[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 4




JORDAN----executions

Jordan hangs 15 convicts at dawn, most in years


Jordan hanged 15 death row prisoners at dawn on Saturday, its information 
minister said, in a further break with the moratorium on executions it had 
observed between 2006 and 2014.

10 of those put to death had been convicted of terrorism offences and five of 
"heinous" crimes including rape, Mahmud al-Momani told the official Petra news 
agency.

All were Jordanians and they were hanged in Suaga prison south of the capital 
Amman.

King Abdullah II had said in 2005 that Jordan aimed to become the 1st Middle 
Eastern country to halt executions in line with most European countries.

Courts continued to hand down death sentences but they were not carried out.

But public opinion blamed a rise in crime on the policy and in December 2014 
Jordan hanged 11 men convicted of murder, drawing criticism from human rights 
groups.

Opinion hardened after the murder by the Islami c State group of captured 
Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh whose plane had crashed in a jihadist-held 
region of Syria in December 2014 while serving with a US-led coalition.

Grisly footage posted in February the following year of him being burnt alive 
in a cage outraged the public.

Swiftly afterwards, Jordan hanged 2 people convicted of terrorism offences, 1 
of them Sajida al-Rishawi.

She had taken part in a 2005 suicide attack on luxury hotels in Amman organised 
by IS's forebear, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but her explosives failed to detonate.

(source: al-monitor.com)






VATICAN CITY:

Holy See speaks out against death penalty


Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United 
Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, on Wednesday 
reaffirmed that life is sacred from conception to natural death in a meeting at 
the UN Human Rights Council on the death penalty.

"In this regard, one should consider that human justice is fallible and that 
the death penalty per se is irreversible," Archbishop Jurkovic said, "We should 
take into account that capital punishment always includes the possibility of 
taking the life of an innocent person. Moreover, we believe that, whenever 
possible, the legislative and judicial authorities must always seek to ensure 
the possibility for guilty parties to make amends and to remedy, at least in 
part, the impact of their crimes."

The full statement by Archbishop Jurkovic is below

Statement by His Excellency Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Permanent Observer of the 
Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva 
at the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council - Item 3 - Biennial High-Level 
Panel on 'The Death Penalty' 1st March 2017

Mr. Chairman,

The Holy See thanks the High Commissioner and the distinguished panelists for 
their presentations. My Delegation appreciates the ongoing efforts toward the 
elimination of the death penalty in many countries.

Mr Chairman,

My Delegation reaffirms that life is sacred "... from conception to natural 
death," and recalls the words Pope Francis, that "even a criminal has the 
inviolable right to life".

In this regard, one should consider that human justice is fallible and that the 
death penalty per se is irreversible. We should take into account that capital 
punishment always includes the possibility of taking the life of an innocent 
person. Moreover, we believe that, whenever possible, the legislative and 
judicial authorities must always seek to ensure the possibility for guilty 
parties to make amends and to remedy, at least in part, the impact of their 
crimes.

At present, there is insufficient evidence that the death penalty has a 
deterrent effect on crime. As Pope Francis recently has affirmed, in his letter 
to the President of the International Commission against the Death Penalty, 
"for a constitutional state the death penalty represents a failure, because it 
obliges a State to kill in the name of justice. But justice is never reached by 
killing a human being".

My Delegation believes that more humane measures are available to address 
crime, ensuring the victim the right to justice and giving the criminal the 
chance to reform. Moreover, this will facilitate the development of a more just 
and fair society, fully respectful of human dignity.

Mr Chairman,

In conclusion, the Holy See is strongly committed to the aim of abolishing the 
use of the death penalty, and we firmly support, as an interim measure, the 
moratoria established by the 2014 General Assembly resolution. Moreover, we 
take this occasion to encourage States to improve prison conditions in order to 
guarantee respect for the dignity of every person without regard for criminal 
status, and to ensure the implementation of the right of the accused to a fair 
trial and due process.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.

(source: Independent Catholic News)






BELARUS:

Urgent Action: Kiryl Kazachok At Risk Of Imminent Execution (Belarus: UA 16/17)


Kiryl Kazachok has decided not to appeal the death sentence he was given on 28 
December 2016 and is now at risk of imminent execution.

