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Death Penalty Information
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
UN: 3 exonerated death row prisoners testify about their experiences
GLOBAL:
3 death row survivors call for global moratorium on executions
3 men sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit, today urged
member states of the United Nations General Assembly to support a
resolution for a global moratorium on executions.
"I have faced death at the hands of my government and I'm here to tell the
international community of the human suffering caused by the death
penalty, and to urge them to end this terrible punishment," said Edward
Edmary Mpagi, from Uganda who spent 18 years on death row. Mpagi,
sentenced to death in 1981, was accused of killing a man who was later
found to be alive.
Speaking at an Amnesty International event at the United Nations in New
York, in advance of a resolution for a global moratorium on executions,
the three men highlighted how unfair trials, erroneous decisions or flaws
in the judicial system can result in innocent people being executed, and
urged governments from around the world to stop the use of the death
penalty.
"It's difficult to describe what it is like to serve time on death row
knowing you are innocent," said Ray Krone, the 100th prisoner on death row
in the US to be freed after DNA tests proved his innocence in 2002.
"All you know is that what seems like an awful nightmare is now reality, a
reality beyond comprehension. The US death-penalty system is broken. What
happened to me can happen to anyone. And it doesn't have to be that way."
In 1949, the Japanese authorities arrested Sakae Menda for the murder of
two people. Police extracted a false "confession" from Mr Menda through
torture, and after an unfair trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to
death. Determined to prove his innocence, Sakae Menda applied for retrials
six times before being granted one. In 1983, 34 years after being
sentenced to death, the courts acquitted Mr Menda of the charges, making
him the first Japanese prisoner on death row to be released.
"Living each day knowing that you may be sent to your death at any given
month, day or moment is torture," said Sakae Menda. "Being on death row
dehumanises and has a massive psychological effect on a person. It's an
awful penalty to inflict on anyone, and is even more devastating for
someone who is innocent."
Executions in Japan are typically held in secret and prisoners are either
not warned of their impending execution, or are notified only in the
morning of the day of the execution.
Speaking at the UN, Amnesty International's expert on death penalty, Piers
Bannister said, "These three men provide graphic evidence that the death
penalty is administered by flawed systems, whatever the culture and
resources of the country concerned. No one knows how many innocent men and
women have been executed through history. But the ever present risk of
executing the innocent provides yet another compelling reason why the time
has come for the global moratorium of executions."
Since the death penalty was re-established in USA in 1973, 124 people on
death row have been released after being found innocent, or their
conviction rested on insufficient evidence was gathered against them
To date, 133 countries have abolished the use of the death penalty in law
or practice.
In 2006, 91 % of all known executions took place in only six countries:
China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the USA.
In November 2007, the United Nations General Assembly (Third Committee)
will vote on a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions
Amnesty International calls on the 62 UN General Assembly to adopt the
resolution:
Affirming a right to life and stating that abolition of the death penalty
is essential for the protection of human rights
Calling on retentionist states to establish a moratorium on executions asa
first step toward abolition of the death penalty
Calling on retentionist states to respect international standards that
guarantee the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty,
and
Requesting the UN Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the
moratorium to the next session of the UNGA.
(source: Amnesty International)
3 death row survivors call for global moratorium on executions
3 men sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit, today urged
member states of the United Nations General Assembly to support a
resolution for a global moratorium on executions.
"I have faced death at the hands of my government and I'm here to tell the
international community of the human suffering caused by the death
penalty, and to urge them to end this terrible punishment," said Edward
Edmary Mpagi, from Uganda who spent 18 years on death row. Mpagi,
sentenced to death in 1981, was accused of killing a man who was later
found to be alive.
Speaking at an Amnesty International event at the United Nations in New
York, in advance of a resolution for a global moratorium on executions,
the three men highlighted how unfair trials, erroneous decisions or flaws
in the judicial system can result in innocent people being executed, and
urged governments from around the world to stop the use of the death
penalty.
"It's difficult to describe what it is like to serve time on death row
knowing you are innocent," said Ray Krone, the 100th prisoner on death row
in the US to be freed after DNA tests proved his innocence in 2002.
"All you know is that what seems like an awful nightmare is now reality, a
reality beyond comprehension. The US death-penalty system is broken. What
happened to me can happen to anyone. And it doesn't have to be that way."
