[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 11



GLOBAL:

Moving away from the mandatory death penalty



Today marks the 16th World Day against the Death Penalty, once again providing 
an opportunity to reflect on the use of the death penalty around the world. The 
path towards abolition is frequently paved by progressive restriction in the 
imposition and application of capital punishment. Accordingly, this year we 
consider the decline of the mandatory death penalty, a practice which an 
ever-increasing number of countries have recognised as cruel, unfair and 
ultimately incompatible with fundamental human rights protections.

Approximately 29 countries around the world continue to impose mandatory death 
sentences for crimes including murder, drug trafficking and blasphemy, amongst 
other offences. In many countries, the practice of imposing the death penalty 
automatically originates in laws inherited under British colonial rule. Since 
then, an increasing number of countries have rejected the archaic practice as 
incompatible with evolving standards of decency.

In the past 12 months the global consensus against the mandatory death penalty 
has continued to grow. 2 more courts, in Kenya and Barbados, have ruled the 
automatic imposition of a death sentence incompatible with their national 
constitutions, bringing the total number of countries where The Death Penalty 
Project has successfully brought or supported constitutional challenges to the 
mandatory death penalty to 13 nations. As a direct consequence, thousands have 
been removed from death rows around the world.

We look forward to continuing to support efforts to end the mandatory death 
penalty and are hopeful that movement away from this practice will continue. 
For instance, there are promising signs in Malaysia, where the new government 
is exercising leadership and has pledged to abolish mandatory death sentencing.

Nevertheless, even with discretionary sentencing it is impossible to guard 
against arbitrariness in the application of death penalty. The experience of 
India, taking just one example, shows how judicial discretion can give way to a 
lethal lottery, where the decision to impose the death penalty depends 
significantly on who is hearing the case. Stringent sentencing guidelines and 
adherence to safeguards may provide some protection for those facing capital 
charges but ultimately, whether the sentence is mandatory or discretionary, it 
is impossible to ensure that the death penalty is applied consistently and 
without arbitrariness, discrimination or error. Despite this, it is clear that 
moving away from the mandatory death penalty is a step in the right direction 
on the road towards complete abolition of capital punishment.

(source: deathpenaltyproject.org, Oct. 10)

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

'Put an end to the death penalty now', urges Guterres, marking World Day



Progress made toward eliminating the death penalty has been "marred by 
setbacks,' said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in a 
statement on Wednesday, marking the 16th World Day Against the Death Penalty.

He noted that hundreds of offenders - often impoverished, women or hailing from 
minority groups - have been executed without legal representation or 
transparent criminal proceedings, which might have spared them from the death 
penalty.

"In some countries, people are sentenced to death in secret trials, without due 
process, increasing the potential for error or abuse" - UN chief Guterres

Some 170 States have abolished or put a stay on executions, since the UN 
General Assembly's 1st call for a moratorium on its use, in 2007. Mr. Guterres 
noted the lack of transparency in some countries where the death penalty is 
still used, underscoring its incompatibility with human rights standards.

Mr. Guterres said he was "deeply disturbed" in particular, by the number of 
juvenile offenders being executed. Only last week, Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran of 
Iran, was executed for killing her husband, when she was 17, despite a trial 
marred by irregularities.

"In some countries, people are sentenced to death in secret trials, without due 
process, increasing the potential for error or abuse" said the UN chief.

These comments echo those of UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, 
Andrew Gilmour. In an interview with UN News last November, he said there was 
"far too much secrecy, and it's quite indicative of the fact that although many 
countries are giving up the practice, those that retain it, nevertheless feel 
that they have something to hide."

He noted the majority of executions today are carried out in China, Pakistan, 
Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Guterres concluded with a call for all nations to abolish the practice of 
executions. "I call on those remaining, to join the majority and put an end to 
the death penalty now," he added.

(source: un.org)








FRANCE:

16th World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October 2018)



On this 16th World Day Against the Death Penalty, France reaffirms its 
opposition to the death penalty everywhere and in all circumstances.

France is committed to the universal abolition of this unjust, inhumane and 
ineffective punishment and calls on all nations that still apply the death 
penalty to establish a moratorium on it with a view to its definitive 
abolition.

France welcomes the decision by Mongolia, Guinea and Burkina Faso to abolish 
the death penalty. It also welcomes Gambia’s ratification of the Second 
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
aimed at abolishing the death penalty, as well as Guatemala’s abolition of 
capital punishment for ordinary crimes.

