[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 13




JAMAICA:

Capital punishment and justice


Opponents of capital punishment often put forward the proposition that it 
doesn't deter murder. That proposition is unprovable. But more than that, it 
disregards the reason for capital punishment persisting throughout history: the 
need for retributive justice.

Inasmuch as a concern to prevent crime is noble, it being the reason for not 
executing murderers minimises the gravity of murder; and it denies the 
survivors of victims the psychic satisfaction that condign punishment has been 
suffered for their loss. To me, that isn't justice.

So what is justice? Russel Kirk, writing for the Heritage Foundation in 1993, 
gave this as the classical definition of justice: "The classical definition, 
which comes to us through Plato, Aristotle, Saint Ambrose, and Saint Augustine 
of Hippo, is expressed in a single phrase: suum cuique, or to each his own."

As this is put in Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, "Justice is a habit whereby 
a man renders to each one his due with constant and perpetual will." (The 
meaning of justice).

This means that justice must be constant, being 'a habit'; and it is about 
punishing the offender, not deterring crime or rehabilitating the offender. 
That kind of justice is obvious and retributive. It validates the enduring 
maxim from Chief Justice Lord Hewart that, "It is not merely of some 
importance, but of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, 
but should be manifestly and undoubtedly seen to be done."

DETERRING CRIME

Those who insist that executing a man for murder doesn't deter other men from 
committing murder, because murders continue despite executions, should tell us 
why we should punish people for any crime. For crimes continue despite 
punishment. People are punished every day for theft, child abuse, and a host of 
other crimes, yet other people continue to do them, well knowing of the 
punishment.

To argue that the death penalty doesn't deter murder, and insist on giving life 
sentence instead, implies that life sentence is a deterrent; but despite life 
sentences, murder continues. Since life sentence is a deterrent in the view of 
those who oppose execution on the ground that it isn't a deterrent why don't we 
just catch a bunch of people and lock them up for life, to prevent murder?

C.S. Lewis, British thinker and apologist, said of the deterrence argument: "If 
deterrence is all that matters, the execution of an innocent man, provided the 
public think him guilty, would be fully justified."

Another argument against the death penalty is that it is cruel and unusual 
punishment. That is, it is too severe for a human being. But is it cruel and 
unusual for a man who has taken the life of another human being, in a most 
brutal fashion, as is murder, to be given the same or equivalent treatment he 
gave to his victim?

MERCIFUL PUNISHMENT

I believe there is an element of mercy in the application of the death penalty, 
especially today in the Western world. Convicts are no longer drawn and 
quartered, devoured by animals, crucified, burned at the stake, stoned, and 
have their heads chopped off by the guillotine. Lethal injection and 
electrocution are clean and efficient methods: the convict gets his dessert in 
minutes, not suffering the agonising ordeal to which he subjected his victim or 
victims.

And a man who knows he will be executed at a set time has the opportunity to 
make things right between himself and his Maker before his execution. In light 
of this, execution could be an instant passage into eternal bliss.

Contrast that with having a man in prison for life, sometimes for decades, in 
the most inhuman conditions, where he is denied contact with the outside world. 
That is cruel and unusual punishment.

Finally, to those who insist that DNA has shown that sometimes innocent people 
have been executed, I say that since DNA is so precise, it means the chance of 
executing an innocent person, where DNA evidence is available, is almost nil. 
That is even more reason for executions.

Following the reasoning that since innocent people have been executed we should 
not have capital punishment, we should then dispense with all types of 
punishment, for innocent people are mistakenly punished for crime every day.

(source: Ewin James is a freelance journalist; Jamaica Gleaner)






IRAN----executions

Prisoner Hanged on Murder Charges


A prisoner was reportedly executed at Urmia Central Prison on murder charges. 
According to the news agency, Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the name of the 
prisoner is Nasser Soltani.

According to the human rights news agency, HRANA, Mr. Soltani's execution 
sentence was carried out on Wednesday January 11 while 3 other prisoners, 
including a woman, who had been transferred to solitary confinement along with 
Mr. Soltani on Tuesday, were returned to their cells after their death 
sentences were postponed.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network has also identified 2 of the prisoners whose 
execution sentences were postponed: Mohammad Rasoul Hashtiani and Zahra 
Mohammadpour.