In 1949, the Japanese authorities arrested Sakae Menda for the murder of
two people. Police extracted a false "confession" from Mr Menda through
torture, and after an unfair trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to
death. Determined to prove his innocence, Sakae Menda applied for retrials
six times before being granted one. In 1983, 34 years after being
sentenced to death, the courts acquitted Mr Menda of the charges, making
him the first Japanese prisoner on death row to be released.
"Living each day knowing that you may be sent to your death at any given
month, day or moment is torture," said Sakae Menda. "Being on death row
dehumanises and has a massive psychological effect on a person. It's an
awful penalty to inflict on anyone, and is even more devastating for
someone who is innocent."
Executions in Japan are typically held in secret and prisoners are either
not warned of their impending execution, or are notified only in the
morning of the day of the execution.
Speaking at the UN, Amnesty International's expert on death penalty, Piers
Bannister said, "These three men provide graphic evidence that the death
penalty is administered by flawed systems, whatever the culture and
resources of the country concerned. No one knows how many innocent men and
women have been executed through history. But the ever present risk of
executing the innocent provides yet another compelling reason why the time
has come for the global moratorium of executions."
Since the death penalty was re-established in USA in 1973, 124 people on
death row have been released after being found innocent, or their
conviction rested on insufficient evidence was gathered against them
To date, 133 countries have abolished the use of the death penalty in law
or practice.
In 2006, 91 % of all known executions took place in only six countries:
China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the USA.
In November 2007, the United Nations General Assembly (Third Committee)
will vote on a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions
Amnesty International calls on the 62 UN General Assembly to adopt the
resolution:
Affirming a right to life and stating that abolition of the death penalty
is essential for the protection of human rights
Calling on retentionist states to establish a moratorium on executions asa
first step toward abolition of the death penalty
Calling on retentionist states to respect international standards that
guarantee the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty,
and
Requesting the UN Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the
moratorium to the next session of the UNGA.
(source: Amnesty International)
Afghanistan: 3-year moratorium on executions ends
AFGHANISTAN:
Executions Break Afghan Moratorium
Ending a 3-year moratorium on the death penalty, Afghanistan executed 15
prisoners by gunfire, including a man convicted of killing 3 foreign
journalists during the U.S.-led invasion, the prisons chief announced
Monday.
The United Nations protested the executions, which could complicate the
missions of some NATO nations here.
The mass execution took place Sunday evening according to Afghan law,
which calls for condemned prisoners to be shot to death, said Abdul Salam
Ismat, who oversees Afghanistan's prisons.
On Tuesday, Humayun Hamidzada, a presidential spokesman, said Afghanistan
will continue with executions of inmates on death row, saying they will be
a lesson ''for those who are committing such crimes, as murder,
kidnapping, adultery and rapes.''
The crimes committed by those executed Sunday included murder, kidnapping
and armed robbery, but officials said no Taliban or al-Qaida fighters were
among the prisoners.
Until it was ousted in late 2001, Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban regime
carried out executions in public, many of them at the Kabul stadium. The
new government pledged to the international community it would halt
executions, and had carried out only one previously, in 2004.
The 15 deaths could complicate relationships between the government and
some NATO countries with military forces here. Foreign troops often hand
over captured militants to the Afghan government, raising the question of
whether countries that do not use the death penalty might stop
surrendering prisoners.
The Netherlands was one of the first to criticize the Afghan announcement,
calling the executions ''extremely unwelcome.'' But it also said Dutch
troops would continue to transfer militants to the Afghan government,
saying it had an agreement protecting those prisoners from execution.
Anger over the executions also could prove a snag for NATO's efforts to
get its member nations to send more troops to Afghanistan. NATO has some
40,000 soldiers here but commanders complain they need more helicopters,
mobile troops and instructors to train the Afghan army.
''The fact that we have not fully been able to live up to the promises
that nations have made is a point of concern for me,'' NATO
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Monday in Denmark before the
executions were announced.
Among those executed was Reza Khan, who was convicted of adultery and the
murder of one Afghan and 3 foreign journalists in 2001. The 4 were pulled
from their cars, robbed and shot near the eastern city of Jalalabad while
driving toward Kabul six days after the Taliban abandoned the capital
under heavy U.S. bombing.
The four were Australian TV cameraman Harry Burton, Afghan photographer
Azizullah Haidari of the Reuters news agency, Maria Grazia Cutuli of
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and Julio Fuentes of the Spanish
daily El Mundo.
Also executed was Farhad, who is also known as Pahlavan and like many
Afghan used only a single name. He was involved in the 2005 kidnapping of
Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni; she was freed after 3 weeks.
Tom Koenigs, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said the
U.N. had expressed its concern over the use of the death penalty many
times in the past.
