[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

News postings to this list will resume on Sunday, Oct. 7



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October 3


KYGRYZSTAN:

Kyrgyzstan is not ready for capital punishment, activist says



Kyrgyzstan is not yet ready for the introduction of the death penalty, said 
Director of the Institute of Public Analysis Rita Karasartova at a round-table 
discussion in Bishkek on Oct 3.

Introduction of capital punishment will not decrease the percentage of crimes.

"Death penalty in our country won't work, because if a person sentenced to 
death has powerful relatives, the innocent one is to be killed," she said.

(source: AKI Press)








INDIA:

Death penalty shrinking budget for crime prevention programs, sates policy 
paper



Death penalty is shrinking budget for crime prevention programs, the Centre for 
Criminology & Public Policy (CCPP) has said, in a recently released policy 
paper.

The think-tank has criticized the expansion of death penalty to child rapists, 
saying the move will "result in more acquittals than convictions." CCPP's 
Director and the paper's author Rochin Chandra said that the document has been 
prepared in consultation with several experts, including legal researchers, 
police officers, advocates, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and 
rehabilitation consultants.

The paper has opined that before expanding death penalty to child rapists, the 
government should have carried out a scientific assessment to check whether 
death penalty has acted as a deterrent for crimes.

The paper has highlighted the need for stricter implementation of laws, and 
diversion of public expenditure into child sexual-abuse prevention programs 
such as schemes for relief and rehabilitation of child victims.

In its paper, Udaipur-based CCPP has also cited data to show the 
ineffectiveness of cost of death penalty as compared to its closest 
alternative-life imprisonment without parole.

The paper mentions that during 2004-2015, about 1300 prisoners were put on 
death row, but of those, only 4 cases resulted in execution.

"These figures show that legal process for death penalty is significantly 
longer and more complex than for life imprisonment, and applying such a 
punishment for child rape will only result in more acquittals than 
convictions", states the paper.

Stating that there are loopholes in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 
2018-which prescribes death penalty for child rapists-the paper calls the 
expansion of death penalty a "fiscally irresponsible decision."

Emphasizing that the matters of death penalty take more time to be disposed of 
by courts, the think tank has said that expansion of death penalty will lead to 
increase in the cost of prison management. "The government will have to bear 
the expenses of locking up death row convicts, while also paying a team of 
judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors for many years - often decades - to 
debate whether a sentence of death should be imposed on them," according to the 
paper.

Another argument cited by CCPP against expansion of death penalty is that the 
fear of death penalty may encourage rapists to kill their victim in order to 
cover up the crime and eliminate the prime witness. Elaborating on how 
execution of death penalty is shrinking the budget for crime prevention 
programs, Chandra cited the example of a public-police outreach program of 
Ahmedabad police "whose budget got shrunk on this account."

"Because of government's heavy reliance on death penalty, the budget for such 
innovative and workable programmes is shrinking," said Chandra. Chandra added 
that CCPP will soon send the policy paper to the government for consideration.

(source: newindianexpress.com)








IRAN:

Amnesty: Iran Executes Teenage Victim Of Domestic, Sexual Violence



Iran has executed a female victim of domestic and sexual violence who was 
convicted of killing her husband when she was a minor, according to Amnesty 
International.

The execution of Zeinab Sekaanvand is "profoundly unjust and shows the Iranian 
authorities' contempt for the right of children to life," the London-based 
human rights watchdog said on October 2.

A statement said the 24-year-old was hanged early in the day in Urumieh central 
prison in West Azerbaijan province.

An ethnic Kurd, Sekaanvand was 15 when she married her husband, according to 
Amnesty, and she was sentenced to death in October 2014 following a "grossly 
unfair trial" for allegedly stabbing him to death.

Philip Luther, Amnesty International's research and advocacy director for the 
Middle East and North Africa, said she "sought help many times from the 
authorities about her violent husband and alleged that her brother-in-law had 
raped her repeatedly."

Instead of investigating the allegations, Iranian authorities "consistently 
ignored her and failed to provide her with any support as a victim of domestic 
and sexual violence," Luther added.

He also called Sekaanvand's execution "a sickening demonstration of the Iranian 
authorities' disregard for the principles of juvenile justice and international 
human rights law."

A spokeswoman for EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said that 
death-penalty sentences and executions for crimes committed by persons below 
the age of 18 are "inconsistent with Iran's international obligations under the 
International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the 
Rights of the Child."

Maja Kocijancic also noted that Sekaanvand was "a child bride and reportedly a 
domestic abuse victim" who "maintained her innocence and...retracted her 
confession, claiming that it had been the result of torture."

Amnesty International urged Iran to establish a moratorium on executions, 
commute all death sentences, and prohibit the use of the death penalty against 
people below the age of 18 at the time of the crime.

Iran is one of the world's leading executioners. Amnesty International said in 
April that 507 people were executed in the country last year, including at 
least five juvenile offenders.

(source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)