[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 29




KUWAIT:

Kuwait rejects criticism of execution of 7 convicts----Kuwait insisted 
executions are being carried out 'after exhausting all levels of litigation'


Kuwait has rejected criticism of its decision to go ahead with the execution of 
seven convicts, insisting that all legal avenues had been exhausted.

Human Rights Watch said that hanging seven people by Kuwait was part of a 
worrying regional rise in use of the death penalty.

However, Kuwait dismissed the criticism and said that the "carrying out of the 
death sentences against the 7 individuals convicted of murder was according to 
the provisions of the Kuwaiti Penal Code."

"The death penalty verdicts pronounced by the courts were in cases of 
premeditated murders and the punishment was carried out after exhausting all 
levels of litigation," Ghanim Al Ghanim, assistant foreign minister for legal 
affairs, said in a statement carried by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) on Friday.

"The verdicts were based on indisputable evidence the convicts committed the 
crimes as charged. The evidence included testimonies from witnesses and 
confessions by the accused of committing the grave crimes."

Al Ghanim said the verdicts were pronounced following fair and public trials 
"in which all the guarantees stipulated by the Kuwaiti law were provided and 
lawyers assumed the task of defending their clients."

"The verdicts were upheld by the Cassation Court, the country's highest court, 
and became res judicata that could not be challenged. By carrying out the court 
verdicts, Kuwait did not violate any of the covenants it had ratified, in 
particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 
Arab Charter for Human Rights, or international norms or the GCC Declaration of 
Human Rights," Al Ghanim said.

The Kuwaiti official said that his country's national laws provided multiple 
safeguards in the case of the death penalty.

"This is very clear in the fact that such verdicts are pronounced by a high 
independent and neutral judiciary in public trials where the accused are 
defended by their lawyers," he said.

Kuwait on Wednesday executed 7 individuals, 4 men and 3 women, in the Central 
Prison.

The convicts, 2 Kuwaitis (Shaikh Faisal Al Abdullah Al Sabah and Nasra Al 
Enezi), 2 Egyptians, a Bangladeshi, a Filipina, and an Ethiopian, were found 
guilty in cases of premediated murder, rape or theft and were hanged in 
application of the verdicts pronounced by lower courts and upheld by the Court 
of Appeals and the Court of Cassation and endorsed by the Emir.

(source: Gulf News)






PAKISTAN:

Hanging the mentally ill


EXECUTING mentally ill prisoners who cannot even comprehend the nature of their 
punishment is inhumane. That the death penalty violates human dignity, 
international law and medical standards, was raised in a letter reecntly by 17 
Pakistani psychiatrists. Written in response to black warrants issued to 
mentally ill prisoners in Punjab, they noted that mentally ill convicts can't 
defend themselves and are unaware of their actions. The poor medical knowledge 
demonstrated by the courts, given the frequency with which black warrants for 
mentally ill prisoners have been issued of late is of concern. Consider this: 
despite the case of mentally ill prisoner Imdad Ali pending with the Supreme 
Court, a lower court issued yet another black warrant in January for Khizar 
Hayat who is also mentally ill. Executing unfit prisoners rather than treating 
them not only sets a dangerous precedent, it also defeats the purpose of 
criminal justice. When Hayat was served with his third death warrant in 
January, medical evidence was not considered. 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. Given that the case 
is under review at the National Commission for Human Rights, issuing a black 
warrant perverts the course of justice. Moreover, the psychiatrist involved 
says Hayat requires specialised healthcare and that a forensic psychiatric 
institution would best serve prisoners like him.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that schizophrenia is a 'recoverable' 
disease, clearing the path to execute Ali who is certified by doctors as 
schizophrenic - a ruling that was later stayed. At the time, Ali's medical 
reports presented as evidence were dismissed by the court. Most importantly, 
these cases make it imperative to improve the workings of the Punjab Mental 
Health Authority ensuring that the mentally ill are treated rather than given 
the death penalty - an irrevocable form of punishment this paper does not 
endorse.