''The United Nations in Afghanistan has been a staunch supporter of the
moratorium on executions observed in Afghanistan in recent years,''
Koenigs said. ''I expect Afghanistan to continue working towards attaining
the highest human rights standards and ensuring the due process of law and
the rights of all citizens are respected.''
The government's official announcement of the executions came on state
television Monday evening, saying said Karzai ordered the executions
following a decision by a special commission he set up to review rulings
by the Supreme Court.
''After all the discussions and after looking back over the cases ... in
order to prevent future crimes, such as murders, armed robberies,
kidnappings, and to maintain the stability of the country, (Karzai)
approved the prisoners' death sentences,'' a statement read over the news
said.
Hamidzada, Karzai's spokesman, had told The Associated Press last week
that Karzai was taking ''extreme care in execution cases.''
''He has been holding on to these cases because he wants to make sure that
the justice is served and the due process is complete. He personally does
not like executions, but Afghan law asks for it, and he will obey the
laws,'' Hamidzada said.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry expressed distress at the executions.
''For the Netherlands, the abolition of the death penalty is one of our
priorities in terms of international human rights policy,'' spokesman Bart
Rijs said. ''We had understood there was a moratorium on the death penalty
in force.''
Rijs said Dutch troops would continue to hand over prisoners because the
Netherlands had signed a memorandum of understanding with Karzai's
government guaranteeing those inmates would not be executed. Rijs said
there were 10 such prisoners and all were believed in good health.
Amnesty International said 6 countries were responsible for 91 % of all
known executions worldwide last year: China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan
and the United States. 18 other countries also carried out executions, the
group said.
Executions Break Afghan Moratorium
Ending a 3-year moratorium on the death penalty, Afghanistan executed 15
prisoners by gunfire, including a man convicted of killing 3 foreign
journalists during the U.S.-led invasion, the prisons chief announced
Monday.
The United Nations protested the executions, which could complicate the
missions of some NATO nations here.
The mass execution took place Sunday evening according to Afghan law,
which calls for condemned prisoners to be shot to death, said Abdul Salam
Ismat, who oversees Afghanistan's prisons.
On Tuesday, Humayun Hamidzada, a presidential spokesman, said Afghanistan
will continue with executions of inmates on death row, saying they will be
a lesson ''for those who are committing such crimes, as murder,
kidnapping, adultery and rapes.''
The crimes committed by those executed Sunday included murder, kidnapping
and armed robbery, but officials said no Taliban or al-Qaida fighters were
among the prisoners.
Until it was ousted in late 2001, Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban regime
carried out executions in public, many of them at the Kabul stadium. The
new government pledged to the international community it would halt
executions, and had carried out only one previously, in 2004.
The 15 deaths could complicate relationships between the government and
some NATO countries with military forces here. Foreign troops often hand
over captured militants to the Afghan government, raising the question of
whether countries that do not use the death penalty might stop
surrendering prisoners.
The Netherlands was one of the first to criticize the Afghan announcement,
calling the executions ''extremely unwelcome.'' But it also said Dutch
troops would continue to transfer militants to the Afghan government,
saying it had an agreement protecting those prisoners from execution.
Anger over the executions also could prove a snag for NATO's efforts to
get its member nations to send more troops to Afghanistan. NATO has some
40,000 soldiers here but commanders complain they need more helicopters,
mobile troops and instructors to train the Afghan army.
''The fact that we have not fully been able to live up to the promises
that nations have made is a point of concern for me,'' NATO
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Monday in Denmark before the
executions were announced.
Among those executed was Reza Khan, who was convicted of adultery and the
murder of one Afghan and 3 foreign journalists in 2001. The 4 were pulled
from their cars, robbed and shot near the eastern city of Jalalabad while
driving toward Kabul six days after the Taliban abandoned the capital
under heavy U.S. bombing.
The four were Australian TV cameraman Harry Burton, Afghan photographer
Azizullah Haidari of the Reuters news agency, Maria Grazia Cutuli of
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and Julio Fuentes of the Spanish
daily El Mundo.
Also executed was Farhad, who is also known as Pahlavan and like many
Afghan used only a single name. He was involved in the 2005 kidnapping of
Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni; she was freed after 3 weeks.
Tom Koenigs, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said the
U.N. had expressed its concern over the use of the death penalty many
times in the past.
