitments under the protocol, 
which is that we committed not to reimpose the death penalty, the House bill 
now becomes moot and academic," said Daza.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is bent on ending the plenary debates on the death 
penalty by March 8. He had already warned congressmen that he would strip them 
of their leadership titles if they vote against HB 4727.

The Speaker also said he "does not care" if the Senate ends up blocking the 
bill so long as it is passed in the House. But Albay 1st District 
Representative Edcel Lagman disagrees with Alvarez.

"This is a bicameral legislature. No one acts solely and independently of the 
other. So kailangan mangialam (you need to care) because of the bilateral 
nature of the Congress of the Philippines," said Lagman.

He also urged the House and Senate leadership to meet and iron out the 
differences in their approach to the reimposition of the death penalty.

"Otherwise, we in the House will be engaged in an exercise of futility if after 
all, the Senate will not approve any measure reimposing the death penalty," 
said Lagman.

(source for all: rappler.com)

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

Minority solons to House leadeship: Pause, think about death penalty


An independent minority lawmaker called on the leadership of the House of 
Representatives to reconsider its support for the death penalty bill due to the 
country's treaty obligations for the abolition of capital punishment.

In a press conference at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Northern 
Samar Rep. Raul Daza urged the House leadership to "pause and think" about the 
country's obligations to abolish the death penalty, the central issue that 
stalled the deliberations in the Senate.

Senators centered on the country's obligations to the United Nations 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which under the 
Second Optional Protocol states that "Each State Party shall take all necessary 
measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction."

Daza urged the members of the majority supporting the bill to allow Senate to 
first consider the treaty obligation, which if found valid would render the 
House bill seeking to restore the death penalty moot and academic.

"The House leadership, given this new development, should pause and think 
because in the event that the Senate asserts its authority to uphold and 
restate our treaty commitments under the protocol, the House bill becomes moot 
and academic," Daza said.

For his part, Albay Rep Edcel Lagman said the House should not waste its time 
on deliberatingon the death penalty if it would be an exercise in futility.

He called on the congressional leaders to meet and thresh out its differing 
positions on the death penalty.

"I'm urging the House as well as the Senate leadership to meet in order to iron 
out this particular difference. Otherwise, we in the House would be engaged in 
an exercise in futility if the Senate will not approve any measure reimposing 
death penalty," Lagman said.

The House bill is expected to limit crimes punishable with death to the most 
heinous, making the proposal more favorable to lawmakers, and indicating that 
the death penalty bill has better chances in the lower House than in the 
Senate.

House Bill 4727 restoring death penalty is seen to be a priority legislation in 
the House of Representatives.

The bill seeks to impose death penalty on more than 20 heinous offenses, such 
as rape with homicide, kidnapping for ransom and arson with death.

According to the original version of the bill, the following are punishable by 
death under the Revised Penal Code - treason, qualified piracy, qualified 
bribery, parricide, murder, infanticide, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal 
detention, robbery with homicide, rape, intentional mutilation or arson and 
destructive arson.

Plunder is also punishable with reclusion perpetua to death according to the 
Republic Act 7080 or the plunder law as amended by Republic Act 7659.

Some lawmakers, however, believe plunder should not be punishable with death 
under the bill.

The following offenses under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act are also 
punishable with death - importation; sale, trading, administration, 
dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation; maintenance of a den, 
dive or resort; manufacture; possession of certain quantities of dangerous 
drugs; cultivation; unlawful prescription; misappropriation or failure to 
account confiscated, seized or surrendered dangerous drugs; and planting of 
evidence.

Carnapping is also a criminal offense punishable with death under the 
Anti-Carnapping Act or Republic Act 6539.

Justice committee chairperson, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, said the 
House leadership is willing to reduce the list of crimes punishable under death 
only to the most heinous - drug trade and abuse, murder, kidnapping, carnapping 
and rape.

Umali said though that plunder may be removed from the list as it is not as 
heinous a crime as those committed against persons and life.

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)