Togo: Fifteenth country in Africa to abolish the death penalty
23 June 2009
Togo today decided to abolish the death penalty following a unanimous vote by the national assembly.
Togo has thereby become the 15th member of the African Union and the 94th country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
“This country has chosen to establish a healthy justice system that limits judicial errors…and guarantees the inherent rights of the individual,” said Justice Minister Kokou Tozoun when the cabinet first adopted the abolition bill on 10 December 2008. “This (new) system is no longer compatible with a penal code that maintains the death penalty and grants the judiciary absolute power with irrevocable consequences.”
Togo stopped applying the death penalty more than three decades ago. The last executions of people sentenced to death date back to 1978 and the last death sentence was handed down in 2003.
Through today’s vote, Togolese members of parliament have reinforced the trend towards abolishing the death penalty in Africa.
Burundi adopted a new penal code in April 2009 which abolished the death penalty from the legislation. Several other countries, notably Mali, are reviewing their legislation and considering the possibility of removing any recourse to the death penalty.
Original story here.
Executions to Resume After Presidential Elections (Indonesia)
Attorney General Marks Four for Date with Firing Squad from Among 111 Now Sitting on Death Row.
(6/1/2009) NusaBali reports that Indonesia’s Attorney General has identified 4 among the 111 people sitting on death row in Indonesia for execution shortly after the coming presidential elections to be held in July 2009.
While not specifically naming those next to be placed before a firing squad, the Deputy Attorney General for General Crimes from the Attorney General’s office, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, confirmed that the date of the four deaths will happen sometime after the presidential poll.
Justice Delayed: Nine Death Row Inmates Lost Appeals Due to Late Filings By Counsel
Jonathon Turley writes about nine recent death penalty cases in Texas where appeals were lost due to the tardiness of lawyers, and in one case where a judge ordered the clerk’s office to close early when a last-minute appeal on a death penalty case was in the offing.
Read more here…
The Cutting Edge on SBS tonight 8.30 (Tuesday 19th Feb)
The Cutting Edge tonight will feature an interview with Scott Rush, one of the young Australians facing the death penalty in Indonesia.
Indonesia: Corruption and death penalty a risky mix, say experts
Indonesian human rights activists have joined the chorus of those condemning a ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court, in favour of the death penalty for serious crimes.
Usman Hamid, executive director of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), also warned that capital punishment is particularly risky in Indonesia, where the courts are ridden with corruption and, at times, politicking takes precedence over thorough investigations.
Kontras, one of the country’s leading rights groups, has spearheaded the campaign to have a moratorium on executions in Indonesia.
Death penalty foes try new bid for UN resolution
Diplomats say more than 70 countries opposed to the death penalty have launched a fresh bid to have the UN General Assembly pass a resolution urging an end to the practice.
Two previous similar attempts failed, due partly to opposition from the US, where many states still perform executions. This time, the text stops short of an outright demand for immediate abolition.
Instead, a draft presented to the assembly’s human rights committee calls on countries that put criminals to death to “establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”
Drug mule’s parents say death never the answer
LEE and Christine Rush are the first to acknowledge the grief suffered by the families of the Australians killed in Kuta in 2002.
But the couple, whose 21-year-old son Scott has been sentenced to death by firing squad in Bali for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia, insist that it is never a bad time to speak out about the death penalty — bombing anniversary or not.
Mrs Rush described it as “extremely unfortunate” that the debate about the death penalty had turned into a “debacle” this week after Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Robert McClelland was widely criticised for pledging consistency in a Labor government’s opposition to capital punishment — whether for foreign terrorists or Australian drug smugglers.
Death stance is hypocritical – Tim Costello
Like Van Tuong Nguyen – executed in Singapore last year for drug trafficking – Scott is young, admits he was naive and wrong and reflects deeply on his stupid mistake. A fatal mistake.
I oppose the death penalty. And I believe that such opposition must be consistent and not selective.
