[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 19



GAZA:

Hamas sentences 3 to death for spying for Israel, upholds 3 more rulings


All were convicted of treason, and some charged with causing the death and 
injury of Gazans

Authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have sentenced 6 men to death for 
"collaborating" with Israel, the Palestinian Safa press service reports.

3 of the sentences were new while the other 3 were sentences that were upheld 
following appeal.

The Associated Press reports that Sunday's sentences bring the number of people 
on death row to 10, and several others are appealing the same conviction.

According to the Safa report, all were convicted of treason, and some of the 
men were charged with causing the death and injury of Gazans through their 
actions.

Hamas authorities believe that 1 of the convicted, born in 1968, began working 
with Israel in 1991, said Safa.

3 of the accused were from Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, and the others 
were from Gaza City and Khan Younis.

Under Palestinian law, those convicted of collaboration with Israel, murder and 
drug trafficking face the death penalty.

Execution orders must be approved by the Palestinian president before they can 
be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas 
whose 4-year term ended in 2009.

In the past, Hamas has come under fire from human rights groups for executing 
suspected collaborators without a trial. Sometimes Gazans are accused of being 
collaborators based on mere rumor and at other times those who fall out of 
favor with Hamas are deemed collaborators and executed.

(source: 124news.tv)






FRANCE:

The guillotine is named after a man who hated capital punishment


Q: I was watching a movie, and someone was being executed with the guillotine. 
Why did the French use the guillotine instead of hanging or firing squad?

T.M., of Collinsville

A: Humane execution.

For many, it's still an abhorrent contradiction in terms. But for Dr. 
Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, it was at the heart of his plea to France's National 
Assembly in 1789 for a cleaner method of killing the condemned.

Ironically, the instrument to achieve that goal - the guillotine - now carries 
the name of a man who was opposed to capital punishment.

So, no, Guillotin did not invent the fearsome instrument that can separate head 
from body in an instant. Far from it. Similar contraptions had begun popping up 
in Europe centuries before, at least in thought if not reality. As early as 
1210, "The High History of the Holy Grail," an old French Arthurian romance 
novel, described a device with not one, but three openings.

"And behold what I would do to them if their heads were therein ... a cutting 
blade of steel droppeth down, of steel sharper than any razor, and closeth up 
the three openings."

It didn't take long for imagination to turn into reality. Near Merton, Ireland, 
Murcod Ballagh was executed with a similar device in 1307. In England at least 
56 prisoners were killed with the Halifax Gibbet from 1286 to 1650, when 
beheadings were stopped there. The Maiden was reportedly built for the 
authorities in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1564 and was used to dispatch those 
found guilty from 1565 to 1710. But it wasn't until nearly a century later that 
the efficient killing machine gained its lasting name when it had its heyday in 
France.

Born in 1738, Guillotin seemed to excel in whatever he tried. In earning a 
degree from the University of Bordeaux, his essay so impressed the Jesuits that 
he became a professor of literature. But a few years later he went off to Paris 
to study medicine, earning a prize from the faculty at Reims.

So after he earned a spot in the National Assembly, his colleagues listened 
intently when, on Oct. 10, 1789, he argued that criminals should be decapitated 
by a "simple machine ... that beheads painlessly." At the time, beheading in 
France was done by ax or sword, which could be messy because incompetent 
executioners sometimes needed 2 or more strokes. Moreover, beheading was 
reserved for the upper class. Commoners were typically hanged, which could take 
several minutes.

Guillotin thought his idea would make executions not only swift and certain but 
more egalitarian as well, 1 of the cornerstones of the popular French motto, 
"Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite." But he also hoped it would be the 1st step in 
eliminating capital punishment entirely, a hope that would not be achieved for 
200 more years.

So as the French Revolution continued in 1791, Dr. Antoine Louis, secretary to 
the Academy of Surgery, headed a committee (which included Guillotin) to 
develop such a device. Impressed by the Maiden and Gibbet, the group came up 
with an "improved" design that employed an oblique blade rather than the former 
models, which tended to crush the neck or otherwise mutilate the body.