France reiterates its concern over the continued use of the death penalty in 
all too many countries.

France invites all nations to mobilize ahead of the Seventh World Congress 
Against the Death Penalty to be held from February 27 to March 1, 2019, in 
Brussels. It also calls on states to support the adoption of the resolution 
calling for a universal moratorium on the death penalty by the 73rd session of 
the UN General Assembly.

(source: diplomatie.gouv.fr)








ITALY:

Italian government says Capital punishment is "unjustifiable under any 
circumstance"



Capital punishment is "unjustifiable under any circumstance", the Italian 
government said on Wednesday, underlining its opposition to state-sanctioned 
execution.

"On European and World Day against the Death Penalty, Italy reaffirms its firm 
opposition to the death penalty, which is unjustifiable under any 
circumstance," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Italy has always sought to marshal "the widest possible support" for the 2007 
UN moratorium on the death penalty and keeps working to "broaden the consensus 
of the international community" on the resolution, the statement said.

"Over many years now, this effort has involved the whole diplomatic network in 
a continuous dialogue also with civil society," the statement added.

(source: devdiscourse.com)








AUSTRIA:

Austria Continues to Call for Global Moratorium on Death Penalty - Foreign 
Minister



Austria along with other EU countries continue to call for introduction of the 
global moratorium on death penalty in the United Nations, the country's foreign 
minister, Karin Kneissl, said on Wednesday.

Speaking on the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Kneissl pointed out that 
there was no place for capital punishment in the 21st century.

"Along with the European Union and other countries that share this point of 
view, we will continue to call for the global moratorium [on death penalty] as 
a first step toward the global ban," Kneissl said, as quoted by the ministry's 
press service.

The minister added that Austria condemns the use of death penalty under any 
circumstances and attaches significant importance to fighting for the global 
ban of capital punishment.

(source: urdupoint.com)



INDONESIA:

AGO Still Waiting to Execute Death Penalty Inmates



The Attorney General`s Office is still waiting for the right time to execute 91 
death penalty inmates on drug cases.

"Later," said Attorney General M. Prasetyo when he was asked about the time of 
death row inmates' execution at his office in South Jakarta, Wednesday, October 
10.

Prasetyo once stated that the death row inmates were buying time for the 
execution by using their legal rights because the law provided opportunities. 
"They all tried to buy time," Prasetyo said, September 28.

The Constitutional Court also provides an opportunity for the death row inmates 
to test the verdict through a judicial review (PK) more than once.

In addition, the absence of a deadline for filing clemency also becomes an 
obstacle for the execution. "This is our problem," he said.

In coincidence with the World's Anti-Death Penalty Day on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 
the coalition of death penalty elimination (HATI Coalition) urged the 
Indonesian government to abolish and review the law on the death penalty.

HATI Coalition also explained that the death penalty applied in Indonesia shows 
injustice since the law often targets vulnerable groups with high poverty 
rates.

The death penalty inmates often experience difficulties in obtaining access to 
justice, information, participation, equality and they often experience 
discrimination.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) noted that 
throughout 2018, Indonesian courts had sentenced to death 43 defendants in 19 
cases. 7 cases include murder cases and 12 others were narcotics cases.

(source: tempo.co)








PHILIPPINES:

3 out of 10 Pinoys favor death penalty for 6 drug-related crimes - SWS poll



Most Filipinos do not see the death penalty as the solution for 6 out of 7 
crimes related to illegal drugs, results of a special Social Weather Stations 
(SWS) survey commissioned by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) showed.

About 33 % or less demand the death penalty for 6 crimes related to drugs, 
namely importation of illegal drugs, maintenance of drug dens, manufacture of 
illegal drugs, murder under the influence of drugs, sale of illegal drugs, and 
working in drug dens.

SWS found that for these 6 crimes, about 51-55 % of Filipinos prefer life 
imprisonment as the penalty. Another 15- 24 % prefer imprisonment for 20 years 
or 40 years.

The only exception, where 47 % think the death penalty should apply, was for 
rape under the influence of drugs.

These are the main findings of the March, 2018 National Survey on Public 
Perception on the Death Penalty, conducted by SWS for the Commission on Human 
Rights (CHR) of the Philippines.