Kiryl Kazachok's appeal hearing at the Supreme Court of Belarus was scheduled 
for 21 March. However, he has refused to use his right to appeal the sentence 
or request clemency. He was transferred to the pre-trial detention centre 
(SIZO) #1 in Minsk where death sentences are carried out. Kiryl Kazachok is now 
at risk of imminent execution.

Kiryl Kazachokwas sentenced to death by the Gomel Regional Court, in 
south-eastern Belarus, on 28 December 2016 after being found guilty of killing 
his 2 children on 31 January 2016. He called the police following the incident, 
before trying to kill himself.

In Belarus no warning is given of the date or time of execution and no final 
meeting with relatives in granted. Death row inmates are executed with a shot 
to the back of the head. In accordance with Belarusian law, their bodies are 
not returned to their families for burial, nor is the location of the burial 
site disclosed.

Belarus is the only country in Europe and Central Asia which continues to use 
the death penalty. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases 
without exception. It violates the right to life, as proclaimed in the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and 
degrading punishment.

TAKE ACTION

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

-- Urging President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to commute the death sentence of 
Kiryl Kazachok and all those on death row in Belarus;

-- Calling on the President to establish an immediate moratorium on executions 
with a view to abolishing the death penalty;

-- Stress that whilst we are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the 
crime, research shows that the death penalty does not deter crime more than 
imprisonment, and is the ultimate denial of human rights.

Contact these 2 officials by 14th April, 2017:

President

Alyaksandr Lukashenka

Vul. Karla Marksa 38

220016 Minsk, Belarus

Fax: +375 17 226 06 10
+375 17 222 38 72
Email: contact at president.gov.by

Salutation: Dear President Lukashenka

Charge d'Affaires

Mr. Pavel Shidlovsky

Embassy of Belarus

1619 New Hampshire Ave NW Washington DC 20009

Fax: 1 202 986 1805 Phone: 1 202 986 1606 -OR- 1 202 986 9420

Email: usa at mfa.gov.by

Salutation: Dear Mr. Shidlovsk

(source: Amnesty International USA)






PHILIPPINES:

Int'l group of judges asks Congress not to reinstate death penalty


An international organization of judges has called on Congress not to reinstate 
death penalty in the Philippines.

In a statement dated March 3, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) 
said that the country will violate its obligations to international treaties if 
death penalty is reinstated.

"The Philippine Congress's attempt to restore this heinous practice is in 
blatant breach of its international legal obligations," ICJ said.

"If adopted, the legislation will place the Philippines at odds with its legal 
obligation under international treaties to which it is party, the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its second Optional Protocol 
aiming at the abolition of the death penalty," it added.

House Bill 4727, which seeks to reimpose the death penalty, has been approved 
on 2nd reading, and will be put to a final vote next week.

President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing for the reimposition of death penalty.

The ICJ condemned the approval of the bill on second reading and expressed 
concern on the "manner in which the bill was effectively railroaded through the 
Philippine House of Representatives."

"It is obvious that proponents of State killing as means of 'justice' were 
intent on rushing the passage of the death penalty bill by thwarting any 
substantial discussion thereon and by pressuring into silence those who oppose 
it," said Emerlynne Gil, ICJ's Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast 
Asia.

The push of for the reimposition of death penalty comes amid the bloody war on 
drugs of the Duterte administration. More than 2,000 drug suspects were killed 
by the police in anti-drugs operation while at least 4,000 more drug 
personalities have been victims of vigilante-style killings.

Gil also emphasized that passing the bill would be a huge step backwards for 
the Philippines.

"Until recently, the Philippines had set an example of regional and global best 
practice on the abolition of the death penalty. Reintroducing the death penalty 
will be an enormous move backward for the country," he said.

(source: gmanetwork.com)

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

Culture of death under Duterte presidency


"There was death on Ash Wednesday."

I like this lead by RG Cruz of ABS-CBN News in his report about the approval of 
the death penalty bill by the House of Representatives.

