[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 27



INDIA:

90 % Indian states want to retain death penalty: Kishan Reddy----In August 
2015, the Law Commission had recommended abolition of death penalties except in 
cases of terrorism and waging war against India.



90 % of the states have supported retaining death penalty in the country, the 
government told the Rajya Sabha on Friday where a private member's bill seeking 
abolition of capital punishment came up for consideration.

Responding to the debate, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the 
government is examining the issue and is yet to take a final call.

In August 2015, the Law Commission had recommended abolition of death penalties 
except in cases of terrorism and waging war against India.

Since, the matter falls within the concurrent list of the constitution, the 
centre had sought the opinion of states in October 2015.

After several reminders, 14 states and 5 Union Territories responded.

"90 % want to retain death penalty except one state," Reddy said.

No society wants to kill a person, but on the other side there are some heinous 
crimes like Nirbhaya also within the same society, the minister said.

"The government is seized of the matter and is examining this issue. It may 
take a view on the report after reaching a broad consensus on this matter," 
said Reddy.

Over concerns that in some cases innocent and poor people could be wrongly 
convicted, the minister told the Members said that the country's constitution 
has provided several tiers of steps to safeguard the innocents.

"If a trial court awards capital punishment, then it could be appealed before 
the High Court and then to the governor of state. If governor also rejects, 
then he can appeal before the Supreme Court and finally before the President of 
India," Reddy said.

He further said: "Death penalty is given only in exceptional and unavoidable 
situations."

Citing the Nation Crime Records Bureau, the minister said that capital 
punishment was given to only one person each in 2012 and 2013 respectively, 
while it was zero in 2014 and one in 2015.

"The President of India has received 135 mercy petitions, in which 34 was 
dismissed, 91 were allowed and one file is still pending," he added.

The minister further said that two days ago, the same House had passed The 
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which had 
provisions of death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children.

There is also demand of capital punishments across the country, the minister 
said, while referring to Nirbhaya case.

Reddy further said Afzal Guru, who was hanged, had planned to attack on the 
same parliament in which we are sitting today.

To protect the Parliament, nine people were martyred and the families of those 
people also had "fundamental rights."

The Abolition of Capital Punishment bill was moved by Congress member Pradeep 
Tamta.

Tamta called for proper investigation and police reforms apart from ensuring 
time-bound compensation to the victims.

He said the government should examine the Law Commission's report, and observed 
that globally, sentiments were against capital punishment.

While participating in the debate, Ashok Bajpai said the society needs capital 
punishment as it acts as deterrent against the serious and heinous crimes.

Although, very few people are given capital punishment, as execution of Afzal 
Guru was 53rd since independence, but it has fear and pressure on the 
criminals.

P L Punia said that 140 countries have no provisions of capital punishment and 
33 countries have not awarded capital punishment in the last 10 years.

Ram Gopal Yadav of SP said capital punishment does not act as a deterrent 
against crime.

Prasanna Acharya of BJD, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, Satyanarayan Jatiya of BJP, 
Amar Patnaik of BJD and L Hanumanthaiah of INC also participated in the debate.

(source: economictimes.indiatimes.com)








PHILIPPINES:

Church in Philippines rejects president's call to revive death penalty



Catholic leaders in the Philippines are calling on Catholics and lawmakers to 
resist President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to revive the death penalty.

The president called for its reinstatement during a lengthy State of the Nation 
Address in Manila July 22, while activists, clergy, seminarians, and nuns 
protested the president in the rainy streets, according to UCA News.

Church leaders have said that despite his claims of success, Duterte has helped 
bring about “the most trying period in the nation’s history.”

"A vision of a country where peace and justice reigns, sovereignty is cherished 
and human rights are upheld ... has been sliding into oblivion," an ecumenical 
group said in a statement, according to UCA News.

The country, the group noted, is undergoing a crisis that is not only social 
and political, but moral and spiritual as well.

"The regression of our country’s democracy, the emboldenment of a tyrannical 
regime and the oppression of the people are fueling a national catastrophe," 
they said.

Rodolfo Diamante, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Prison 
Pastoral Care, urged caution for lawmakers when considering legislation that 
would reinstate the death penalty.

“We urge them to study the bills thoroughly and determine if they will really 
address the problems of drug trafficking and plunder,” he said, according to 
CBCP News.

Diamante also urged lawmakers not to reinstate the death penalty as a quick 
fix, or in order to appease Duterte.

“They have been elected by the people to work for their welfare, not the 
President’s,” he said. “Don’t give our people an illusion and a quick fix 
‘solution’ to our problems. They deserve something better.”

The death penalty was abolished in the Philippines under the country’s 1987 
constitution. In the 1990s, the policy underwent varying periods of moratorium 
and reinstatement, until it was abolished again under President Gloria 
Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006, according to Human Rights Watch.

The last time death penalty legislation was considered by the country’s 
Congress in 2017, it faced strong opposition from lawmakers, UCA noted.

The Philippines is a majority-Catholic nation, with roughly 86% of the 
country’s 104.9 million people identifying as Catholic.

In August 2018, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a new 
draft of the catechism's paragraph regarding capital punishment. Quoting Pope 
Francis’ words in a speech of Oct. 11, 2017, the new paragraph states, in part, 
that “the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty 
is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the 
person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

Reasons for changing the teaching, the paragraph says, include: the increasing 
effectiveness of detention systems, growing understanding of the unchanging 
dignity of the person, and leaving open the possibility of conversion.

Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P., a moral theologian at the Dominican House of Studies in 
Washington, D.C., told CNA at the time of the revision that he thinks this 
change “further absolutizes the pastoral conclusion made by John Paul II.”

“Nothing in the new wording of paragraph 2267 suggests the death penalty is 
intrinsically evil. Indeed, nothing could suggest that because it would 
contradict the firm teaching of the Church,” Fr. Petri added.

Duterte has a rocky relationship with the Catholic bishops and clergy of his 
country, frequently calling them various names and even calling for them to be 
killed, in large part because they have resisted his war on drugs, which has 
lead to a spike in extrajudicial killings since he took office in 2016.

Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches hosted a “Mass for Truth” for activists 
before Duterte’s SONA address. Tobias, along with two other bishops, was 
recently charged with libel and sedition for allegedly accusing Duterte’s 
family of having connections to the illegal drug trade, UCA reported.

Tobias said that the war on drugs was gotten worse since Duterte came to power 
in 2016, despite his vows to quash it.

"After 3 years, the number of drug users increased and many have died," Tobias 
told UCA News.

(source: Catholic News Agency)