It is the 1st survey in the Philippines to explore thought processes and 
disentangle layers of perceptions about the death penalty. It was conducted 
through face-to-face interviews of 2,000 respondents aged 15 and above 
nationwide during the period March 22 to 27, 2018.

For all the crimes, the survey found only minority support for the death 
penalty.

The strongest demand for the death penalty is at 47 %, for rape under the 
influence of drugs.

For the other 6 crimes, the demand for death penalty is from 22 % to 33 %.

Meanwhile, on the demand for imprisonment, instead of death, is over 70 % for 
those found guilty of working in drug dens (78 %), sale of illegal drugs (76 
%), and maintenance of drug dens (73 %).

It is followed by murder under the influence of drugs (69 %), importation of 
illegal drugs (68 %), and manufacture of illegal drugs (66 %).

Demand for imprisonment as a punishment for those guilty of rape under the 
influence of drugs is 53 %.

(source: Manila Bulletin)








PAKISTAN:

Daughter of Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy speaks of 
emotional final meeting with her mother waiting to hear if she will be executed 
for 'insulting Mohammed'



'I was very close to her, and there hasn't been a day that I haven't been 
praying for her to come home.'

She was a young child when her mother was first accused by fellow villagers in 
Sheikhupura, Punjab, of insulting Islam in 2009.

They were the only Catholic family in the village, but although their religion 
had seen her parents sometime struggle to find work, Ms Ashiq had a happy 
childhood in a loving home.

It was a hot day in June 2009, when her mother went to fetch water for her 
fellow farmhands while working in a field picking berries.

The Muslim women she was labouring with objected, saying that as a non-Muslim 
Ms Bibi was unfit to drink from the same water bowl as them.

Ms Bibi would later say that the women insulted her religion, to which she 
responded: 'I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross 
for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save 
mankind?'

This prompted the Muslim women to go to a local imam and accuse Ms Bibi of 
blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed.

Before Ms Bibi could be arrested on any official charges, a violent mob 
descended on their family home, and beat Ms Bibi up in front of her children.

The abuse was so violent, police were called to the scene, but after rescuing 
the mother-of-five, they arrested her and threw her in jail - and a year later 
she was convicted of blasphemy.

Over the past 9 years, Ms Ashiq, her father and her siblings - sisters Naseem, 
29, Sidra, 26, Esha, 17, and brother Imran, 27 - have been taking turns in 
visiting Ms Bibi on death row.

It takes them 6 hours to travel from their home in Punjab to the prison where 
Ms Bibi is being held, in the same solitary confinement cell since her 2009 
arrest.

They are allowed to see her for around 15 to 20 minutes under the watch of 
prison officers, before making the 6-hour trip home.

Ms Ashiq and Mr Masih say they are only able to make the long and expensive 
journey every few months, with 2 or 3 of them going each time.

The family last saw Ms Bibi last Monday, a meeting which may well have been 
their last.

Ms Ashiq said: 'It was a very emotional meeting, but I am confident in God and 
that He will set her free.'

Ms Ashiq said she had to 'find inner strength' to overcome her mother being in 
prison while growing up.

She currently attends a local school along with her sister Esha, who has a 
developmental disorder and is a special needs student.

She dreams of becoming a lawyer, hoping to help poor people and those who, like 
her mother, have been accused of blasphemy.

Mr Masih, a builder by trade, tells MailOnline: 'Asia is always saying "I am 
missing my children" and she is praying and praying to be free.

'We always trust in God to care for her during her suffering days. Physically 
and mentally she is as well as she can be.

'She has been in solitary confinement since day one as they fear someone might 
attack her.

'We believe they will set her free, but the circumstances are such that she 
would be unable to live in Pakistan as a free woman. She would not survive.'

Ms Bibi's case has outraged Christians worldwide and been a source of division 
within Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to help her were 
assassinated, including Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was shot by his own 
bodyguard.

Fundamentalist groups have been protesting in the streets, calling for her 
execution to be carried out.

One of the most vocal groups, the ultra-religious Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan 
(TLP), has warned of 'terrible consequences' if she is granted leniency. M

The Supreme Court reached a decision on Monday, but their announcement is not 
expected until later this week or perhaps next, potentially due to a fear of 
mob violence.

If the 3-judge Supreme Court bench uphold the 53-year-old's conviction, her 
only recourse will be a direct appeal to the president for clemency.

Ms Bibi has always denied blaspheming and her representatives have claimed she 
was involved in a dispute with her neighbours and that her accusers had 
contradicted themselves.