RG wrote that "The House of Representatives has approved House Bill 4727, or 
the proposed Death Penalty Law, on 2nd reading in a viva voce vote.

"The approval came on Ash Wednesday, which kicks off the Lenten season in the 
Roman Catholic Church's calendar. Lent commemorates the passion, execution, and 
resurrection of Jesus Christ.

"The approved version of the bill makes the death penalty an option for judges 
to impose on those convicted only for drug-related offenses."

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez staked his leadership on this bill that is in 
support of President Duterte's banner program which is eradication of the 
illegal drug menace through killings.

The bill re-affirms the Duterte administration's advancement of the culture of 
death. More than 7,000 have been killed without going through the legal process 
in the seven months of Duterte's war against illegal drugs.

Death penalty in the Philippines was abolished in 2006, during the 
administration of Gloria Arroyo.

It is worthy to note that Arroyo, now a House deputy speaker, opposed the bill 
despite the threat from House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that those who oppose 
the bill will be stripped of their positions.

A Facebook post by Tony Hernandez reflects the sentiments of many who value 
life and humanity.

Hernandez said: "I was so proud when the Philippines became the first Asian 
country to abolish the death penalty. But now, I would like to puke whenever 
the Duterte-Sotto-Pacquiao triumvirate is mentioned. Barbarians!"

\ Hernandez wisely pointed out that the death penalty has nothing to do with 
justice.

"It just gives some people a sense of temporary satisfaction, like those 
lynchers who strung up black men up on trees in the Southern United States. 
Statistics have shown that crime does not go down because of the death penalty. 
In America, capital punishment cost the government billions of unnecessary 
dollars because death row inmates take up to 20 years of incarceration before 
they can be executed. The courts are clogged with hundreds of cases of appeal 
after appeal after appeal made by prisoners headed for execution. These are 
provable statistics, but then, statistics are useless for people who are afraid 
to think," he said.

Studies after studies backed by experience of other countries have shown that 
death penalty is not a deterrent to crime.

In a statement last December appealing to Philippine officials not to restore 
the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said quoted the United Nations assistant 
secretary-general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, saying there was "no 
evidence that the death penalty deters any crime." Even with respect to murder, 
an Oxford University analysis concluded that capital punishment does not deter 
"murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of 
the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment."

HRW opposes death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty.

RG Cruz's report said "The proposed law imposes the penalty of reclusion 
perpetua to death and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million in addition 
to absolute perpetual disqualification from any public office, on any public 
officer or employee who misappropriates, misapplies, or fails to account for 
seized dangerous drugs."

The bill adds: "Any elective local or national official found to have benefited 
from the proceeds of the trafficking of dangerous drugs as prescribed in this 
Act, or have received any financial or material contributions or donations from 
natural or juridical persons found guilty of trafficking dangerous drugs as 
prescribed in this Act, shall be removed from office and perpetually 
disqualified from holding any elective or appointive positions in the 
government, its divisions, subdivisions, and intermediaries, including 
government-owned or controlled corporations."

"Any person who is found guilty of 'planting' any dangerous drug and/or 
controlled precursor and essential chemical, regardless of quantity and purity, 
shall suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death."

The death penalty will not be imposed on a guilty person below 18 years of age 
at the time of the commission of a drug-related crime.

The bill authorizes hanging, firing squad, and lethal injection as modes of 
execution.

As we come to grips with the continued assault on our sense of humanity, we 
take comfort in the lesson of Lent - after Jesus Christ's crucifixion and 
death, there was Resurrection.

(sdourvec: Opinion, Ellen T. Tordesillas; abs-cbn.com)

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

Int'l jurists oppose death penalty bill


The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) urged the Philippine Congress on 
Friday to bring a halt to the government's attempt to bring back capital 
punishment.

The Congress' attempt to restore this heinous practice is in blatant breach of 
its international legal obligations, the ICJ said.

The ICJ condemned the approval on 2nd reading of a bill to restore the death 
penalty by the House of Representatives on March 1 and called on legislators to 
vigorously oppose it and prevent it from being passed on final reading.