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

Prisoner Hanged on Drug Charges


A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Maragheh Prison on drug related charges. 
According to close sources, the prisoner, who has been identified as Morteza 
Heydari, was executed on Tuesday January 10. Close sources say Mr. Heydari is 
the father of a 5-year-old child.

"Morteza was arrested on May 11, 2012 for possession of 3 kilograms of crystal 
meth and 3 kilograms and 600 grams of heroin. He was sentenced to death by the 
Malekan Revolutionary Court on June 10, 2013 and then he was exiled to Maragheh 
Prison," a confirmed source tells Iran Human Rights.

According to reports received by Iran Human Rights, there are 4 other prisoners 
in Maragheh Prison who are in imminent danger of execution. They are:

1. Iraj Ghaffouri, sentenced to death on drug related charges

2. Akbar Moradi, sentenced to death on murder charges

3. Hossein Fatemi, sentenced to death on drug related charges

4. Ali Mosloufi, sentenced to death on drug related charges

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

12 Prisoners in Imminent Danger of Execution for Drug Charges


Iran Human Rights has obtained information about 1 of the 12 prisoners who were 
transferred to solitary confinement in Karaj Central Prison on Sunday January 8 
in preparation for their executions. All 12 prisoners are reportedly sentenced 
to death for alleged drug related offenses and are still being held in 
solitary.

Close sources say Mohammad Soleimani was arrested 18 months ago by Iranian drug 
enforcement agents based solely on the testimonies of 2 prisoners. These 2 
prisoners, who were caught with a total amount of 820 grams of crack, claimed 
to Iranian authorities that the crack was delivered to them by Mohammad 
Soleimani. 1 of the prisoners was sentenced to a 15-year prison term and the 
other to life imprisonment while Mr. Soleimani was sentenced to death by the 
Karaj Revolutionary Court.

"Mohammad is father to 3 children ages 1, 2 and 6. If he is executed, his 
children will become orphaned. They didn't even find 1 gram of drugs on him. He 
was sentenced to death based solely on the claims of others," a source close to 
Mr. Soleimani tells Iran Human Rights.

"The 12 prisoners were supposed to be hanged by now, but because of Mr. 
Rafsanjani's death, their execution sentences have been postponed for a couple 
days."

(source for all: Iran Human Rights)

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

Halt Imminent Executions ---- 12 Alleged Drug Offenders at Risk of Death


Iran should immediately halt the execution of 12 men convicted of drug 
offenses, scheduled for January 14, 2017, in Karaj Central Prison, Human Rights 
Watch and Amnesty International said today. The human rights organizations 
expressed concern that, despite repeated government promises, Iran has not made 
any tangible progress in reducing its alarming execution rate.

On January 8, officials at the prison, located in Alborz province, west of 
Tehran, transferred at least 12 people sentenced to death on drug charges to 
solitary confinement, notifying them that their execution was imminent. 
However, the execution was postponed due to the death of Iran's former 
President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
International have been able to confirm the identities of 4 of the 12: Ali 
Mohammad Lorestani, Mohammad Soleimani, Ali Ebadi, and Majid Badrlou. Sources 
familiar with the cases of these men said that those accused did not have 
access to a lawyer during interrogations, and that the verdicts for Lorestani, 
Soleimani, and Ebadi were based on other prisoners' confessions.

"Iranian officials should end all executions and outlaw the use of the death 
penalty for drug offenders, which does not meet international legal standards," 
said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Packing 
prisons with drug offenders and rushing to send them to death row without due 
process in highly flawed trials will just worsen Iran's justice problem while 
doing nothing to solve Iran's drug problem."

Iran's drug law mandates the death penalty for the trafficking, possession, or 
trade of as little as 30 grams of synthetic drugs such as heroin, morphine, 
cocaine, or their chemical derivatives. Iran executed hundreds of people in 
2016, the majority for drug offenses. According to Hassan Noroozi, a member of 
parliament, there are 5,000 people on death row for drug offenses in Iran, the 
majority between ages 20 and 30.