On April 25, 1792, in front of what is now the Paris City Hall, highwayman 
Nicholas Jacques Pelletier became the 1st man to die in the new device.

"It is less repugnant: No man's hands will be tainted with the blood of his 
fellow being," Charles-Louis Sanson, the official executioner of the French 
Revolution, said in describing the machine's advantages just before the 
execution. "And the worst of the ordeal for the condemned man will be his own 
fear of death, a fear more painful to him than the stroke which deprives him of 
life."

Deemed a success, the blade soon was coming down on thousands during the Reign 
of Terror from June 1793 to July 1794, including, of course, King Louis XVI and 
his wife, Marie "Let-Them-Eat-Cake" Antoinette (although there's no proof she 
ever said that).

You might think the French would have been repulsed by the Jacobins??? 
bloodletting, but you???d be wrong. After the revolution, the guillotine 
remained France's official method of execution until September 1981, when 
Guillotin's dream of abolishing the death penalty became law.

Elsewhere, people also were losing their heads to this machine well into the 
20th century. According to the History Channel, Adolf Hitler had 20 of the 
machines placed around Nazi Germany, resulting in approximately 16,500 killings 
from 1933 to 1945. Switzerland used it until 1940, and East Germany secretly 
killed countless state residents with it until at least 1966. It is thought 
that on Sept. 10, 1977, Tunisian native Hamida Djandoubi became the last man in 
the Western world to be beheaded after being convicted of killing his French 
girlfriend.

More facts about the guillotine, courtesy of the History Channel (stop here if 
you have a queasy stomach):

In 1790s France, executions were a major spectator event. People could buy 
souvenirs, grab a program listing the names of the condemned and order a 
cappuccino at the nearby Cabaret de la Guillotine. There reportedly was even a 
group of women who attended on a daily basis, busily knitting in between the 
blade's descents.

Executioners reportedly became rock stars, judged on how quickly and precisely 
they could accomplish multiple beheadings. It often became a family business in 
France - the Sansons from 1792 to 1847 before the father-son team of Louis and 
Anatole Deibler took over from 1879 to 1939. In fact, what they wore on the 
scaffold often became a fashion trend.

And, yes, there were attempts to see how long a person remained conscious after 
an execution by subjecting the head to fire and ammonia. (One witness swore he 
saw a head's cheek turn red after it was slapped.) In 1880, Dr. Dassy de 
Lignieres went so far as to pump blood into the head of a child murderer to see 
if it could speak. These ghoulish experiments stopped in the 20th century, but 
studies on rats found that brain activity may continue for up to four seconds 
after decapitation.

(source: bnd.com)






INDONESIA:

Tangerang court sentences 4 drug convicts to death


The panel of judges at Tangerang District Court has handed down the death 
penalty to 3 Taiwanese citizens and one Indonesian for trafficking 60 kilograms 
of crystal methamphetamine.

The defendants have been identified as Chen Alin, Achen, Alang and Suprapto. 
Alin and Achen, through their lawyers, said that they had not decided on 
further action while Alang and Suprapto said they would appeal.

"For their offenses, the defendants are sentenced to death. The defendants have 
been proven guilty of jointly committing acts of crime," said presiding judge 
Tuti Hariyati said on Friday, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

The death sentence was imposed as the panel of judges did not find any 
mitigating circumstances for the defendants.

Joko Priyatno, the lawyer for Alin and Achen, said his clients were not part of 
the drug ring that smuggled the meth as Alin came to the country as a 
technician and Achen as a driver. Edi Rustandi, Alang's lawyer, said that his 
client only possessed 1.06 kg of crystal methamphetamine not 60 kg.

Alin and Achen were arrested at Sun Plaza, South Tangerang, in May, in 
possession of 6 kg of meth. They said that they obtained the meth from 
Suprapto. The police then raided Suprapto's house at Paramount Cluster Alicante 
residential area and found 54 kilograms of meth.

(source: The Jakarta Post)






TAIWAN:

Filipino Convicts Received Clemency Through Fair and Transparent Trials in 
Taiwan


A Filipino foreign worker Jakatia Pawawas was executed in Kuwait last month. 
She was accused of killing her employer's daughter in May 2007 and found guilty 
and sentenced to death in 2008 in Kuwait. An appeal was filed but the appeal 
court in Kuwait upheld the death sentence in 2009.

