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Iran: A Prisoner Executed Before His Trial Ends

Iran: A Prisoner Executed Before His Trial Ends

Medieval and barbaric punishments NCRI - A death row prisoner was executed in Qazvin last week while his family says his case was still unde...

4:02 AM

Shoot drug lords, dealers and users, Indonesia's anti-drug chief says

Shoot drug lords, dealers and users, Indonesia's anti-drug chief says

President Joko Widodo (center) checks a package of confiscated drugs. National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso threatene...

3:24 AM

Kuwait sentences parents to death for torturing, killing toddler

Kuwait sentences parents to death for torturing, killing toddler

Triple execution in Kuwait on April 1, 2013 Kuwait's interior ministry says the parents were drug addicts A court in Kuwait on Monday, J...

2:14 AM

Youths among dead as Philippine gunmen kill seven in 'drugs den'

Youths among dead as Philippine gunmen kill seven in 'drugs den'

"Since Duterte entered office in June, more than 5,000 people have been killed in his war on drugs, some 2,000 at the hands of the poli...

2:34 AM

Philippines leader Duterte faces investigation over killings claim

Philippines leader Duterte faces investigation over killings claim

President Rodrigo Duterte The Philippines independent human rights watchdog has said it will investigate claims by President Rodrigo Duterte...