(source: Editorial, Dawn)






TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Prescott: Killers should be hanged for certain murders


Senior Counsel Elton Prescott, who once chaired a Commission of Enquiry into 
the death penalty, believes that convicted killers should be hanged as 
punishment for certain murders.

During the inquiry which was held in 1989, the commissioners recommended that 
there be categorisations for murder.

The commissioners in the inquiry were Prescott, Dr Linda Baboolal, and Mona 
Landreth-Smith.

Three categories for murder were recommended.

The categories are Murder 1 (Capital murder); Murder 2 (Manslaughter); and 
Murder 3 (Unintentional homicide).

Only Capital murder would attract the death penalty.

"Some of the circumstances for Murder 1 include the murder of a police officer, 
or a prison officer, or a judicial officer acting in the execution of his/her 
duties; the murder of a witness in a criminal trial or juror who served in a 
criminal trial; or any murder that is heinous, atrocious or cruel," the 
description for Murder 1 stated.

After call by Cindy Cipriani to resume hangings in this country following the 
execution-style murder of her daughter Celine "Ameen" Thomas, Prescott said the 
death penalty should be imposed as a punishment.

"My position has not changed. I am still a supporter of it (the death penalty), 
if you would like to use that word, but there is need to consider that there 
may be extenuating circumstances, so maybe it should not be made mandatory for 
all categories of murder," he said.

"The judge today has no choice when the jury comes back from delivering a 
guilty verdict to say I hereby sentence you to death but if there are 
categories and you are found guilty of category X or Y then the judge will have 
a wider array of sentencing available," Prescott said.

In response to being asked if he felt the resumption of the death penalty would 
act as a deterrent for murder, Prescott said, "It is difficult to say because I 
certainly would not claim to know the reasons why people commit murder. Some of 
the murders we are hearing today, clearly some are murders of passion which 
would come within that categorisation, but there are some inexplicable ones 
which I certainly feel that as a punishment I don't really care to change 
people's minds, but I think they should be punished for their crimes so from 
that point of view yes.

"As a punishment it ought to be imposed. Whether it would reduce crime or not, 
I could not say, I could only hope that it will," he said.

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

Maharaj: Stop making excuses, bring on death penalty


In 1999, the last time this country hanged a convicted killer the murder toll 
for the year was 93. That was the lowest this country's murder toll has been 
for at least the last 23 years, according to statistics.

At the current rate of murders taking place in this country, we will reach that 
1999 toll by February - just 2 months into the new year.

With only 28 days of this year gone so far, the murder toll in this country has 
already surpassed the 1999 halfway mark with more than 50 people being killed 
in just 29 days.

"After we carried out the death penalty things in Trinidad and Tobago were calm 
everywhere, very calm, because it makes a difference to the psychology of a 
criminal if the person knows that if he is caught he will be convicted and if 
he is convicted, he will face the death sentence. If the criminals and the 
potential criminals know that they will get away, they would not be caught or 
if they are a caught they will still get away, you are not solving crime, you 
can't solve it," Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj told the Sunday 
Guardian.

Maharaj was the attorney general when the last hangings in this country took 
place. Anthony Briggs was the last person to be hanged.

Briggs bludgeoned taxi driver Siewdath Ramkissoon to death during a robbery in 
August 1992. On June 21, 1996, Briggs was convicted of murder.

He was executed on July 28, 1999.

Briggs was hanged just over a month after the notorious Dole Chadee gang was 
hanged over a 3-day period.

Dole Chadee, Joey Ramiah and Ramkelawan Singh were executed on June 4, 1999.

While Clive Thomas, Robin Gopaul and Russell Sankeralli were hanged on June 5, 
1999.

On June 7, 1999 Joel Ramsingh, Steve Eversley and Bagwandeen Singh were hanged.

The Chadee gang were hanged for their involvement in the murder of the Baboolal 
family in 1994.