The Iranian authorities arrested Soleimani, who is from the city of Kermanshah 
and the father of 3 children, in Karaj in March 2015, in connection with the 
alleged possession of between 700 and 800 grams of heroin. Human Rights Watch 
and Amnesty International have communicated with an informed source who has 
said that Soleimani was not in possession of any drugs at the time of his 
arrest. According to the source, his sentence was based on the confessions of 2 
men who implicated Soleimani after they themselves were caught in possession of 
drugs.

Another informed source said that the Supreme Court quashed Soleimani's death 
sentence in July 2016 and granted him a retrial. However, he was later 
re-sentenced to death after a summary retrial, which was limited to one brief 
session, before a revolutionary court in Karaj. In a 2nd review of Soleimani's 
case, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal and upheld the death sentence.

Sources close to Lorestani told Human Rights Watch that authorities in Alborz 
province arrested him in October 2012, detaining him for at least 18 days at a 
police detention center and interrogating him without access to legal counsel. 
"His family had no idea where the authorities took [him]," a source said. "1 of 
his fingers was broken when he was transferred to prison."

Authorities arrested Badrlou, a 29-year-old taxi driver, and seized 990 grams 
of heroin from his car on July 15, 2011. A source familiar with his case told 
Human Rights Watch that Badrlou did not appeal, as he feared it would worsen 
the legal outcome. The source also reported that "authorities severely beat 
Badrlou when he was detained for interrogation at Iran's Drug Control Office's 
detention center."

"The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment that violates 
the right to life. Its use is abhorrent in any circumstance, but carrying out 
these executions would be particularly tragic given ongoing discussions in the 
Iranian parliament that could lead to the abolition of the death penalty for 
nonviolent drug offenses," said Philip Luther, research and advocacy director 
for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

Instead of condemning 12 people to the gallows, Iran should immediately 
establish an official moratorium on executions and focus on working to abolish 
the death penalty in Iran once and for all, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
International said.

In December 2015, members of parliament submitted a proposal to eliminate the 
death penalty for drug offenses, except for armed smuggling, but the initiative 
did not move forward. On November 23, 2016, 100 members of parliament 
introduced new draft legislation that is weaker than the 2015 attempt, as the 
bill only forbids the use of the death penalty in the case of nonviolent drug 
offenses and maintains several categories of drug offenses that will still 
attract the death penalty. The new draft bill is currently under consideration 
by several parliamentary commissions.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly documented serious 
due process and fair trial violations, including the use of torture and other 
ill-treatment and summary trials, in capital drug cases in Iran.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated that a death sentence 
passed after an unfair proceeding violates both the right to life and the 
prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Even 
in countries that retain the death penalty, international human rights law 
states that the use of death penalty should be limited to the "most serious 
crimes" - crimes involving intentional killing - which does not include drug 
offenses. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International oppose the death penalty 
in all circumstances because it is inherently irreversible and is the ultimate 
cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.

(source: Human Righs Watch)

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

Hangings in 2017 and 26 Prisoner Facing Imminent Execution


On January 11, the inhumane mullahs' regime executed a prisoner in Urmia 
Prison, northwest Iran. The day before another prisoner was sent to the gallows 
in Maraghe Prison, northwest Iran. On January 8, 2 other prisoners were hanged 
in public on charges of theft in the town of Sarpol Zahab in Kermanshah 
Province, western Iran. Youths are being hanged in public at a time when senior 
regime officials, their family members and close friends are involved in the 
largest embezzlement cases of Iran's history. One example amounted to nearly $3 
billion, and those involved in such thefts and plundering of the Iranian 
people's God-given riches remain safe and sound from any accountability.

At least 21 executions have been registered from January 1 to this day.

In the meantime during the past few days 22 prisoners in Central and Gohardasht 
prisons of Karaj have been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation 
for their executions. 4 inmates in Maraghe Prison are scheduled to be executed 
shortly. The Iranian Resistance calls for urgent action by international human 
rights organizations to save the lives of these 26 prisoners.

The Iranian Resistance calls on all people across Iran, especially the brave 
youth, to protest barbaric executions and rise to the support of the families 
of those executed, families of prisoners.