''The United Nations in Afghanistan has been a staunch supporter of the
moratorium on executions observed in Afghanistan in recent years,''
Koenigs said. ''I expect Afghanistan to continue working towards attaining
the highest human rights standards and ensuring the due process of law and
the rights of all citizens are respected.''
The government's official announcement of the executions came on state
television Monday evening, saying said Karzai ordered the executions
following a decision by a special commission he set up to review rulings
by the Supreme Court.
''After all the discussions and after looking back over the cases ... in
order to prevent future crimes, such as murders, armed robberies,
kidnappings, and to maintain the stability of the country, (Karzai)
approved the prisoners' death sentences,'' a statement read over the news
said.
Hamidzada, Karzai's spokesman, had told The Associated Press last week
that Karzai was taking ''extreme care in execution cases.''
''He has been holding on to these cases because he wants to make sure that
the justice is served and the due process is complete. He personally does
not like executions, but Afghan law asks for it, and he will obey the
laws,'' Hamidzada said.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry expressed distress at the executions.
''For the Netherlands, the abolition of the death penalty is one of our
priorities in terms of international human rights policy,'' spokesman Bart
Rijs said. ''We had understood there was a moratorium on the death penalty
in force.''
Rijs said Dutch troops would continue to hand over prisoners because the
Netherlands had signed a memorandum of understanding with Karzai's
government guaranteeing those inmates would not be executed. Rijs said
there were 10 such prisoners and all were believed in good health.
Amnesty International said 6 countries were responsible for 91 % of all
known executions worldwide last year: China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan
and the United States. 18 other countries also carried out executions, the
group said.
USA: Review of 30 years of the use of the death penalty
http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/spring07/home.html
Zimbabwe: Activists Undeterred
ZIMBABWE::
Activists Outmanoeuvred - But Undeterred
Anti-death penalty activists in Zimbabwe are keeping up their campaign,
despite a police clampdown on their meetings and ever-lengthening food
queues, power cuts and the relentless rise in prices of many essential
items.
"It is now very difficult to obtain police clearance to hold gatherings.
Everything we try to do to bring people together is viewed by the police
as a political event," John Chinamurungu, Amnesty International's
chairperson in Zimbabwe, told IPS. "It's very difficult to get campaigns
going."
Amnesty and the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and the
Rehabilitation of Offenders (Zacro) have been co-operating closely to
rally public support for the abolition of the death penalty and to get the
issue on the national political agenda.
Zacro's new engagement follows an opinion article by an official of the
organisation in the state-owned daily, 'The Herald', last January. This
announced the opening of a carefully-scripted Zacro campaign, details of
which were later outlined to IPS by Edson Chiota, the organisation's
national co-ordinator.
The plan included carrying the message of abolition to Zimbabwe's 13
million citizens with the printing and distribution of millions of posters
and pamphlets.
But campaigning has been hit by the speed and scale of the unfolding
economic crisis. In January the year-on-year official inflation rate was
1,600 percent. In September it reached 7,982.1 percent, according to the
government's Central Statistical Office. Unofficially, the rate is said to
be approaching 25,000 percent.
Paper and fuel, essential for a nationwide campaign, are almost impossible
to obtain.
The struggle to exist from day to day is now uppermost on people's minds.
In the capital, Harare, hour-long queues for bread are normal. Earlier
this month, the agriculture ministry announced that the wheat harvest was
2/3 of what was required. Shortly afterwards, the official price of bread
was increased by 300 %.
"There are millions in Zimbabwe who need food assistance," Richard Lee of
the United Nations World Food Programme, said in August. It was estimated
then that some 3.3 million would require the agency's help to survive over
the coming months.
Authorities have responded to any street protest or show of dissent by
rushing in riot police, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
But despite the unfolding catastrophe, Amnesty and Zacro have refused to
be cowed into calling off their sensitisation workshops on the death
penalty.
Amnesty's local vice-chairperson, Francis Mweene, has been a notable
participant, having survived death row. He was sentenced to death in
white-ruled Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known before it gained independence
in 1980.
"It was a big surprise to me that I found myself able to live again It was
because Amnesty Zimbabwe stood for my right to life," he told IPS,
recalling how the organisation's international contacts helped pull him
back from the jaws of death.
"It is through testimonies that I think people can be sensitised and
understand why we are advocating against (the) death (sentence)."
Mweene's leading of the testimonies clearly makes it difficult for the
authorities to step in and ban such meetings. Zimbabwe's president, Robert
Mugabe, led a liberation war against the Ian Smith regime and would
certainly have ended up on death row like Mweene had he been captured.