1:27 AM

Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016

<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7PVPcKXWdiBk2aCILt2E2edJA8KO5Rl2_mJ1xlwL6fQ50a64w5CvM91AoXNDXiBRymdPZWjaPvy9nZc2iKrh6IWHWFZ4kJM-S7NGjJMSoNo-oBTJHcmCbYK4TseIaPWlgalMfxBp8Pc/s1600/Iran+The+Execution+Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The execution line - Iran" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7PVPcKXWdiBk2aCILt2E2edJA8KO5Rl2_mJ1xlwL6fQ50a64w5CvM91AoXNDXiBRymdPZWjaPvy9nZc2iKrh6IWHWFZ4kJM-S7NGjJMSoNo-oBTJHcmCbYK4TseIaPWlgalMfxBp8Pc/s400/Iran+The+Execution+Line.jpg" title="The execution line - Iran" width="400" /></a></div>Global executions in 2016 - Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016, research by international human rights group Reprieve has found.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Saudi Arabia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/18/at-least-150-people-executed-in-saudi-arabia-for-second-year-in-row" target="_blank">over 150 people were executed</a> for the second year running, including 47 people in one day in January 2016. Among those killed were juveniles and political protestors. Fears remain for the fate of at least three people sentenced to death as children – Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher – who still await beheading.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Pakistan, the authorities continued to execute scores of prisoners from the country’s 8,000-strong death row. A total of 419 prisoners have been hanged since a moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in December 2014. Concerns remained over the strong risk of miscarriages of justice in Pakistan: earlier this year, the Supreme Court found that <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/pakistan-acquits-two-hanged-men-insane-man-faces-execution/" target="_blank">two men who had been hanged were innocent</a>. Pakistan’s government claims its use of the death penalty is a response to terrorism, but Reprieve’s research found that <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/94-hangings-pakistan-not-terrorism-cases-new-figures/" target="_blank">94% of prisoners recently hanged in Pakistan had nothing to do with terrorism</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Iran, the government continued to hang hundreds of prisoners, nearly half of whom who were arrested for alleged drug offences. Reprieve continued to raise concerns that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/eu-funding-could-be-linked-to-mass-executions-in-iran-a7453041.html" target="_blank">international funding for Iran’s anti-narcotics police may contribute to death sentences</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China continues to keep the number of executions a closely-guarded secret, but is widely believed to remain the world leader, with the death toll estimated in the thousands. The UK this year signed an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/china-uk-high-level-security-dialogue-official-statement/china-uk-high-level-security-dialogue-communique" target="_blank">agreement</a> to increase cooperation with China on security and crime, leading to potential risks that British assistance could contribute to the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Other countries of concern</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The torture and sentencing to death of political protestors, and juveniles, continued apace in several countries with close ties to the UK.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of particular concern are Bahrain – where several protestors await execution on the basis of forced ‘confessions’ – and Egypt. Reprieve has established that in the last three years, <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/egypt-death-sentences-near-2000-amid-fears-irish-student/" target="_blank">the Egyptian judiciary has sentenced 1,857 to death</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition, 2016 saw alarming proposals in Kuwait to <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016_11_16_INT-Letter-to-PM-Theresa-May-about-GCC-summit-as-sent.pdf">lower to 16 the age at which people can be sentenced to death</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Commenting, Maya Foa, a director of Reprieve, said:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is alarming that countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016. From Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, to Pakistan, Egypt and Bahrain, we have found children on death row, innocent people hanged, drugs offences dealt with as capital crimes, and torture used to extract false confessions. Countries that oppose executions must do more in 2017 to ensure that their overseas security assistance does not contribute to others states use of the death penalty.”<br /><br /><h3>#1 - China. Executed: Unknown (Est. +1,000)</h3>The number of executions is a state secret, and the executions reported in the media are likely to be a fraction of those that are carried out. China continues to execute more people than any other country in the world.<br /><br /><h3>#2 - Iran. Executed: 534+</h3>The actual number of executions is likely to be higher in Iran, given the government’s underreporting of executions and the holding of secret executions. Reprieve’s research shows that at least 211 of the hangings that took place in 2016 were for drugs offences, in violation of international law.<br /><br /><h3>#3 - Saudi Arabia. Executed: 154</h3>This execution total is close to last year’s record high of 158. Among those executed this year were at least 4 juveniles who were killed as part of a mass execution of 47 people in January. One of them, Ali al-Ribh, was arrested in school, tortured into a false ‘confession’ to protest-related charges, and executed.<br /><br /><h3>#4 - Iraq. Executed: 101+</h3>Ongoing armed conflict makes it impossible to obtain exact figures for Iraq, but Reprieve was able to establish that at least 101 executions took place in 2016. However, based on unconfirmed media reports, the real figure may be more than double this total.<br /><br /><h3>#5 - Pakistan. Executed: 87</h3>According to figures gathered by Reprieve, there had been 87 executions in 2016 as of December 6. This was a decrease since 2015, which saw Pakistan embark on an unprecedented execution spree, and leapfrog Saudi Arabia to become the world’s third most prolific executioner. The country lifted a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians in December 2014.<br /><br /><h3>#6 - USA. Executed: 20</h3>The most prolific executioner <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/" target="_blank">among US states</a> was Georgia, which executed 9 people this year. Execution numbers fell to a record low amid growing concerns about the effectiveness of capital punishment. 2016 saw public support for the death penalty fall to under 50%, death sentences drop to a record low and every FDA-approved pharmaceutical company oppose the misuse of medicines in lethal injections, causing many states to put executions on hold.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Figures correct as of 20th December 2016.</i><br /><i><br /></i>➫ For Your Information:<b> </b>Upon reading the above article, Alan Shadrake, author of "<a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/07/once-jolly-hangman-singapore-justice-in.html" target="_blank">Once a Jolly Hangman, Singapore Justice in the Dock</a>", contacted Death Penalty News on December 23, and submitted the following comment: "They forgot to mention Singapore!"<br /><br />Source: Reprieve, December 23, 2016. Reprieve is an international human rights organization.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016

Global executions in 2016 - Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific execution...

6:27 AM

Expanding number of Australians potentially facing execution for drug smuggling in Asian countries

Expanding number of Australians potentially facing execution for drug smuggling in Asian countries

Screenshot from " Return to Paradise " by Joseph Ruben, 1998 Death by firing squad, hanging or lethal injection are the possible f...

3:26 AM

Saudi executions pass 150 this year, nearing 2015 total

Saudi executions pass 150 this year, nearing 2015 total

Public execution in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has executed at least 153 people this year, nearing last year's record high of 158, accor...

2:37 AM

Iran: Seven Hanged on Drug Charges

Iran: Seven Hanged on Drug Charges

Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments Six prisoners were executed for drug charges in Karaj (west of Tehran) Thursday morning Dcember 15. ...