Blasphemy is a charge so sensitive in Pakistan that anyone even accused of 
insulting Islam risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes.

The charge is punishable by a maximum penalty of death under legislation that 
rights groups say is routinely abused by religious extremists as well as 
ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores.

The law does not define what blasphemy constitutes, and evidence is often not 
reproduced in court for fear of committing a fresh offence.

Despite this, calls for reform of the blasphemy law have regularly been met 
with violence and rejected.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan launched a wholehearted defence of the 
laws during his election campaign earlier this year, vowing his party 'fully' 
supports the legislation and 'will defend it'.

(source: dailymail.co.uk)

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

Asia Bibi awaits judgment on final Supreme Court appeal against 'blasphemy' 
death penalty



Pakistan's Supreme Court has heard the final appeal of a Christian mother of 5 
who was sentenced to death for blasphemy - her crime was to drink from a water 
fountain used by Muslims. The conviction and sentence handed down to Asia Bibi 
has led to international condemnation of the country's much-abused blasphemy 
laws. In 2016, members of the Anglican Consultative Council, meeting in Lusaka, 
said it "stands in solidarity and prayer with Asia Bibi" and asked that "her 
case be re-investigated and that she be honourably acquitted." They also 
expressed their "solidarity and prayer with other victims" of Pakistan's 
blasphemy law.

Bibi has been held in custody since June 2009 after her co-workers said that by 
drinking water meant for Muslims she had made it ritually unclean. In November 
2010, she was sentenced to death and has had numerous appeals postponed.

Hardline Islamists in Pakistan have campaigned against her release. In January 
2011, Salman Taseer, a governor of Punjab, said that Bibi was innocent and 
called for a review of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. In response, he was shot and 
killed by his own bodyguard. 2 months later, Shahbaz Bhatti, the country's 
Minority Affairs Minister, was ambushed and killed by gunmen near his Islamabad 
home. He had previously told reporters that he would campaign for Bibi's 
release.

After years of delays and adjournments, a tribunal of three Supreme Court 
judges, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, and supported by Justice Asif 
Saeed Khosa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, heard her final appeal 
October 8.

"They have come to a decision, but it has been reserved," said Mehwish Bhatti, 
an officer with the British-Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), said from 
the court house. "The Chief Justice has banned media interference, but all the 
journalists are talking about this.

"Earlier they took my mobile [phone] for almost 2 hours after I tried to take a 
picture of the court house. The entrance of high-profile people was from the 
other side, so nobody could see them."

Last week, Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, spoke at an event organized by Aid to 
the Church in Need at the Catholic chaplaincy of Lancaster University in 
northwest England, alongside the couple's eldest daughter, Eisham. "She is 
psychologically, physically and spiritually strong, having a very strong 
faith," Masih told BPCA's chairman Wilson Chowdhry. "She is ready and willing 
to die for Christ."

Chowdhry commented: "News of her poor health and early signs of dementia are a 
paramount concern for our community, and the date of this appeal is very 
timely. These charges have been proven false time and again, and it is time for 
her to return home to her family. Clearly, she will need asylum in a Western 
country where she can live out the remainder of her days in peace.

"We hope this time she will be completely exonerated and this wrongful 
conviction will finally be overturned, as this is her last chance to be heard 
at court."

Many churches in Lahore held a day of prayer and fasting. "All around Pakistan, 
and even many parts of the world, the sense of anticipation...regarding Asia 
Bibi's final appeal hearing are now at fever pitch," BPCA outreach officer 
Leighton Medley said ahead of today’s hearing. "There is a sense here in 
Pakistan that once again, battle lines are being drawn: the battle between 
those who support hatred and intolerance and those who fight for peace and 
justice.

"There is no doubt, that...you will be able to cut the atmosphere with a knife. 
There will be protests on both sides, and you can bet there will be trouble 
ahead."

He added: "We must have faith that God can intervene in this situation and this 
mountain will be removed. It is very much like going into the lion's den.

"It truly is D-Day for Asia, this is the final countdown, and we will soon know 
whether the extremists win or lose. And whether there will be peace and justice 
in Pakistan or just more hatred, prejudice and intolerance, which sadly has 
come to typify Pakistan today."

Pakistan's blasphemy laws are often used to settle personal scores. The death 
sentence has never been carried out; but at least 20 people have been murdered 
in prison after being convicted.

(source: Anglican Journal)