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






INDIA:

"Death sentence for honour killing will act as a deterrent"


The death sentence awarded to a couple who were found guilty of murdering a 
Dalit woman would discourage people from indulging in honour killing, said 
Evidence executive director A. Kadir here on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, he said that though death penalty was opposed by many 
organisations who even demanded for scrapping the capital punishment, the death 
sentence awarded to the couple would send a strong signal to people who 
committed crimes and roamed scot free.

A Tirunelveli court had sentenced death penalty to a couple after they were 
found guilty of killing a woman, Kalpana, in May 2016. The judgement was not 
only delivered in a record time, but also came as an eye-opener to many such 
honour killing crimes pending before various courts in the country,

In Tamil Nadu alone, there were 148 honour killing crimes reported in the last 
3 years. "Only the Tirunelveli court had expedited the case and awarded death 
penalty to the killers...We will certainly take this judgement as a precedence 
and impress upon other courts to deliver justice," he said.

The victim's husband said that the court had delivered a "historical judgement" 
and through this order honour killing should come to an end. Thanking the 
judge, the district administration, the public prosecutor, the Tirunelveli 
police and others for their cooperation during the trial, he said that the 
2-year-old child, which was witness to the cold-blooded murder, was also given 
compensation as per the Supreme Court order.

(source: The Hindu)

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

SC to hear death row of Sonu Sardar, accused of killing 5 in 2004


The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear the appeal field by Sonu Sardar, who 
has been awarded death penalty for killing 5 persons of a family, including a 
woman and 2 children, during a dacoity bid in Chhattisgarh's Cher village in 
November 2004.

In November last year, the top court had asked Delhi High Court to decide on a 
plea of the Chhattisgarh Government challenging its jurisdiction to hear and 
grant a stay on the execution of Sonu.

The convict has been awarded death penalty by a trial court in Chhattisgarh, 
the decision was later upheld by the state high court and the Supreme Court as 
well.

The execution was stayed by the Delhi High Court on March 2, 2015. Challenging 
the decision, the state government told the apex court that Delhi High Court 
had no jurisdiction to stay the execution of convict Sonu Sardar as the offence 
had taken place in Chhattisgarh. The apex court had on September 2 sought 
response from the Centre on a plea of Chhattisgarh government challenging the 
jurisdiction of Delhi High Court.

It had also stayed the proceedings in the case pending before the Delhi High 
Court.

The state government had said that just because there was a delay in deciding 
on his mercy petition, it cannot be a ground for the matter to fall in the 
jurisdiction of Delhi High Court. It had also sought transfer of the matter 
from the Delhi High Court to Chhattisgarh High Court.

(source: newkerala.com)

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

Chouhan bats for death to rapists


Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made a pitch for 
capital punishment to rapists in the backdrop of rise in heinous crimes against 
women.

"Deliberations should be made across the country for a stringent law that 
allows awarding death penalty to rapists. Political parties, saints and social 
activists should initiate action in this direction," Chouhan said addressing 
the ongoing 'Namami Devi Narmade - Seva Yatra' at Sandiya village of 
Hoshangabad district yesterday.

"A law (in this regard) should be enacted by bringing amendments in the 
Constitution," he said here referring to women safety in general.

On the de-addiction campaign, Chouhan assured that liquor shops won't be opened 
on banks of Narmada.

"Along with towns situated on the banks of river Narmada, the campaign will be 
conducted across the state," he added.

Chouhan also administered a pledge to the people for conserving Narmada.

"Life is not possible without water and Narmada has made a remarkable 
contribution in the development of Madhya Pradesh. Damage has been caused by 
felling trees on both the banks of Narmada. If this situation continues, we 
will not be able to see water in the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh in the next 50 
years," Chouhan said exhorting people to save the river.

(source: Business Standard)




PAKISTAN:

Syed suggests death penalty for politicians consuming alcohol


Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Shahi Syed Friday suggested death penalty to 
politicians who drink alcohol, while Rehman Malik demanded a mandatory DNA test 
for them.

Senate Standing Committee on Interior met on Friday here, with Senator Rehman 
Malik in the chair. The meeting had discussions on local and foreign booze.

"Parliamentarians represent the people and if they are not punished for doing a 
wrong thing then why should poor people be?" he questioned, adding that 
politicians should be hanged to death for consuming liquor, while a lay man 
should face 6 months or a year in prison.