Alongside these meetings, Amnesty has been issuing T-Shirts emblazoned
with anti-death penalty slogans.
In July, Zacro tried to persuade traditional leaders in the Council of
Chiefs to support its anti-death penalty campaign. The chiefs were holding
their annual meeting in Harare and the northern resort of Victoria Falls.
But politicians were clearly not willing to see this happen. They stepped
in to prevent the death penalty issue being tabled at the meeting,
according to sources.
"We hoped to start with the chiefs and use them as leverage to get this
issue into the House of Assembly and eventually seek out an audience with
the head of state," Chakanyuka told IPS.
The chiefs could have raised the issue in parliament, where they sit by
appointment.
Zacro's focus on the chiefs fitted into the initial thrust of the
campaign, which argued that the death penalty was "alien and contrary to
traditional African concepts of justice and beliefs".
The meeting also showed that opinion among the officially-supported chiefs
was divided on the death penalty issue.
"You should be given a sentence in accordance with your crime. If you
deliberately kill, you should also be killed," Chief Makoni told the
meeting, according to a press report at the time in the privately-owned
'Financial Gazette'.
It has been suggested that the chiefs might have been less than
enthusiastic about being associated with such a controversial issue and
bringing it before Mugabe, for fear of losing their privileges. They are
essentially on the government payroll.
"With the elections coming there is no chance we will be able to talk to
the chiefs again until afterwards," a disappointed Chakanyuka said.
The polls -- presidential, parliamentary and local government -- are
expected to be held in 6 months.
Zacro is now planning to circulate a nation-wide petition calling for
abolition of the death penalty.
"We want to present a petition to President Mugabe since he is the man who
has been vested with all the powers to decide if one should be sent to the
gallows or not," Chakanyuka said.
Mugabe has resisted all calls for the repeal of the death penalty, which
dates back to the colonial era, in his 27 years of rule -- and is unlikely
to change his mind now, in the twilight of his beleaguered regime.
But by campaigning on this issue now and associating the retention of
capital punishment more closely with his name, it may be hoped that one of
the first measures to be adopted by his successors will be the abolition
of the death penalty.
Zacro is also hoping that its campaign will stimulate public interest in
further penal reforms.
The last execution in Zimbabwe was carried out in 2004. Since 1999 seven
people have been executed by hanging, according to Zacro.
(source: Inter Press Service)
Activists Outmanoeuvred - But Undeterred
Anti-death penalty activists in Zimbabwe are keeping up their campaign,
despite a police clampdown on their meetings and ever-lengthening food
queues, power cuts and the relentless rise in prices of many essential
items.
"It is now very difficult to obtain police clearance to hold gatherings.
Everything we try to do to bring people together is viewed by the police
as a political event," John Chinamurungu, Amnesty International's
chairperson in Zimbabwe, told IPS. "It's very difficult to get campaigns
going."
Amnesty and the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and the
Rehabilitation of Offenders (Zacro) have been co-operating closely to
rally public support for the abolition of the death penalty and to get the
issue on the national political agenda.
Zacro's new engagement follows an opinion article by an official of the
organisation in the state-owned daily, 'The Herald', last January. This
announced the opening of a carefully-scripted Zacro campaign, details of
which were later outlined to IPS by Edson Chiota, the organisation's
national co-ordinator.
The plan included carrying the message of abolition to Zimbabwe's 13
million citizens with the printing and distribution of millions of posters
and pamphlets.
But campaigning has been hit by the speed and scale of the unfolding
economic crisis. In January the year-on-year official inflation rate was
1,600 percent. In September it reached 7,982.1 percent, according to the
government's Central Statistical Office. Unofficially, the rate is said to
be approaching 25,000 percent.
Paper and fuel, essential for a nationwide campaign, are almost impossible
to obtain.
The struggle to exist from day to day is now uppermost on people's minds.
In the capital, Harare, hour-long queues for bread are normal. Earlier
this month, the agriculture ministry announced that the wheat harvest was
2/3 of what was required. Shortly afterwards, the official price of bread
was increased by 300 %.
"There are millions in Zimbabwe who need food assistance," Richard Lee of
the United Nations World Food Programme, said in August. It was estimated
then that some 3.3 million would require the agency's help to survive over
the coming months.
Authorities have responded to any street protest or show of dissent by
rushing in riot police, creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
But despite the unfolding catastrophe, Amnesty and Zacro have refused to
be cowed into calling off their sensitisation workshops on the death
penalty.