1:06 AM

Artist Ben Quilty on his Bali Nine friend and student Myuran Sukumaran

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9TmpnfhTDGmO72WvIGIpMddgcZp0TzYaHJdMSKYdTfrYsRUnnvv6gLR0kZD0hoIl4Y96kb5oMEMatSH9cQVj8bkNGPXBJg7E5SrXeg7CKe4tdDZEKZyeWAPTLXudMbi3PlAvR_iKBXU/s1600/Australian+artist+Ben+Quilty+teaches+Sukumaran+to+paint+in+Kerobokan+Prison-+Photo+by+Jason+Childs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Myuran Sukumaran (left) and Ben Quilty in Kerobokan's art workshop" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF9TmpnfhTDGmO72WvIGIpMddgcZp0TzYaHJdMSKYdTfrYsRUnnvv6gLR0kZD0hoIl4Y96kb5oMEMatSH9cQVj8bkNGPXBJg7E5SrXeg7CKe4tdDZEKZyeWAPTLXudMbi3PlAvR_iKBXU/s400/Australian+artist+Ben+Quilty+teaches+Sukumaran+to+paint+in+Kerobokan+Prison-+Photo+by+Jason+Childs.jpg" title="Myuran Sukumaran (left) and Ben Quilty in Kerobokan's art workshop" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Myuran Sukumaran (left) and Ben Quilty in Kerobokan prison's art workshop</td></tr></tbody></table>On November 10, 2012, three days after Julia Gillard flew to Bali to chair a democracy forum with her Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Mary Farrow went on Facebook to send a message to the Australian artist Ben Quilty. Farrow was a supporter of Myuran Sukumaran, the Bali Nine drug smuggler who had applied for presidential clemency four months earlier. Sukumaran, then 31, was facing death. His application said he had been “working to better himself” behind bars.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Farrow didn’t know Quilty personally, but had seen his Archibald Prize-winning portrait of Margaret Olley and thought she’d try her luck. So she explained how Sukumaran had taken up painting at Indonesia’s Kerobokan Prison, and how it was the “challenge of a lifetime”. He was going to enter a portrait of his lawyer, Julian McMahon, into the Archibald, even though he wouldn’t be eligible because he hadn’t lived in Australia during the previous 12 months. He had, of course, been locked up in Kerobokan since his arrest in 2005. Sukumaran had found “peace and salvation” in art, Fallow said, but he needed some “constructive advice”. “Could that be you or someone you know?”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few days later, Quilty sent a message back: “I will help.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Were it not for the Bali Nine, Quilty may never have travelled to Bali. Based in the NSW southern highlands, his adventures abroad tend to follow a certain pattern. In 2003, he travelled to Paris after winning the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. In 2007, he spent four months in Spain on an Australia Council residency. Four years later he found himself working in Afghanistan, an official war artist for the Australian War Memorial. And earlier this year he joined Richard Flanagan in Lebanon, Greece and Serbia, documenting the exodus of Syrian refugees. But Bali? It wasn’t his thing. “It’s not for me to go to a Third World country and get massages,” Quilty says. “Never has been.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That Facebook message, though, had made Quilty curious. Like so many others in Australia, he had followed the case of the Bali Nine as it played out in front of the cameras. The fate of the nine young Australians had seemed inevitable from the moment of their arrest in April 2005, trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia. Denpansar judges handed down their sentences less than a year later. While seven of the nine were ordered to spend the rest of their lives behind bars, a harsher sentence awaited the pair seen to have leadership roles: death by firing squad for Sukumaran, the “enforcer”, along with his friend, the “godfather” Andrew Chan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Quilty, there was something else that caught his attention. It’s common for artists who have achieved success to be pestered for advice, and he usually recommends a combination of hard work and art school. In this instance, though, there were encouraging signs. Sukumaran was also especially hungry to learn. He was interested in “thick paint”, and this resonated with Quilty, himself an impasto specialist.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“That’s why I engaged,” he says. “The questions he asked very clearly showed that he’d made some progress and that he’d tried, and I thought it was just so remarkable that someone in that circumstance was trying. It was also against the notion that I had of him. I’d only heard the press of him being this evil monster, the enforcer. So I just decided to go there and meet him.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 18 months have now passed since Sukumaran’s execution, and Quilty still stirs with passion and anger about the loss of his friend. As he looks back on those transformative years, recalling all the highs and the terrible lows, there’s also a distinct sense of admiration for Sukumaran’s achievements and character — especially now, on the eve of a new exhibition in Sydney dedicated to the work of a man who entered prison as a criminal and left it as an artist. “It’s a refuge,” Quilty says. “For me, that’s what art is.”</div><b><br /></b><b>➤ <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/artist-ben-quilty-on-his-bali-nine-friend-and-student-myuran-sukumaran/news-story/a27f9bef7742102aff621dc28df40d26" target="_blank">Click here to read the full article</a></b><br /><br />Source: The Australian, Ashley Wilson, December 17, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Artist Ben Quilty on his Bali Nine friend and student Myuran Sukumaran

