By Helen Jung, The Oregonian

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.

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 »

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We also share their hopes, their fears, their tears and their prayers as they wait to see if the encouraging report of the local panel of the Indonesian Supreme Court is vindicated by the central Jakarta panel so that Scott’s punishment is reduced to a period of imprisonment.

Chris and Lee are in Indonesia supporting Scott as I speak and send their apologies and thanks.

AACP is a small organisation of hard working individuals. If you would like to contribute, contact Don at don.sinnamon@gmail.com or Justine at justine.hampson@gmail.com.

As for ALHR, we are awaiting our AGM to be held next Monday. I have offered to remain president of that organisation for at least another year. The last 12 months has been quite hectic. A significant group of very talented lawyers get through a prodigious amount of hard work, preparing submissions, writing opinion articles and press releases, lobbying and attending various consultations with government agencies and other NGOs. Australia’s performance against its voluntarily accepted human rights obligations is placed carefully under the microscope and practical recommendations for improved performance are made and passed on.

Just watching this work unfold through my inbox is exhausting in itself. Understanding, signing and promulgating many of the products of that work is exhausting indeed. I feel privileged, however, to place my name to these documents and to create the illusion that I have contributed in a substantial way to such excellent work.

There is plenty of room however for more members of ALHR. You are eligible if you are a lawyer, practising or non-practising, judicial officer, or law student. All you have to do is go to the website (Google ALHR) and join online. We did resolve about 8 months ago to charge new members. However, our ancient technology and the difficulties of getting our provider to do exactly what we want have meant that you can still join free. And there is no annual membership even in theory at this stage. I am obsessed with getting the membership numbers above two thousand so joining does not mean that you have to commit yourself to anything more than receiving my discursive emails every now and again.

There is also room for active members. If you want to join and work on a submission or some other important work, I will do my darndest to facilitate you achieving that.

We are here to watch the movie. I am told it is a good movie. I am told that it will give the hard bitten activists and lawyers who have grown cynical with our experiences over the years a fresh burst of energy and idealism. So I intend to let the movie do most of my talking.

I just want to say this. I am glad that the Security Council decided, only just before it was too late, to act in Libya. I feared another great betrayal. I feared that another Rwanda or Srebrenitsa was about to occur while the world twiddled its thumbs.

Bombing for democracy is a strange call to action but I think it is justified in the present circumstances. Whatever happens, it is important that high standards are to be maintained. It is important that, if the chance arises, that Gaddafi is called to account for any crimes against humanity for which he is responsible. Any calling to account must be of the highest standards. No unfair local process like that faced by Saddam in Iraq. The death penalty must not be an option in any trial that ensues. Any trial should occur in an international tribunal with the highest standards of fairness, objectivity and proper provision for the judges, prosecutors and defence counsel to be able to carry out their work without fear and in safety.

The Nuremberg principle, that heads of state and high officials, are responsible and accountable for their high crimes, often gets puts aside in international diplomacy and domestic politics in favour of self-interest so as not to offend a future ally or a future vote on some other issue. It is however the default principle.

It was comforting to see countries which eschew the International Court of Justice for their own nationals rush to claim it for Mr. Gadhafi when his support was falling away. It does not matter that he is vulnerable to such action as a once and future pariah. The important thing is that, every time the Nuremberg principles are endorsed and acted upon, they become stronger and more difficult to avoid in the future on grounds of unprincipled convenience. We should continue to insist that everyone is made accountable for their serious crimes against humanity and serious war crimes.

That is the end of my little preach. Have a great night. Thanks for coming. Thank you to the team from both organisations that worked so hard to put this together in a short time.

Thanks everybody.

Stephen Keim

Palace Barracks

22 March 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.

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