The tragic incident and subsequent execution have shocked the Philippines and 
have been brought to attention of many Filipinos on the fairness and 
transparency in the judicial procedures of foreign legal systems. In contrast 
to the unfair and discriminatory treatments meted out to the overseas Filipino 
workers (OFWs) in some countries, more than 150,000 Filipino OFWs in Taiwan are 
fairly treated and well protected by the law in Taiwan. They are guaranteed by 
the national minimum wage and receive exactly the same national health 
insurance as Taiwan nationals do. As Taiwan is a peaceful and safe place, 
Filipinos are fairly fond of Taiwan and consider Taiwan as their second home. 
There are approximately 8,000 Filipinos who are married with Taiwanese. Most of 
them fell in love at work. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese also thank them for their 
hardwork and contribution toward the economic development in Taiwan.

As a full-fledged democracy, Taiwan is internationally renowned for its 
protection of human right. The majority of the OFWs are law abiding and 
hardworking. So far, only 2 Philippine nationals committed serious crimes, like 
murder, in Taiwan. However, they have received fair and transparent trials 
based on the due process of law under a 3-tiered court system made up of the 
Supreme Courts, High Courts, and the District Courts in Taiwan.

The public's confidence in the judiciary in Taiwan is high, as its legal system 
is based on efficiency, accessibility, judicial transparency, fairness and 
integrity.

Taiwan's legal system is not geared toward exercising the principle of 
vengeance. Rather, its major aim is to set the convicts on the right path and 
focus on the importance of rehabilitation.

The afore-said 2 murder cases are exemplified here.

A Filipino woman named Nemencia Armia was initially sentenced to death for 
stabbing her job broker, a 48-year-old Taiwanese woman who helped foreigners 
find teaching jobs at private schools in the Kaohsiung area in Taiwan in 2007. 
Armia was caught on closed circuit television disposing of the broker's body in 
a garbage bag. She also made several automated teller machine withdrawals to 
the tune of over NT$660,000 ($20,200) from the deceased bank account by using 
the deceased victim's ATM card.

Armia was firstly sentenced to death by the Kaohsiung District Court in Taiwan. 
However, on humanitarian ground, the Taiwan High Court's Kaohsiung branch 
overruled a lower court's death sentence and twice sentenced Armia to life in 
prison rather than death in 2010. The mitigation of sentence was based on the 
consideration that "the killing was a sudden occurrence, and was not 
premeditated", and "Armia did not carefully plan her crime and did not obtain a 
large amount of money, so she is not considered to be an extremely evil 
criminal".

According to the TV report, Armia was silent during the court hearing. After 
she was told by an interpreter that her death sentence had been mitigated to a 
life sentence, she said "thank you" to the judge. In addition, another Filipino 
man identified as Darwin Gorospe Sarmiento was also sentenced by Taiwan's 
District Court in 2015 to death for killing a grocery store owner in Taiwan's 
Taoyuan County in 2014. Aside from murder, Sarmiento was also convicted of 
sexual assault and robbery.

Sarmiento initially denied involvement in the killing, but confessed when he 
learned the store's surveillance camera had captured the killing and robbery. 
He killed the store owner with a hammer then stabbing him in the neck with a 
screwdriver. However, Taiwan's Supreme Court said Sarmiento did not intend to 
kill the owner, but was trying to rob the grocery store. It also noted 
Sarmiento had been under severe financial pressure to settle medical bills for 
his daughter who has a congenital heart disease.

Eventually, instead of the death penalty, the Supreme Court in Taiwan commuted 
the sentence of Sarmiento convicted of murder to life imprisonment.

Taiwan's clemency for the said 2 Filipinos over the above murder cases shows 
that Taiwan has not only adhered to the due process of law, but also fulfilled 
the universal value of the respect for human rights and humanitarian 
compassion. If the above-mentioned convicts have been penitent and behaved well 
in prisons, they are eligible to apply for the parole after serving certain 
years required by the law in Taiwan.