Myuran Sukumaran (left) and Ben Quilty in Kerobokan prison's art workshop On November 10, 2012, three days after Julia Gillard flew to B...

4:36 AM

Philippines: 'Death penalty backers banking on emotions, not facts'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEL62K-BuEp1bZPo62x1t8jI8O9YNwke0VU3JRCc8psG91jNVlCQJniAGj6urzSCfgQa1cFF3U_MGtpUibop52zVI1sqJspQ9-_XpQ6r4XjpvwZjvmecucctZY-GHl3XA_dU2zWAx-Fo/s1600/A+victim+of+summary+execution+PHILIPPINES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Philippines: Extrajudicial killings of alleged trug traffickers are soaring" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEL62K-BuEp1bZPo62x1t8jI8O9YNwke0VU3JRCc8psG91jNVlCQJniAGj6urzSCfgQa1cFF3U_MGtpUibop52zVI1sqJspQ9-_XpQ6r4XjpvwZjvmecucctZY-GHl3XA_dU2zWAx-Fo/s400/A+victim+of+summary+execution+PHILIPPINES.jpg" title="Philippines: Extrajudicial killings of alleged trug traffickers are soaring" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philippines: Extrajudicial killings of alleged trug traffickers are soaring</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">A human rights activist said those in favor of death penalty is banking on the emotions of victims of crimes to justify the push to reinstate death penalty in the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking on ANC, Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch said there is not enough factual evidence to show that death penalty can prevent crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're still waiting for statistics for the proponents of the bill to show to us, for instance, that there's an upsurge of crime fueled by drug use, which is the usual argument by those who are pushing for this bill but we haven't seen any significant data or statistics that would convincingly show that," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is also the reason why backers of death penalty bills are banking on people's emotions instead to gain support for their cause.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This is why the proponents of death penalty are making this a very emotional issue, citing, for instance, cases of crime supposedly related to drug use or heinous crimes supposedly related to drug use but they haven't shown data that would support the assertion that death penalty is a deterrent to crime," Conde said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The death penalty is a highly-charged political issue that legislators and politicians often latch on to as their advocacy because it's a very popular issue. People respond to the death penalty with this very highly emotional response," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to Conde, the death penalty is a very popular issue because of President Rodrigo Duterte.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This push for the death penalty arises from the popularity of President Rodrigo Duterte; so as long as he's extremely popular, we expect politicians and lawmakers to follow his lead," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Conde admitted that it will be difficult for those who are against death penalty to convince pro-death penalty lawmakers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If there is enough groundswell of dissent against these death penalty proposals in Congress, certainly all those people who did not vote for President Duterte could make a dent in the argument against death penalty, but you know, the death penalty is not a very popular issue among advocates," he said. "It would take a lot of work, to be honest, for those against the death penalty, to sway the legislators to not push this bill," Conde added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">DETERRENCE</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) spokesperson Arsenio Evangelista reiterated that the death penalty will prevent crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It will deter. For us, it is the biggest weapon now for crime prevention, deterrence. When it comes to data, pro-life is saying that it is not a deterrent. It is a deterrent on a very high percentage," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Precisely, the absence of death penalty will increase extra-judicial killings because for us, death penalty is a retribution for acts being done to victims... The certainty of death will create fear among would-be criminals," Arsenio added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last week, the proposal to reimpose the death penalty has advanced to the plenary of the Lower House, 10 years after it was abolished.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Voting 12-6-1, the House justice committee approved the committee report of the substitute bill of the bills restoring the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The vote of the mother committee came after an earlier vote of 12-5 adopting the subcommittee report of the same.</div><br />Source: ABS-CBN news, December 14, 2016<br /><br /><h2>Drop plans to expand death penalty, bishops ask Philippines</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Catholic prayer and protests greeted proposals to expand the use of the death penalty in the Philippines, with the move drawing outspoken opposition from the country's bishops.