Amnesty's local vice-chairperson, Francis Mweene, has been a notable
participant, having survived death row. He was sentenced to death in
white-ruled Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known before it gained independence
in 1980.
"It was a big surprise to me that I found myself able to live again It was
because Amnesty Zimbabwe stood for my right to life," he told IPS,
recalling how the organisation's international contacts helped pull him
back from the jaws of death.
"It is through testimonies that I think people can be sensitised and
understand why we are advocating against (the) death (sentence)."
Mweene's leading of the testimonies clearly makes it difficult for the
authorities to step in and ban such meetings. Zimbabwe's president, Robert
Mugabe, led a liberation war against the Ian Smith regime and would
certainly have ended up on death row like Mweene had he been captured.
Alongside these meetings, Amnesty has been issuing T-Shirts emblazoned
with anti-death penalty slogans.
In July, Zacro tried to persuade traditional leaders in the Council of
Chiefs to support its anti-death penalty campaign. The chiefs were holding
their annual meeting in Harare and the northern resort of Victoria Falls.
But politicians were clearly not willing to see this happen. They stepped
in to prevent the death penalty issue being tabled at the meeting,
according to sources.
"We hoped to start with the chiefs and use them as leverage to get this
issue into the House of Assembly and eventually seek out an audience with
the head of state," Chakanyuka told IPS.
The chiefs could have raised the issue in parliament, where they sit by
appointment.
Zacro's focus on the chiefs fitted into the initial thrust of the
campaign, which argued that the death penalty was "alien and contrary to
traditional African concepts of justice and beliefs".
The meeting also showed that opinion among the officially-supported chiefs
was divided on the death penalty issue.
"You should be given a sentence in accordance with your crime. If you
deliberately kill, you should also be killed," Chief Makoni told the
meeting, according to a press report at the time in the privately-owned
'Financial Gazette'.
It has been suggested that the chiefs might have been less than
enthusiastic about being associated with such a controversial issue and
bringing it before Mugabe, for fear of losing their privileges. They are
essentially on the government payroll.
"With the elections coming there is no chance we will be able to talk to
the chiefs again until afterwards," a disappointed Chakanyuka said.
The polls -- presidential, parliamentary and local government -- are
expected to be held in 6 months.
Zacro is now planning to circulate a nation-wide petition calling for
abolition of the death penalty.
"We want to present a petition to President Mugabe since he is the man who
has been vested with all the powers to decide if one should be sent to the
gallows or not," Chakanyuka said.
Mugabe has resisted all calls for the repeal of the death penalty, which
dates back to the colonial era, in his 27 years of rule -- and is unlikely
to change his mind now, in the twilight of his beleaguered regime.
But by campaigning on this issue now and associating the retention of
capital punishment more closely with his name, it may be hoped that one of
the first measures to be adopted by his successors will be the abolition
of the death penalty.
Zacro is also hoping that its campaign will stimulate public interest in
further penal reforms.
The last execution in Zimbabwe was carried out in 2004. Since 1999 seven
people have been executed by hanging, according to Zacro.
(source: Inter Press Service)
Japan: Interview with former death row inmate
Q & A: "Confessions Are Not Always True"----Interview with Sakae Menda,
exonerated death row inmate
Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven industrialised nations
other than the United States to retain capital punishment. And unlike
capital punishment in the U.S., Japan's use of the death penalty is on the
rise.
According to Amnesty International, 102 people are waiting to be hanged in
one of Japan's 7 execution chambers, the largest number in over half a
century.
Thus far, 4 prisoners have been released from death row in Japan after
being proven innocent.
Sakae Menda was the 1st.
In 1948, at the age of 23, Menda was convicted of a double axe murder. The
conviction was based on Menda's confession, extracted after he was held
for 3 weeks in a police station with little sleep, water or food, and no
access to a lawyer.
In 1983, the court finally acknowledged that the police had concealed
Menda's alibi and he was released.
IPS Correspondent Mithre J. Sandrasagra spoke with Menda, now 81, at the
U.N., ahead of a General Assembly vote on a death penalty moratorium
expected in November.
IPS: Confessions carry enormous weight in prosecutions in Japan, and a
reported 99 % of people charged with crimes in Japan are convicted. What
do you think of this system?
SM: We must change the system. We value confessions too much in Japan. We
must value evidence more because confessions in Japan are sometimes things
that judicial authorities make up. Confessions are not always true.
IPS: The police coerced your confession out of you. Could you speak about
this?
SM: They ask leading questions over and over. I couldn't eat at all, they
refused water. This led to the confession.