If adopted, the legislation will place the Philippines at odds with its legal 
obligation under international treaties to which it is party, the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its second, Optional Protocol aiming 
at the abolition of the death penalty.

The ICJ also expressed concern at the manner in which the bill was effectively 
railroaded this week when the House passed on 2nd reading House Bill No. 4727, 
which seeks to reintroduce the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

House Bill 4727 will be put to a final vote on 3rd reading next week. Nominal 
voting will be done on the 3rd reading of the bill.

To marshal enough support for the bill, prodeath penalty legislators struck off 
all other crimes that were proposed in the original bill to be punishable by 
death, such as plunder, treason and rape.

As it stands now, House Bill 4727 imposes capital punishment only on commission 
of drug-related crimes. Proponents of the bill claim that this is to support 
the President's "war on drugs."

The controversial measure was approved only 8 session days after it reached the 
plenary for debates on Feb. 1.

"It is obvious that proponents of state killing as means of 'justice' were 
intent on rushing the passage of the death penalty bill by thwarting any 
substantial discussion thereon and by pressuring into silence those who oppose 
it," said Emerlynne Gil, ICJ's senior international legal adviser for Southeast 
Asia.

A similar bill proposing to bring back the death penalty has been filed at the 
Senate. The Senate committee on justice and human rights conducted the 1st 
hearing on the bill last Feb. 7.

(source: globalnation.inquirer.net)

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

Death, be not proud


"In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place" - Atty. 
Mohandas K. Gandhi. This dogma of the Mahatma could very well be the battlecry 
of the most rapidly diminishing commodity in the country today - the anti death 
penalty legislator.

In the House we have been hearing the heroic voices of, among others, Reps. Tom 
Villarin and Harry Roque. In the Senate, the charge is led by Sen. Dick Gordon. 
But not every Tom, Dick and Harry are flocking to the banner of life. Most are 
learning the bitter truth about the courage of convictions after the party 
leadership thumbs down a conscience vote.

The price of conscience. In theory, the motivations that animate party 
discipline in political and administrative issues are absent on gut issues like 
the death penalty. For example, in the impeachment battles against President 
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, when the Lakas party would take a party stand, you 
either toe the line or you're out. The reason is simply party survival for if 
she were to be impeached, then all would be lost. That is the importance of the 
line that shouldn't be crossed (from the configuration of the UK House of 
Commons where benches of Government and Opposition face each other - you cross 
the floor if you vote with the other side).

There was no such context in the House death penalty vote. The leadership could 
have left the decision to individual choice. There is simply no danger of 
crossing over as there is no opposition party to speak of (they haven't even 
figured that out in the House). But, alas, the party in power has decided to 
adopt the death penalty as a matter of policy (House Bill No. 1). It became a 
party vote. Should you cross the line, you will get the House equivalent of the 
death penalty. For observers, the waiting game is on for who will be the last 
NO vote standing.

Not just whiffs. This time honored tradition of bargaining your conscience has 
long been euphemized as a perquisite of legislation. Committee chairmanships, 
office space, out of town trips, additional staff, additional budget - these 
are the wages by which power is preserved.

Perhaps someone should nudge the President to train his chivalric clean 
government quest on this House of the people. While the recent sacking at the 
National Irrigation Administration has been a box office success, it is nothing 
Herculean. Cleaning the House stables or, at least the Justice Department where 
whiffs have become gusts, would be better embraced as a mythic labor.

Killing 101. With the House vote in the bag and the Senate now a 12-12 
proposition, it has become manifest that our solons have decided to kill. The 
follow up question, naturally, is how do they kill?

Capital is from the Latin word capitalis which meant "of the head." Capital 
punishment originally referred to the severing of the head - decapitating.

In Ancient Greece (the time of solon), condemned citizens were given the 
privilege of choosing poison as Socrates did when he drank his hemlock. The 
march of progress has seen methods become more humane even as the death penalty 
remains in place. Now, poison is injected.

Horror roll. Our own killing experience runs the gamut from garrote to lethal 
injection. In between, Philippine law has provided for death by hanging, 
electric chair, firing squad and even the gas chamber (never implemented). No 
death convict has ever been decapitated in the Philippines.