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Christ died for the criminals and the victims. The love of God is for all. Our love should be like God's love. For all," said Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan at a Dec. 12 prayer rally in San Carlos City.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are not protesting without a solution. We are protesting with an alternative. Reform the criminal justice system," he added. "If there's a death penalty but the criminal justice system is corrupt, slow and 1-sided, rapist and plunderer, and (drug) pusher and killer will remain confident."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2006 the country abolished the death penalty for crimes involving drugs, rape and arson. Now, President Rodrigo Duterte and his supporters have sought to reinstate capital punishment for such crimes, citing rising crime rates and drug use.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYWpnpaTO1CmdF0RbnR580AWSGiQ55jM2jnn3hD-ltSOXPpKzqJ8BQpayMGvIZxJe2cqONDnwtAydncf4Jken41KnoHm0ZkdghRSQOuquagm0FpldRmKWkPUASxi1kD9oWeyMc-eGcQw/s1600/Rodrigo+Duterte+in+Jakarta%2527s+State+Palace+9+SEPT+2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="President Rodrigo Duterte" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYWpnpaTO1CmdF0RbnR580AWSGiQ55jM2jnn3hD-ltSOXPpKzqJ8BQpayMGvIZxJe2cqONDnwtAydncf4Jken41KnoHm0ZkdghRSQOuquagm0FpldRmKWkPUASxi1kD9oWeyMc-eGcQw/s400/Rodrigo+Duterte+in+Jakarta%2527s+State+Palace+9+SEPT+2016.jpg" title="President Rodrigo Duterte" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Rodrigo Duterte</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Archbishop Villegas, however, said that the courts can make mistakes, and there is no way to correct a mistake after a prisoner is executed. He said the death penalty is "a lazy form of penalty" that does not help reform "those who made mistakes."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since July 1, when the new president took office, more than 2,000 people have died in police operations against illicit drugs, Reuters reports. Those killed are mainly street level drug dealers, accused by police of resisting arrest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the same time frame, another 3,000 people have been killed by masked men and vigilantes on motorcycles. President Duterte has denied claims of extrajudicial killings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Senators have reported that they have no clear proof the killings are linked to state-sponsored actions. They have told the president to observe due process for the accused.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila and the Manila archdiocese's presbyteral council urged a prayer against the death penalty to be recited at all Sunday Masses in the archdiocese Sunday Dec. 8.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Father, source and giver of life, we lift our hearts and voices to you. Help us to build a society that truly chooses life in all situations," began the prayer, with the response "Lord, heal our pain."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prayer was on behalf of victims, perpetrators and society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There is in our land a cry for vengeance and a move to fill up death rows and kill offenders but disguised as a call for justice," the prayer continued. "Let true and lasting justice spring forth."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prayer petitioned that Jesus, who suffered execution at the hands of the powerful, help Christians "reach out to victims of violence so that our enduring love may help heal their wounds."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A separate proposal in the Philippines would lower the age of criminal liability to 9 years old from 12. The bishops have warned this could escalate violence related to anti-drug campaigns.</div><br />Source: Catholic News Agency, December 14, 2016<br /><br /><h2>Death penalty debate set early 2017</h2><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">House Deputy Speaker Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro yesterday said the discussions on the bill to reinstate death penalty, a priority legislative measure of President Duterte, will be moved to early next year, so that congressmen would have a thorough plenary debate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a radio interview, Castro said he was responsible for moving back the bill's discussion on the floor because he wanted to prepare to defend it at the plenary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Castro is one of the principal authors of House Bill No. 1, which seeks to reimpose capital punishment for heinous crimes after it was abolished by then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We have to let people know, make them understand and study this measure because at first glance, you could say you don't want this bill because life should be respected. This is a reason that is based on one's belief in God and what they call human rights," Castro said in Filipino.