Asked about marijuana, he said, "People call it darwesh's intoxicant, but that 
too is wrong and should also be prohibited".

On the occasion, Rehman Malik said that all politicians should undergo a DNA 
test, adding, "It should be declared whether someone ever consumed alcohol, 
marijuana or opium, prior to contesting an election".

He was complimented by Syed that if this happened then majority of politicians 
would be disqualified. The ANP senator regretted that a Hindu is named for 
selling and consuming liquor, but it is actually done by a Muslim.

Javed Abbasi said whoever produces and sells moonshine it is illegal.

Consuming and selling liquor is prohibited in Pakistan; it's sale, however, is 
permitted to people of other religions through licensed liquor stores.

There have also been numerous casualties in the wake of locally-prepared toxic 
moonshine on a number of occasions.

(source: geo.tv)

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

Pakistan Court Stays Execution of Mentally Ill Convict


A Pakistani court on Thursday stayed the execution of a mentally ill convict 
who was sentenced to death in 2003 for murdering a fellow police officer over a 
land dispute, a rights group said.

The order from the Lahore High Court came just days before the scheduled 
execution of 55-year-old ex-police officer Khizar Hayat, said Wassam Waheed, a 
spokesman for the Justice Project Pakistan.

The court order also asked the government to provide a new report on the 
convicted man's health by Jan. 30, said Waheed, adding that the group was 
"relieved to hear" of the temporary reprieve.

Hayat's mother, Iqbal Bano, urged President Mamnoon Hussain to pardon her son. 
She said she visited her son in prison and that he "doesn't know what is going 
to happen to him, he is not in a stable state of mind."

"My son needs medical treatment, not execution," she told The Associated Press.

Last year, Pakistan's Supreme Court stayed the execution of Imdad Ali, a 
convict diagnosed with schizophrenia. Pakistani and international rights groups 
have also pleaded for a pardon for Ali.

A court-mandated medical board in July confirmed that Hayat suffers from a 
mental illness.

Sarah Belal, the executive director of Justice Project Pakistan, said Hayat's 
execution would be "unlawful and inhumane."

Pakistani and international rights groups have for years called for a ban on 
executions in this South Asian country. Pakistani authorities have executed 427 
prisoners since 2014, when they lifted that ban on the death penalty following 
a Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, nearly all of 
them schoolchildren.

Pakistan is now considered to be one of the world's top executioners.

Maya Foa, the director of the London-based rights group Reprieve, welcomed 
Thursday's court ruling, but said the case was "yet another example of how 
Pakistan's death penalty system is broken. Since the authorities' execution 
spree began 2 years ago, there have been disastrous miscarriages of justice, 
including the hanging of juveniles and innocent people."

(source: Associated Press)

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

Court Stays Execution of Mentally Ill Ex-Policeman in Pakistan


A Pakistani court has stayed the execution of a severely mentally ill man, who 
had been due to be hanged next week.

At a hearing in Lahore today, the court granted a stay of execution for Khizar 
Hayat - a former policeman who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia - until 
January 30th. Mr Hayat's lawyers at the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) had 
argued that his hanging would be illegal.

Mr Hayat's execution had been set for Tuesday (17th), even though proceedings 
in his case are still pending before the Lahore High Court. Presiding today, 
Justice Shahid Hameed Dar reportedly said it would be "unjust" if the Court did 
not wait for an upcoming Supreme Court judgment in a similar case - that of 
mentally ill prisoner Imdad Ali - to determine how to proceed with Mr Hayat.

Mr Hayat is detained in isolation in a prison hospital ward. In 2015, the 
courts halted an initial government plan to execute him after seeing jail 
records documenting his severe mental illness. The documents include comments 
from doctors that Mr Hayat "is suffering from active symptoms of severe 
psychosis".

The execution of mentally ill people is prohibited under Pakistani and 
international law. Pakistan has faced criticism from the UN, and from countries 
including the UK, over its plans to hang mentally ill prisoners such as Mr Ali 
and Mr Hayat.

Concerns have also been raised over wrongful executions in Pakistan, after 2 
brothers who had already been hanged were found to be innocent by the Supreme 
Court. As in Mr Hayat's case, a warrant was issued for their execution by the 
lower courts, despite the pending proceedings in a higher court.