Until repealed under President GMA in 2006, the official method used by the 
Bureau of Corrections was lethal injection, the supposed humane method.

The last 7 executions from 1998 to 2006, beginning with Leo Echegaray was 
carried out following this general script: (1) put the condemned to sleep; (2) 
stop his breathing; and (3) stop his heart. To accomplish this, the Bureau of 
Corrections utilized the infamous 3 drug cocktail invented by Dr. Jay Chapman, 
Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Oklahoma as recipe for death. The 1st 
injection was for sodium pentothal, an anesthetic. The 2nd injection was of 
pancuronium bromide, shutting down the lungs and inducing paralysis. The final 
injection, of potassium chloride triggers the fatal heart attack. The procedure 
is over in minutes, sans pain, in theory.

Nightmare scenarios. In practice, a different story emerges. An imperfectly 
executed execution may result in the condemned not unconscious enough and not 
paralyzed enough. He will be suffering the most excruciating pain and yet be 
helpless to do anything about it.

Accounts of botched executions are rife, readily accessible on the internet. In 
the US, the horror stories range from taking 2 hours to die to 660 gasps for 
breath to "feeling fire coursing through my veins." Of all the methods in use, 
lethal injection has the highest rate of bungled implementation. To mitigate 
these possible tragic consequences, it is ideal that medical expertise be 
available.

First, do no harm. This brings us to another conscience vote. Doctors don't 
want to kill. And they shouldn't be compelled to. The Philippine Medical 
Association is already on record as opposing the practice of having physicians 
participate in executions. Other health professionals are also balking. Even 
the Italian and Danish manufacturers of the anesthetics used in Injection No. 1 
have stopped production of the same after its gruesome utility became its new 
reality.

< The net result of all this is that the humaneness of injected poison has 
become seriously compromised. The State may be forced to use non-medical 
personnel and resort to untested drugs to replace the previous mainstays. It, 
thus, becomes just as cruel as its predecessors.

Finale. The consolidated House Bill, now No. 4727 allows death by hanging and 
firing squad in addition to lethal injection. For objectors, the next frontiers 
will be the Supreme Court and, failing the Court, the Bureau of Corrections and 
Department of Health as they firm up the rules and regulations for implementing 
the congressional mandate.

(source: Opinion, Ernest Maceda, Jr., Philippine Star)

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

Duterte to look into removal of rape, plunder from death penalty bill


President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday, March 3, that he will look into why 
Congress removed plunder and rape from the list of crimes punishable by death 
even as he vowed to fire more officials accused of corruption.

"I really would like to know the rationale of the Congress why is it that rape 
and plunder was taken out," Duterte said.

Speaking before reporters in an impromptu press conference in Cagayan de Oro 
City on Friday, Duturte said he will fire more government appointees in the 
coming days due to supposed corruption issues.

"They are many. I'm still trying to figure out how it will be done," Duterte 
said.

"This is my warning, even directors or Ceso or civil service eligible, you 
should stop even just for 6 years while I am in this office)," Duterte added.

The President had earlier revealed that he had fired former National Irrigation 
Administration (NIA) Administrator Peter Lavina for alleged wrongdoing.

Lavina handed in his resignation letter last week amid accusations that he was 
asking money from NIA contractors, an allegation that he vehemently denied.

In interviews, Lavina said he resigned from his post to save the Duterte 
government from embarrassment.

Duterte was at the 4th Infantry Division headquarters in Camp Edilberto 
Evangelista, Patag, Cagayan de Oro City to visit the wake of the 2 soldiers 
killed in recent clashes with the New People's Army (NPA) in Misamis Oriental.

His visit was initially scheduled at 4:30 p.m. but was moved for almost 2 
hours.

The President arrived at about 6:10 p.m. and he left the camp at about 7:45 
p.m. after talking to the wounded soldiers recuperating in the army hospital 
inside the camp.

Duterte gave cash assistance worth P250,000 to the families of the 2 slain 
soldiers.

He also gave P100,000 thousand to the 7 soldiers wounded in clashes with the 
NPA.

(source: sunstar.com.ph)