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's funny because our people might again be misled. This is why I myself said I want to prepare for the debate because I will be the one to stand at the plenary. I will be the one to fight for this bill ... there would be very good interpellators who are now saying they have not made up their mind whether or not they would support this bill," Castro said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said the measure could be passed in the Lower House if there would be daily plenary debates on it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Castro also said he informed House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Farinas, his coauthors, that the proposal should not single out drug dealing and drug use.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Castro said if he had his way, he would add more crimes that are as heinous as the use and sale of illegal drugs to be punishable by death - crimes such as illegal recruitment, plunder, economic sabotage and human trafficking, including the ones conducted via cyberspace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are 21 heinous crimes proposed to be punishable by death in the bill approved by the House justice committee - a number which Castro still considers "too small."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the "heinous crimes" included in House Bill No. 1 are treason, qualified piracy, qualified bribery, parricide, murder, infanticide, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with violence, destructive arson, plunder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It also includes dangerous drug importation, sale and trading, manufacture, possession, cultivation and unlawful prescription, misappropriating confiscated illegal drugs and planting of evidence by public officers, and car theft.</div><br />Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net, December 14, 2016<br /><br /><h2>Ifugao solon joins anti death penalty law advocates</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat has urged the public to add their voice to the growing chorus calling for a stop to hasty moves in Congress to reimpose the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Commission on Human Rights as well as the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines have already taken a firm stance against the death penalty with the CBCP saying that the abolition of the death penalty by the 1986 Constitution was "a very big step towards a practical recognition of the dignity of every human being created to the image and likeness of God, and the value of human life from its conception to its natural end."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Baguilat added reimposing the death penalty would mean a backward step without moral necessity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Indeed the Constitution says that there must be a compelling reason to reimpose the death penalty and there is none today," said Baguilat, a member of the legitimate opposition bloc in Congress known as the "Magnificent 7".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Ifugao solon reiterated his stand as the House majority led by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez remained resolute in its stance to immediately pass a law that will bring back the death penalty, ostensibly as part of the campaign against illegal drugs and criminality. Baguilat had said the plan to railroad the passage of the death penalty was a grave cause for concern considering that it had already been established that having a death penalty would not deter the proliferation of crime. "It is not a deterrent. There is no reliable and credible data to show that it is," said Baguilat. "That is why I am again appealing to my colleagues in Congress to not rush into passing such a bill and instead allow extensive and intelligent discussion."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Cordilleran lawmaker also said the better move is to strengthen the justice system to make sure that justice is served quickly and that the real criminals will go to jail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"As it is, everybody is saying that the justice system is flawed. That means what we need is more reform to avoid wrongful convictions. Without reforms, what will happen is that the poor will again bear the consequence of the weakness and inconsistency in the application of the criminal justice system. We need to strengthen that first to make a more lasting impact on criminality. I have never believed in legislating this ultimate retribution," Baguilat said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Capital punishment was last suspended in 2006 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. At that time, Congress was overwhelmingly supportive of the tenet that life has value. President Duterte, however, has consistently said that he wanted it back as part of the package of measures to supposedly stop the proliferation of drugs and criminality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I have always said that I am supportive of the President's campaign against drugs and criminality. But there is the right way to do it and reimposing the death penalty, which will violate our international commitments, is not the right way," said Baguilat.</div><br />Source: sunstar.com.ph, December 14, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Philippines: 'Death penalty backers banking on emotions, not facts'

Philippines: Extrajudicial killings of alleged trug traffickers are soaring A human rights activist said those in favor of death penalty is ...

2:18 AM

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