IPS: Did they have any evidence against you?
SM: There was no evidence at all against me.
IPS: Can you describe the process you had to navigate to get a retrial?
SM: There is no guarantee of a lawyer in Japan. I appealed for retrial on
my own many times. I was rejected several times. The 3rd time, I hired a
lawyer. I had to pay so much. Even this failed.
IPS: Japanese Justice Ministry officials claim that the system of secret
executions is the most humane form of capital punishment. Japanese
officials keep state executions out of public view and shrouded in
secrecy. Not even the condemned prisoners know the day they will die. Can
you describe the mentality of the prisoners on Japan's death row?
SM: My fellow inmates knew that their lives would end there, so they gave
up. Many of them became religious. If they must execute, it would be much
better for them to let prisoners know in advance so that they can prepare
mentally.
IPS: Were you allowed access to psychiatric professionals?
SM: Psychologists were not present. That is not something big in Japan.
IPS: The bodies of many executed prisoners go unclaimed in Japan because
families disassociate themselves from the accused. What became of your
relationship with your family?
SM: I was disowned by my father. I didn't have much contact with any of my
family while I was in prison. There is a big difference among death row
prisoners, between those whose families come and take care of them and
those that do not come at all. It makes a difference to how they get
treated by the officers in the prison. The officers treat those that are
abandoned by their families like they are abandoned by society.
IPS: The Japanese government awarded you compensation for your wrongful
sentencing and incarceration. Has this helped you? Thus far, how have you
found the process of reintegrating into society?
SM: It is not a nationally recognised compensation. I just get money for
the time I spent in prison. As for reintegration, it is the society that
is very cold. Society refuses to accept me. They look at me as an axe
murderer and ex-death row inmate. It is very difficult to reenter society.
IPS: Polls indicate that many people in Japan support the death penalty.
Is there a strong grassroots campaign against the death penalty?
SM: There are movements against the death penalty. They are not very
public and not very big. Amnesty International's work in Japan is the
probably the biggest movement. I have been part of this movement for over
20 years.
IPS: Are there any inklings of change from within the government to change
the system?
SM: Yes. But very, very little.
(source: IPS News)
exonerated death row inmate
Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven industrialised nations
other than the United States to retain capital punishment. And unlike
capital punishment in the U.S., Japan's use of the death penalty is on the
rise.
According to Amnesty International, 102 people are waiting to be hanged in
one of Japan's 7 execution chambers, the largest number in over half a
century.
Thus far, 4 prisoners have been released from death row in Japan after
being proven innocent.
Sakae Menda was the 1st.
In 1948, at the age of 23, Menda was convicted of a double axe murder. The
conviction was based on Menda's confession, extracted after he was held
for 3 weeks in a police station with little sleep, water or food, and no
access to a lawyer.
In 1983, the court finally acknowledged that the police had concealed
Menda's alibi and he was released.
IPS Correspondent Mithre J. Sandrasagra spoke with Menda, now 81, at the
U.N., ahead of a General Assembly vote on a death penalty moratorium
expected in November.
IPS: Confessions carry enormous weight in prosecutions in Japan, and a
reported 99 % of people charged with crimes in Japan are convicted. What
do you think of this system?
SM: We must change the system. We value confessions too much in Japan. We
must value evidence more because confessions in Japan are sometimes things
that judicial authorities make up. Confessions are not always true.
IPS: The police coerced your confession out of you. Could you speak about
this?
SM: They ask leading questions over and over. I couldn't eat at all, they
refused water. This led to the confession.
IPS: Did they have any evidence against you?
SM: There was no evidence at all against me.
IPS: Can you describe the process you had to navigate to get a retrial?
SM: There is no guarantee of a lawyer in Japan. I appealed for retrial on
my own many times. I was rejected several times. The 3rd time, I hired a
lawyer. I had to pay so much. Even this failed.
IPS: Japanese Justice Ministry officials claim that the system of secret
executions is the most humane form of capital punishment. Japanese
officials keep state executions out of public view and shrouded in
secrecy. Not even the condemned prisoners know the day they will die. Can
you describe the mentality of the prisoners on Japan's death row?
SM: My fellow inmates knew that their lives would end there, so they gave
up. Many of them became religious. If they must execute, it would be much
better for them to let prisoners know in advance so that they can prepare
mentally.
IPS: Were you allowed access to psychiatric professionals?
SM: Psychologists were not present. That is not something big in Japan.
IPS: The bodies of many executed prisoners go unclaimed in Japan because
families disassociate themselves from the accused. What became of your
relationship with your family?