Hamilton Baboolal, his mother Rookmin, his sister, Monica, and his father, Deo, 
were all shot dead during the incident.

? Maharaj said the then United National Congress government led by Basdeo 
Panday had to take decisive action to ensure that the hangings could be done.

"First thing first, Trinidad and Tobago does not need any law to bring back the 
death penalty, the law is already there, it is in the Offences Against the 
Person Act (Chapter 11:08 Section 4) which says that if you commit murder the 
penalty is death," Maharaj said.

However, the challenges that the then government faced were from international 
Human Rights organisations and also ensuring that all the executions were done 
within the time-frame stated in the Pratt and Morgan case.

In the Pratt and Morgan case the Privy Council ruled that prolonged delay in 
carrying out a sentence of death after that sentence had been passed could 
amount to inhuman punishment. That is f5 years after the conviction and 
sentencing.

'The State's apparatus for fighting crime has failed'

Maharaj said the UNC saw it as a "struggle to carry out the wishes of the 
people".

"It was a great challenge but it was done. If we did not do that the Dole 
Chadee gang could not have been executed. They would have been still there," 
Maharaj said.

Maharaj said during the 1995 general election the issue of crime was a very 
important part of the political agenda.

In 1989 a Commission of Enquiry was chaired by Senior Counsel Elton Prescott 
into the death penalty.

Maharaj said amending any law with regard to the death penalty would be 
unnecessary.

"It makes no sense we go through the process of Parliament to try to pass a law 
because it will make things worse because you could then have the convicted 
person challenging the law which will take a longer time," Maharaj said.

"So the question which a Government has to decide in Trinidad and Tobago is 
that if it is felt that the death penalty would make a dent in the crime 
problem they have to take steps to implement it within the period fixed by the 
law and it can be done. It has been done and it can be done," he said.

Maharaj said the reason for the high crime in this country is because "the 
State's apparatus for fighting crime has failed".

"I think one of the reasons for the high murder rate in Trinidad and Tobago and 
the high crime rate is that the State apparatus for fighting crime has failed 
and it leads one to wonder whether there is any serious mission to deal with 
the crime problem," he said.

'We need action, passion, determination'

"In order to carry out the death penalty you first have to catch the murderer, 
if you do not catch the murderer you cannot hang phantom people, so in order to 
catch the murderer you have to improve the detection machinery and you cannot 
improve the detection machinery to catch the criminals if you do not have a 
proper forensic laboratory. And we do not have a proper forensic laboratory in 
Trinidad and Tobago, we do not have the modern technology, and we do not use 
the modern technology," he said.

Maharaj said the country also does not have an effective Witness Protection 
Programme in the country. He said a DNA bank also needs to be established.

"Here is it in Trinidad and Tobago we are dealing with a crime problem in the 
21st century but we really have 18th century methods to deal with it," Maharaj 
said.

If something is not done the crime problem will get worse, Maharaj warned.

"Trinidad and Tobago has to make a decision and it is a serious decision. This 
crime problem is going to get more uncontrollable unless serious and genuine 
steps are taken immediately to arrest the crime problem. We have to stop using 
the excuse of we need legislation and law to fight this problem, we do not need 
more laws, we need action, we need passion, we need determination," he said.

Maharaj said evidence of nothing being done in this country is that he brought 
a law in 2000 putting murder into 3 categories so that the death penalty would 
be restricted to certain crimes.

"In 2000 I went to the Parliament, the Senate passed a law, the House of 
Representatives passed a law, it was only to be proclaimed in which murder 
would be categorised into 3 categories so you restrict the death penalty. Up to 
today, it is not implemented," he said.

The law brought by Maharaj is - Act No 90 of 2000 and is called An Act to amend 
the Offences Against The Person (Amendment) Act, 2000.

Maharaj said the issue of categorisation of murder may be able to appease 
public opinion by ensuring that the death penalty will be restricted to the 
most serious crimes.

