Oregon’s Governor halts execution calling the death penalty morally wrong and unjustly administered
Gov. John Kitzhaber stops executions in Oregon, calls system ‘compromised and inequitable’
SALEM — Gov. John Kitzhaber announced today he will not allow the execution of Gary Haugen — or any death row inmate — to take place while he is in office.
The death penalty is morally wrong and unjustly administered, Kitzhaber said.
“In my mind it is a perversion of justice,” he said at an emotional news conference in Salem.
The governor cited his constitutional authority to grant a temporary reprieve for Haugen, in effect canceling the planned Dec. 6 lethal injection of the twice-convicted murderer. Haugen waived his legal appeals and has been preparing for the execution, which would have been Oregon’s first in 14 years.
Full story here.
World Day Against the Death Penalty Dinner
On May 10, Australian Scott Rush’s death sentence was repealed and
Scott was sentenced to life imprisonment while the death sentences of
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were upheld. Although the news
of Scott repealed death sentence is a minor triumph for human rights, the
death penalty remains a haunting reality for others of the Bali Nine and
for the global community.
It is with this sentiment in mind that AACP and ALHR warmly invite you to
this year’s dinner in commemoration of the 9th World Day Against the
Death Penalty, this year themed “The Inhumanity of the Death Penalty”.
The Day is recognised globally as a reminder of the inhumanity of the
death penalty throughout the entire process, from sentence to execution.
We are delighted to announce that our guest speakers include Julian
Burnside QC and Lee and Christine Rush, with Stephen Keim SC as
MC.
We hope you can join us to mark this important human rights event.
Details
Date: 14 October 2011
Time: 7:00pm for a 7:30pm start
Venue: Broncos League Club,
98 Fulcher Road
Red Hill Qld 4054
Cost: $80 adult, $70 student/conc.
$70 pp for group (table of 10)
Booking: http://www.stickytickets.com.au/6304
RSVP: Friday, 7 October 2011
Enquiries: Please contact Elisa at
elisa.petranich@uqconnect.edu.au
for all enquiries
Stop the Execution of Mark Stroman – from Amnesty International
Mark Stroman is scheduled to be executed on July 20 for killing Indian immigrant Vasudev Patel in a series of shootings of people he believed to be Middle Eastern after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
One of his intended victims, Rais Bhuiyan, survived and opposes the execution.
Join Rais in taking a stand against the perpetuation of the cycle of violence by taking action to stop the execution. Read More »
Chan holding up after failed appeal – from the ABC
By Helen Brown in Bali and staff
Friends of Bali Nine inmate Andrew Chan say he is holding up well after learning his bid for a reprieve from the death penalty has been rejected.
Chan’s girlfriend was one of several shocked visitors to see the Australian this morning.
Chan has been on death row in Bali’s Kerobokan jail for more than five years now.
His girlfriend was too distressed to talk, but Melbourne-based friend Sally Warhaft, who spent three hours with him in the prison’s cramped visitor’s facility, says Chan’s biggest concern is for his family.
“I know his parents and I know how incredibly painful [it is] for Andrew… what they’re going through,” she said.
Full story here.
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd’s Statement on Scott Rush
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP
Statement on Indulgence – Mr Scott Rush
I wish to inform the House that our Ambassador in Indonesia has informed me that the Indonesian Supreme Court has today accepted Scott Rush’s appeal against his death sentence and have instead sentenced him to life.
Australians will greet this decision with relief.
The Australian Government welcomes this decision by the Supreme Court.
It is a bipartisan policy in this country that we oppose the death penalty.
The Government remains in close touch with Mr Rush and his family.
Mr Rush’s parents have been informed.
As parents, they have shouldered a heavy burden over these years of waiting.
There are of course another two Australians on death row in Indonesia and Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran have also lodged judicial appeals against their death sentences.
We will continue to provide consular support to both men and their families.
Madam Deputy Speaker, having spoken to the Rush family who come from Brisbane, on a number of occasions over the last period of time, I’m sure the family will welcome this decision with great relief.
Scott Rush’s sentence commuted to life in prison
Australians Against Capital Punishment welcome this decision of the Indonesia Supreme Court.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone involved in the campaign during the past years.
From the ABC -
Scott Rush escapes death penalty
By Indonesia correspondent Matt Brown, wires
Bali Nine drug smuggler Scott Rush has been spared the death penalty by a court in Indonesia.
Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed the decision in Parliament, saying Rush’s appeal against the death sentence had been successful.
Three Supreme Court judges reviewed the case and cut the death penalty back to life in prison.
Rush, 24, had been facing the death penalty for his part in a 2005 plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia.
It is understood the Supreme Court has granted his appeal on the basis that he had shown remorse for his actions, while also citing his age at the time as a mitigating factor.
Full story here.
US Court overrules a death sentence as “unconstitutional” – listen online at Democracy Now!
Court Rules Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Death Sentence is Unconstitutional, Grants New Sentencing Hearing
The case of Pennsylvania death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal took a surprising turn Tuesday when the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously declared his death sentence unconstitutional. It is the second time the court has agreed with a lower court judge who set aside Abu-Jamal’s death sentence after finding jurors were given confusing instructions that encouraged them to choose death rather than a life sentence. Now Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther and journalist, could get a new sentencing hearing in court. We speak with his co-counsel, Judith Ritter, and Linn Washington, an award-winning journalist who has followed Abu-Jamal’s case for almost three decades. [includes rush transcript]
Full story and audio here.
Stephen Keim’s speech at AACP/ALHR screening of “Conviction”
Let me welcome you here on behalf of both Australians Against Capital Punishment and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights. This joint function builds on the very successful David Marr dinner that we held last year. I see a number of faces from last year’s function and a number of new faces. In both cases, your support for the very important causes pursued by each organisation does wonders for us both logistically and in terms of morale.
A number of you will be aware that AACP was founded largely through the efforts of Chris and Lee Rush. The arrest of their son, Scott, in Indonesia, and Scott’s subsequent trial, appeal and imposition of the death penalty, of course, raised their consciousness of the inhumanity and injustice of capital punishment as a tool of the law.
What is impressive and singular about Lee and Chris’s reaction is that have not restricted their efforts to trying to save the life of their son but have campaigned strenuously through AACP against capital punishment everywhere and at all times. We share their campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
America Losing The Urge To Kill – from The Age
Simon Mann, Washington
February 12, 2011
Last year, 46 people were executed in America, less than half the number in 1999, the peak year since the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.
”The death penalty is putting millions [of dollars] into getting one execution per state per year, if that,” says Richard Dieter, of the Death Penalty Information Centre. ”It’s just totally symbolic, totally political and that’s an expensive thing to keep operating just because it plays well in sound bites.”
Full story here.
“The Condemned” – SBS Dateline, Sunday November 14th
On Sunday’s Dateline, two of the Bali Nine speak publicly for the first time… just days ahead of final hearings on whether their death sentences for drug trafficking will be carried out.
Mark Davis has gained exclusive access to Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan in the ‘death tower’ at Indonesia’s Kerobokan Prison.
They talk openly about their lives then and now, what they think of their crimes, and the prospect of facing death by firing squad.
Mark also hears first-hand of the heartache for their families back in Australia, as they wait to hear if their pleas for clemency will be granted.
WATCH – See this special edition of Dateline on Sunday at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.
LIVE CHAT – Mark Davis will be online after Sunday’s program to answer questions about his story. Click here to find out how to take part in our live chat.
For more information, go to the Dateline homepage, or tune in on Sunday at 8.30pm