Teco, based on goodwill, is also willing to help Armia's and Sarmiento's family 
members to obtain visas if they wish to visit them in Taiwan.

As a matter of fact, the Hon. Rep. Rose Marie "Baby" J. Arenas visited these 
two Filipinos earlier on when she paid a visit to Taiwan and asked the Taiwan 
authorities to give humanitarian consideration to these 2 Filipino prisoners. 
In a way, the mitigation of sentence is a timely response to the friendly 
appeal from Taiwan's closest neighbor.

Looking forward, in the time of a new era for Taiwan and the Philippines, as 
Taiwan is implementing the "New Southbound Policy" to strengthen its relations 
with Southeast Asia region, and as the Philippines has been on top of the 
agenda as the gateway to Asean countries, both countries should expand and 
strengthen multifaceted cooperation and partnership, including more 
people-to-people engagement and interaction.

Taiwan has been a peaceful, law-abiding and nonthreatening member of the 
international community. Further, a democratic Taiwan is an important strategic 
buffer for the national security of the Philippines. As Taiwan controls the 
access between Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, as well as the first islands 
chain, Taiwan and the Philippines should get to know each other better and 
build up stronger and more solid relationship so as to create a "win-win" 
situation that will be conducive to the enhancement of peace and stability, 
thereby benefiting all stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region.

(source: businessmirror.com.ph)



PHILIPPINES:

House leaders to decide on Monday on dealth penalty bill


The House leadership is set to decide on Monday, February 20 on whether it 
would end the plenary debates to pave way for the early voting of the measure 
seeking to reimpose life imprisonment to death penalty on heinous crimes, as 
well as include plunder in the list of crimes to be charged with death.

House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Farinas, chairman of 
the House committee on rules, said they will not allow the opponents of House 
Bill 4727 to delay the passage of President Rodrigo Duterte's priority measure 
by questioning the quorum. "As chairman of the [House] committee on rules, we 
will now force to vote on this measure and we will now close the period of 
debates," Farinas said.

AKO Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, president of the 44-strong Party List 
Coalition (PLC), said they are also set to decide if plunder will be included 
in the list of crimes that will be covered by the death penalty, as some 
lawmakers are opposing it because they face plunder complaints before the 
Office of the Ombudsman.

"We will finalize the inclusion and exclusion of the list of crimes on the 
death penalty bill, especially plunder," he said.

Sources said some lawmakers who were facing plunder complaints at the 
anti-graft court in connection with the anomalous use of their pork barrel or 
priority development assistance funds (PDAP) sought the exclusion of the 
plunder in the list of crimes that will be slapped with death.

Batocabe said his group will rally behind the death penalty bill.

"We have already agreed to vote on the measure by March," he said.

A week ago, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House 
committee on justice confirmed that HB 4727 will be put to vote on 2nd reading 
by March 8 and on 3rd reading on March 15, 2017. Only 4 out of 50 lawmakers who 
wanted to interpellate were given the opportunity to debate on the bill in the 
plenary.

(source: Manila Bulletin)

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

Jesus would disapprove the restoration of death penalty


In our Gospel today, Jesus cites the Old Testament law of retaliation, "an eye 
for an eye...." (Ex. 21:24, Dt. 19:21 and Lev. 24:20) which was meant to deter 
violence and put an end to the spiral of vengeance. According to the Old 
Testament justice was served by meting out punishment or physical harm on the 
perpetrator that was commensurate to the gravity of the offense.

However biblical scholars doubt if the law of retaliation was still in effect 
in Jesus' time. What is important for us to note is that whereas the Old 
Testament permitted certain forms of revenge, Jesus went beyond what the Law 
deemed fair and just. Instead of advocating retributive justice, he endorsed 
love of enemies and praying for persecutors (Mt. 5:44). Instead of doing 
violence to one's assailant, he taught restraint and temperance (Mt. 5:38-42).

Dan Harrington, SJ, New Testament scholar, explains that Jesus' teachings 
apples to personal relations; however, "Whether [they] can be transposed to the 
social or political realms is a matter of ongoing debate."