SM: I was disowned by my father. I didn't have much contact with any of my
family while I was in prison. There is a big difference among death row
prisoners, between those whose families come and take care of them and
those that do not come at all. It makes a difference to how they get
treated by the officers in the prison. The officers treat those that are
abandoned by their families like they are abandoned by society.
IPS: The Japanese government awarded you compensation for your wrongful
sentencing and incarceration. Has this helped you? Thus far, how have you
found the process of reintegrating into society?
SM: It is not a nationally recognised compensation. I just get money for
the time I spent in prison. As for reintegration, it is the society that
is very cold. Society refuses to accept me. They look at me as an axe
murderer and ex-death row inmate. It is very difficult to reenter society.
IPS: Polls indicate that many people in Japan support the death penalty.
Is there a strong grassroots campaign against the death penalty?
SM: There are movements against the death penalty. They are not very
public and not very big. Amnesty International's work in Japan is the
probably the biggest movement. I have been part of this movement for over
20 years.
IPS: Are there any inklings of change from within the government to change
the system?
SM: Yes. But very, very little.
(source: IPS News)
Japan minister seeks 'peaceful' executions
JAPAN:
Japan minister seeks 'peaceful' executions
Japans justice minister, who has outraged humans rights groups by
proposing systematic executions, today called for a "more peaceful" method
of killing death row inmates than hanging.
Japan, the only major industrial nation other than the United States to
practise the death penalty, executes inmates at prison gallows under its
1907 penal code.
"I fully understand what is prescribed in the penal code, but frankly I
feel that there must be some more peaceful method," said Justice Minister
Kunio Hatoyama, who did not propose any alternatives.
"There should be room for consideration," he added as he answered a
question in parliamentary debate.
Hatoyama, the 59-year-old grandson of a former prime minister, came under
fire a month ago when he suggested death row inmates should be hanged
"automatically" without the usually required approval of the sitting
justice minister, saying it placed an emotional burden on that official.
Instead, Hatoyama said he wanted Japan to implement a little-enforced law
that requires the execution of inmates within 6 months of their final
sentences.
Speaking shortly before he was re-appointed to his job when Yasuo Fukuda
became prime minister in September, Hatoyama said capital punishment was
necessary because "we have been seeing extremely violent, vicious crimes
in recent years."
"It plays a significant role in deterring serious crimes," he said then.
Hatoyama, whose remarks about the systematic executions sparked protests
from some 50 rights and legal groups, has not signed off on any executions
since he took office in August in a cabinet reshuffle by then premier,
Shinzo Abe.
Japan has executed 10 people since it resumed executions last year after
conservative Abe took office.
Up to then, Japan did not have executions for 15 months as the previous
justice minister, Seiken Sugiura, said the death penalty was contrary to
his Buddhist beliefs.
(source: Agence France Presse)
Japan minister seeks 'peaceful' executions
Japans justice minister, who has outraged humans rights groups by
proposing systematic executions, today called for a "more peaceful" method
of killing death row inmates than hanging.
Japan, the only major industrial nation other than the United States to
practise the death penalty, executes inmates at prison gallows under its
1907 penal code.
"I fully understand what is prescribed in the penal code, but frankly I
feel that there must be some more peaceful method," said Justice Minister
Kunio Hatoyama, who did not propose any alternatives.
"There should be room for consideration," he added as he answered a
question in parliamentary debate.
Hatoyama, the 59-year-old grandson of a former prime minister, came under
fire a month ago when he suggested death row inmates should be hanged
"automatically" without the usually required approval of the sitting
justice minister, saying it placed an emotional burden on that official.
Instead, Hatoyama said he wanted Japan to implement a little-enforced law
that requires the execution of inmates within 6 months of their final
sentences.
Speaking shortly before he was re-appointed to his job when Yasuo Fukuda
became prime minister in September, Hatoyama said capital punishment was
necessary because "we have been seeing extremely violent, vicious crimes
in recent years."
"It plays a significant role in deterring serious crimes," he said then.
Hatoyama, whose remarks about the systematic executions sparked protests
from some 50 rights and legal groups, has not signed off on any executions
since he took office in August in a cabinet reshuffle by then premier,
Shinzo Abe.
Japan has executed 10 people since it resumed executions last year after
conservative Abe took office.
Up to then, Japan did not have executions for 15 months as the previous
justice minister, Seiken Sugiura, said the death penalty was contrary to
his Buddhist beliefs.
(source: Agence France Presse)
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