Pakistan's 8,000-strong death row is the largest in the world, and the 
government has hanged over 421 prisoners since resuming executions in December 
2014.

Commenting, Maya Foa, a director of Reprieve - which is assisting Mr Hayat - 
said:

"The court's decision to stay the execution of Khizar Hayat is extremely 
welcome. However, Khizar's case - like that of Imdad Ali - is yet another 
example of how Pakistan's death penalty system is broken. Since the 
authorities' execution spree began 2 years ago, there have been disastrous 
miscarriages of justice - including the hanging of juveniles and innocent 
people. The Pakistani government has issued execution warrants for Khizar 3 
times despite ongoing legal proceedings, in clear breach of international law. 
The authorities should establish a moratorium on executions, and stop any 
further injustices from being carried out their name."

(source: Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to 
enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.)

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

Inhumane to hang a mentally ill prisoner


Hanging a prisoner, and that too one diagnosed as mentally ill, is inhumane and 
does not serve the objectives of criminal justice. Warrants being repeatedly 
issued for mentally ill prisoners expose serious anomalies in the justice 
system.

Served with his 3rd term after 14 years on death row for killing a policeman, 
Khizer Hayat is scheduled to be hanged on Jan. 17.

Disturbingly, despite his counsel filing an application in the Lahore High 
Court to stay the execution, the prison authorities approached the sessions 
court for the warrant.

Because Hayat's case is under review at the National Commission for Human 
Rights, issuing a black warrant demonstrates negligence and perverts the course 
of justice.

Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008, his medical reports were never presented 
as evidence to the Supreme Court by jail authorities in 2009. Again, when he 
was examined by a court-appointed medical board in May 2016, it was concluded 
he suffered from delusions and psychosis.

This lack of coordination between jail authorities, lawyers and the judicial 
system demonstrated on several occasions is unpardonable.

Given the irrevocable nature of the death penalty - a punishment this newspaper 
does not endorse - there is a critical need for the judiciary to comprehend the 
nature of mental illness.

In Imdad Ali's case, the Supreme Court's controversial verdict ruled 
schizophrenia is a "recoverable" disease in contrast to universal medical 
evidence stating it is incurable. That said, why have the jail authorities 
failed to approach the home department to hospitalize Hayat for treatment? 
Because the system is rigged against the poorer mentally ill prisoners, the 
latter's cases hinge on inept state prosecutors and jail authorities.

Given that the Ghulam brothers were wrongfully hanged - executed before their 
appeals were decided - the state must review capital punishment keeping in mind 
that there is no place for it in a society that upholds human rights as a 
supreme value.

(source: Editorial, Dawn)






PHILIPPINES:

Catholic dictionary entry on death penalty


The current proposed legislation seeking to reimpose the death penalty is yet 
again being debated on in Congress which, I understand, is evenly divided on 
the issue. Weighing in on the controversy, the Catholic Church now airs 
forcefully its opposition to the proposal which has roused my curiosity about 
what the Bible says on the matter. And so, I forthwith looked up the Holy Bible 
(Catholic version) and found appended thereto this very revealing entry in the 
Catholic Dictionary:

"Punishment, Capital. Inflicting the penalty of death for grave crimes. That 
the state has a right to inflict this severe penalty has always been the 
teaching of Christian theologians. The death penalty seems to be sanctioned in 
Gen. 9:6. 'Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed.' In the 
Law proclaimed on Mount Sinai the death penalty was prescribed for some 
offenses. (Ex. 22:18 ff). Saint Paul speaks of the Roman policy of capital 
punishment without disapproval. (Rom. 13:4). x x x."

Interesting food for thought!

May it now be safely asserted that since time immemorial, the death penalty has 
always enjoyed a biblical underpinning?

BARTOLOME C. FERNANDEZ JR., retired senior commissioner, Commission on Audit

(source: opinion.inquirer.net)

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

Duterte not pressuring Congress to reimpose death penalty, president's office 
says----Reimposing death penalty was among President Duterte's poll promises.


Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is not pressuring lawmakers in the 
country to reimpose the death penalty, the presidential office said in a 
statement in response to recent allegations.