To determine what Jesus would have thought about capital punishment, we can 
examine some clues. First, his treatment of public sinners. Though the woman 
was caught in adultery, Jesus redeemed her from being stoned to death. While he 
did not tolerate her marital infidelity, he forgave her and saved her from 
death. He gave her a new lease in life (Jn. 8:11).

Similarly, he reached out to other public sinners, the despised tax collectors, 
such as Matthew and Zacchaeus. Perhaps Zacchaeus was guilty of padding taxes 
and of extortion, yet Jesus believed in his reformability (Jn. 19:9-10).

Second, we can examine his many sayings about God's love which shines upon the 
virtuous and sinner alike (Mt. 5:45), the call to forgive seventy times seven 
(Mt. 18:22), the mandate to become perfect in loving like the Father (Mt. 
5:48). For him to endorse capital punishment would be contrary to his values 
and convictions and to the general message of his Gospel.

Third, we can examine his disposition toward the Old Testament Law. He explains 
that he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Mt.5:17). Moreover, 
while he holds Moses in great esteem, he claims to be more authoritative than 
Moses, the Law-giver, "You have heard that it was said... but I say to you ..." 
(Mt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38). His authority emanated from being the Son of God.

Thus while he affirmed Moses' law of retaliation, he proposed a higher law, the 
law of loving even one???s enemies. The Law of Christ does not endorse 
executing grievous sinners or criminals but upholds the sanctity of human life 
and the possibility of renewal stemming from an experience of God's mercy, "I 
have not come to call righteous ones, but sinners, to repentance" (Lk. 5:32).

Fourth, Jesus' evaluation of his conviction by the Jewish Sanhedrin and 
crucifixion by the Roman Empire. Although we do not find Jesus explicitly 
condemning the execution of criminals in any of the Gospels, his silence does 
not mean approval. He foretells his persecution and death under the hands of 
the elders, chief priests and scribes (Mk. 8:31; Mt. 16:21). He likens himself 
to the rejected prophets and the suffering righteous one of the Old Testament, 
"The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone" (Mk. 12:10-11), 
which implies a recognition of the unjust nature and circumstances of his 
conviction and imminent execution.

His crucifixion was the unjust execution of an innocent man, the Son of God 
himself. While the Cross is the fount of our redemption, it is also the symbol 
of human sin, hatred and cruelty. The execution of the innocent can never be 
sanctioned by civilized societies.

But what about the execution of the guilty? Again, this leads us back to Jesus' 
distinction between the sin and the sinner. The sin he condemned, the sinner he 
restored (Jn. 8:11).

Capital punishment is antithetical to Jesus' message and praxis. To endorse the 
restoration of the death penalty is diametrically opposed to our Christian 
faith and is simply inconsistent with discipleship to Jesus.

(source: Philippine Star)






NIGERIA:

Governors' Burden And The Elusive Hangman's Noose


to him that most of the governors refused to sign execution documents in their 
respective states, saying it was a factor contributing to prisons congestion 
across the federation.

The governor stated "Life is valued in African culture perhaps that is why 
governors are reluctant to sign execution documents. Since judges are the ones 
who make the sentences, I think the National Assembly should amend the law so 
that the CJN signs the warrants. I think the CJN is in a better position to 
assent to the execution."

However, in a recent comment the Chief Judge of Delta, Justice Marshal Umukoro, 
has urged state governors to develop balls and sign death warrants of inmates 
on death sentence in order to decongest the prisons.

Justice Umukoro who spoke in Ibadan during the 2017 Aquinas??? Day colloquium 
of Dominican Institute, said that recent statistics from the National Human 
Rights Commission indicated that no fewer than 1,612 inmates are on death 
sentence in Nigeria prisons.

The chief judge said that signing the death warrants would reduce prison 
congestion, and serve as deterrent to others.

As at July 2014, according to a report titled, "Towards the Abolition of the 
Death Penalty in Nigeria", released by a civil society organization, Legal 
Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), prisons in River States had 157 inmates 
consisting of 149 males and 8 females on death row, which is the highest in the 
country. Delta follows, with 149 convicted inmates, comprising 146 males and 3 
females. Ogun State has 132 condemned felons, while Plateau State is left with 
125 males and 1 female awaiting the governor's execution order.