(source for both: guardian.co.tt)






GREAT BRITAIN:

The killing that swung public opinion


The death penalty was suspended in Britain 54 years ago as a result of resolute 
campaigning following a number of miscarriages of justice but now some dream of 
bring it back.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

64 years ago at 9am on January 28 1953 a young man called Derek Bentley was 
hanged for murder at Wandsworth Prison.

Bentley was 19, but various educational tests had put his mental age at 10 - 
his reading age at 4 and his IQ at just below 80. Today, we would describe 
Bentley as having severe learning difficulties. He also suffered from epilepsy.

Outside the prison a large crowd had gathered - many were convinced a last 
minute reprieve would save Bentley's life but it was not to be. When the news 
emerged that the judicial killing had taken place shock turned to anger. 2 
people were arrested in the prison gate protests.

Derek William Bentley was born in south London on June 30 1933. He failed his 
11-plus and at 14, he and another boy were arrested for theft and sent to an 
approved school near Bristol. Bentley was released on July 28 1950.

Early in 1952 he failed his medical for National Service where he was judged 
"mentally substandard' and unfit for military service. He became a bin-man with 
Croydon Corporation but was soon demoted to a road sweeper. He lost that job 
too in September for unsatisfactory performance.

On November 2 1952, Bentley and a 16-year-old companion, Christopher Craig, 
attempted to burgle a confectionery warehouse in Croydon.

Craig carried a revolver. He had shortened the barrel so it would fit in his 
pocket. Craig gave Bentley a sheath knife and a knuckle duster - neither was 
used in the crime.

A 9-year-old girl in a house across the road spotted Craig and Bentley climbing 
over the gate and onto the roof. She told her mother, who called the police.

When the police arrived, the 2 youths hid. Craig taunted the police.

Detective sergeant Frederick Fairfax was the 1st police officer to reach the 
roof. He grabbed hold of Bentley but the teenager broke free.

What happened next has been a matter of argument for half a century. Police 
witnesses claimed that they demanded that Craig "Hand over the gun, lad." 
Bentley is said to have shouted the ambiguous phrase: "Let him have it, Chris."

Craig fired his revolver at Fairfax, hitting his shoulder. Despite this injury 
Fairfax was again able to restrain Bentley who warned Fairfax that Craig was 
armed with a revolver and had further ammunition for the gun.

More police arrived on the roof. Constable Sidney Miles was immediately killed 
by a shot to the head. Craig, now out of bullets, jumped around 30 feet (10 
metres) from the roof, fracturing his spine and left wrist.

Bentley and Craig were both charged with murder and were tried by jury before 
judge Lord Goddard. At the time those under 18 could not be sentenced to death: 
consequently, of the 2 defendants, only Bentley faced the death penalty.

Bentley's defence was that he was effectively under arrest when Miles was 
killed. There was much controversy over Bentley's alleged shout to Craig to 
"let him have it, Chris."

Both boys denied that Bentley had uttered the words, while the police officers 
testified that he had said them.

Bentley's counsel argued that even if he had said the words, they could mean 
"give him the gun, Chris."

In addition there was disagreement over whether Bentley was fit to stand trial 
in light of his mental capacity.

The jury took just 75 minutes to decide that both Craig and Bentley were guilty 
of Miles's murder, with a plea for mercy for Bentley.

The judge put on his black cap to sentence Bentley to death, while Craig was 
ordered to be detained at her Majesty's pleasure - he was eventually released 
in May 1963 after serving 10 years' imprisonment.

The home secretary David Maxwell Fyfe turned down a reprieve for Bentley. Judge 
Goddard forwarded the jury's recommendation of mercy, but added that he himself 
"could find no mitigating circumstances."

200 MPs signed a memorandum requesting a reprieve but Parliament was given no 
opportunity to debate Bentley's sentence until he had been hanged.