"The president respects the independence of Congress as a separate co-equal 
branch of government," Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in the 
statement.

Reintroducing the death penalty was among Duterte's poll promises and he has 
backed the move saying it would help in fighting crime in the country. But 
similar to his bloody drug war, his support for capital punishment also came 
under fire from opposition parties and political leaders.

On Wednesday (12 January), Buhay Party List lawmaker Lito Atienza alleged that 
Duterte was putting pressure on the Congress to pass the reimposition of death 
penalty bill.

"This is the administration's initiative, not the Congress'. The death penalty 
is an imposition of the leadership of this administration. We congressmen, sad 
to say, are under pressure. Everyone is joining their majority, a mix of 
politicians, following the order from the higher office," Atienza was quoted by 
the Inquirer as saying.

In response to the allegations, Andanar said Duterte "trusts the wisdom of our 
lawmakers to see that the enactment of such law would benefit the nation not 
only by instilling respect for the law among our people but also by ending 
impunity and ensuring that those who commit heinous crimes are prosecuted to 
the full extent of the law".

The Philippine Congress has already approved a bill to bring back capital 
punishment, which is due to be presented to the plenary session when the 
Congress resumes sessions next week.

The death penalty has been a controversial issue in the country for decades 
with many heads of state imposing it and others abolishing it through new 
legislation. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abolished capital 
punishment in June 2006, which was retained by Duterte's predecessor Benigno 
Aquino III.

(source: ibtimes.co.uk)

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

Duterte leaves death penalty's fate to lawmakers


President Rodrigo Duterte respects the independence of Congress, communications 
secretary Martin Andanar stressed Thursday, January 12 following accusations 
that Malacanang is exerting undue pressure to members of the House of 
Representatives to support the re-imposition of death penalty in the country.

In a statement, Andanar said that although the revival of death penalty is a 
campaign promise of President Duterte and one of the priority legislative 
measures of his administration, "the president respects the independence of 
Congress as a separate co-equal branch of government."

He also stressed that the president is leaving it up to the collective wisdom 
of the lawmakers for the enactment of the proposed law.

"President Duterte trusts the wisdom of our lawmakers to see that the enactment 
of such law would benefit the nation not only by instilling respect for the law 
among our people but also by ending impunity and ensuring that those who commit 
heinous crimes are prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Andanar said.

The presidential communications secretary made the statement after a pro-life 
lawmaker claimed that congressmen are under pressure to pass the proposed bill 
to reinstate the death penalty because no less than President is advocating for 
it.

Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said the move to revive death penalty is an 
initiative of the Duterte administration and not of Congress, and thus, members 
of the supermajority at the House are obliged to follow orders.

In the meantime, House leaders have repeatedly denied the allegations.

The proposed bill's co-author, deputy speaker Fredenil Castro, said there is no 
pressure from the Palace and that the Justice Committee has yet to submit the 
bill to plenary.

"In fact, the bill has not yet been certified as urgent by the President," the 
Capiz lawmaker said.

Earlier, justice committee chair Rep. Reynaldo Umali said the proposal to 
re-impose the death penalty would still be subjected to a long deliberative 
process.

"It will still undergo a long legislative process. I am certain that what the 
House will eventually pass will be different from what we have approved in the 
committee," the Oriental Mindoro lawmaker said.

House Bill No. 1, which was filed by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was passed by 
the House Committee on Justice before Christmas and will be sent to the plenary 
when Congress resumes sessions next week.

Under the substitute bill, the following crimes will now be punishable by 
death:

--treason

--qualified piracy

--qualified bribery

--parricide

--murder

--rape

--kidnapping and serious illegal detention

--robbery with violence

--destructive arson

--plunder

--importation, selling and manufacturing of illegal drugs

--maintenance of a drug den

--possession of illegal drugs

--cultivation of plants classified as dangerous drugs

--unlawful prescription of dangerous drugs

--criminal liability of public officer for misappropriation, misapplication, or 
failure to account for the confiscated, seized or surrendered drugs

--criminal liability for planting evidence

--carjacking

The bill must pass the House and the Senate before it can be signed into law by 
the President.

(source: Manila Bulletin)