Other states with high death row inmates are Lagos 83, Kaduna 79, Enugu 75, 
Kano 51, Katsina 43, Edo 35, Cross River 17, Jigawa 18, Kebbi 13, Kwara 12, 
Federal Capital Territory 10, Niger 10, Ondo 7, Benue 6, Sokoto 6, Osun 5 and 
Taraba 4.

Those against the use of the death penalty in Nigeria argue that there is a 
high likelihood of wrongful conviction stemming from poor investigations by the 
Nigeria Police Force and the imperfections of the Nigerian criminal justice 
administration.

They also contend that the law is settled on the principle that it is better to 
set a hundred criminals free than to wrongfully convict and kill 1 innocent 
person and that it would be unjust to retain death penalty in the face of such 
imperfections in the Nigerian criminal justice administration.

Those who favour the use of death penalty maintain that anyone who has 
willfully killed, especially terrorists, simply deserves not to live. According 
to them, applying the death penalty on such people will completely foreclose 
the possibility of their wrecking more havoc on the society in the event that 
they are pardoned and released.

They also insist that killing heinous criminals will also serve as deterrence 
for others who may want to toe the same path.

Commenting on the issue, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) said "The Truth is that death 
sentence is still part of our law. The law has not been abolished and the 
Governors are compelled by law to sign the convict's death warrant.

"We should ignore the European system that has discountenanced death penalty. 
As long as we still have that law as part of our system, then we should be able 
to abide by it. If we don't want that law again then we should go to the 
National Assembly and abolish it," he said.

In his own views, a Lagos lawyer, Collins Okeke said, "It has never been 
conclusively shown that the death penalty deters crimes more effectively than 
other punishments. The correlation between crime rates and the death penalty 
seems to be even less relevant in the case of terrorism, where the act is 
politically motivated, with often no cost-benefit calculation."

As the argument for and against the death penalty rages, a very vibrant group, 
the Nigerian Death Penalty Group with the support of the UK government believes 
it's time for Nigeria to stand with modern democratic states that have 
abolished or drastically restricted the use of the death sentence.

The reports of various groups that were set up by former President Olusegun 
Obasanjo including the National Study Group On Death Penalty and Presidential 
Commission on Reform of the Administration of Justice also all recommended a 
moratorium on executions pending when total abolition can be actualised.

With all of these coupled with the growing reluctance of state governments to 
also sign death warrants, the self-imposed moratorium stance of the country and 
the calls especially by civil society groups for the abolition of the death 
penalty, many of the convicts on death row may not see the hangman's noose 
anytime soon.

(source: leadershiop.ng)






SOMALIA:

Puntland Military Court Sentences 7 Harakat Shebab Operatives to Death


Somalia's Puntland military court has sentenced 7 Harakat Shebab operatives 
also known as Al-Shabaab to death penalty.

Speaking to media reporters in port town of Bosaso, Abdifatah Haji Adan, the 
chairman of Puntland military court final verdict on the terror operatives.

Mr. Adan also revealed to the media that the 7 who were facing the terror 
charges themselves confessed to be Al-Shabaab members involved in a spate of 
attacks in Puntland which especially targeted government officials and army 
personnel.

The names of the seven men sentenced to death penalty by the military court 
are:

1. Nouradin Ahmed Samatar Deerow, 20.

1. Ayoub Yasin Abdi, 32.

1. Ali Ismail Ali also called "Ali Gaab", 20.

1. Hassan Adan Hassan, 22.

1. Abdihakim Mohamed Aweys, 24.

1. Mohamed Yasin Abdi, 17.

1. Daud Said Sahal, 18.

The 7 were arrested by Puntland security forces in the past few months in 
Bosaso port town of Bari region, according to military sources and referenced 
by open sources.

Puntland military court in June 2016 sentenced 43 Al-Shabaab operatives to 
death by firing squad after they confessed of being fighters for the terror 
group involved in deadly fighting between Puntland government forces and 
Al-Shabab group in March of 2016.

(source: intelligencebriefs.com)