After the execution there was a public outcry resulting in a long campaign to 
secure a posthumous pardon. The campaign was initially led by Bentley's parents 
until their deaths in the 1970s, then by his sister Iris.

On July 29 1993, Bentley was granted a royal pardon. However, in English law 
this did not quash his conviction for murder. Finally, on July 30 1998, the 
Court of Appeal quashed the conviction for murder.

Bentley would have been 65 years old.

The hanging of Bentley for a murder he clearly did not commit was 1 of 3 cases 
that built public opinion against capital punishment.

Timothy Evans was hanged on March 9 1950 for the murder of his daughter, he was 
also charged with murdering his wife but was not tried for it. Evans made an 
apparently voluntary confession and it seemed like an open and shut case.

2 years later the bodies of more women were discovered in the same house at 10 
Rillington Place. They had all been murdered by Evans's landlord John Reginald 
Christie who had given evidence against Evans at his trial.

2 years after the Bentley case, Ruth Ellis was sentenced to hang for murdering 
her boyfriend, David Blakely. Because of the violence she had suffered at the 
hands of Blakely she attracted enormous public sympathy. She still went to the 
gallows in Holloway prison on July 13 1955 - the last woman to be hanged in 
this country.

The abolition of capital punishment was a major priority of the incoming Labour 
government of Harold Wilson in October 1964.

On November 9 1965, the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act suspended the 
death penalty for murder in Britain for a period of 5 years. It has never 
returned.

The most recent polls suggest that less than 1/2 the British population is in 
favour of capital punishment but it is close.

Tory ministers like Priti Patel and the new leader of Ukip Paul Nuttall are 
still keen to lead the backwoodsmen of the right to demand the return of the 
noose.

(source: morningstaronline.co.uk)



PHILIPPINES:

Palace: 'We can claim mercy' for OFWs on death row----Presidential Spokesperson 
Ernesto Abella reacts to a CBCP official who says the Philippines will lose 
'any moral authority and legality to ask clemency' for Filipinos on death row 
if it restores the death penalty


Following the death of Overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jakatia Pawa who was 
executed by hanging in Kuwait, several groups again urged the government not to 
revive the death penalty in the country.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), for instance, said 
on Thursday, January 26, that Pawa's death "should make us all advocates 
against the death penalty."

In a CBCP News article, Bishop Ruperto Santos of the CBCP's Commission on 
Migrants and Itinerant People was also quoted as saying the government should 
not push through with death penalty because its reimposition will result [in] 
the country losing "any moral authority and legality to ask clemency for our 
Filipinos who are sentenced to death."

Reacting to the CBCP, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Saturday, 
January 28, said that when it comes to seeking clemency for OFWs on death row, 
"we cannot claim ascendancy, but we can claim perhaps clemency and mercy 
depending on the merit of each case."

"We understand where the CBCP is coming from. However, we also have to 
understand that certain countries, especially those in the Middle East, condemn 
certain alleged crimes. But we have to understand that they operate from a 
different set of rules," Abella said in an interview with government-run radio 
dzRB.

He added: "They don't go by Western civil law. They go by Shariah, for example. 
They have different procedures. We're not saying we're not going to fight for 
that. However, we cannot claim ascendancy, but we can claim perhaps clemency 
and mercy, depending on the merit of each case."

Pawa, a 44-year-old mother of 2, was executed on Wednesday, January 25, even as 
she asserted her innocence in the murder of her Kuwaiti employer's 22-year-old 
daughter. Her execution caught the Philippines off guard.

Abella said the Philippines hired "top caliber lawyers" for Pawa's case. (READ: 
Reviving death penalty risks OFWs on death row - lawmaker)

"The case really seemed to be tilted against her. But we do not neglect the 
situation of our fellow Filipinos abroad."

Restoring capital punishment for heinous crimes is a priority measure of the 
Duterte administration, whose ongoing war on drugs has killed more than 7,000 
people in the last 6 months.

(source: rappler.com)