We know how to prevent another Bali 9 case, but the blueprint is gathering dust

<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/AVvXsEiYE30F1HaBFr83el0iruVXlxlRY6K41qm3GGNeT4TAaqAxnojX9NBYG1xXHHlhojEUC6zTZ4BJQCIvRSJSwLRKyOZdCgsZO7zZMR02noDNSRqF9W0dy3X6kiwe8BiSQmP2cqyWEuPe4vE/s1600/Another+Day+in+Paradise+Myuran+Sukumaran+Exhivition+JAN_2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Another Day in Paradise - Myuran Sukumaran's exhibition opens in Sydney." border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYE30F1HaBFr83el0iruVXlxlRY6K41qm3GGNeT4TAaqAxnojX9NBYG1xXHHlhojEUC6zTZ4BJQCIvRSJSwLRKyOZdCgsZO7zZMR02noDNSRqF9W0dy3X6kiwe8BiSQmP2cqyWEuPe4vE/s400/Another+Day+in+Paradise+Myuran+Sukumaran+Exhivition+JAN_2017.jpg" title="Another Day in Paradise - Myuran Sukumaran's exhibition opens in Sydney." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Day in Paradise - Myuran Sukumaran's exhibition opens in Sydney.</td></tr></tbody></table>This week Sydneysiders will have their first opportunity to view the hauntingly beautiful artworks painted by Myuran Sukumaran during his final days on death row in Bali's Kerobokan prison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the exhibition, <a href="http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2017/myuran" target="_blank">Another Day in </a><a href="http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2017/myuran">Paradise</a> which opens at the Campbelltown Arts Centre on Friday, is a chance to reflect on his life and the brutality of the death penalty, we mustn't shy away from a difficult home truth: the Australian Federal Police's role in his death.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In April 2015, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/bali-9-executions-andrew-chan-and-myuran-sukumaran-shot-dead-in-indonesia-20150428-1mvjj8.html" target="_blank">Indonesia executed Sukumaran</a> by firing squad, alongside Andrew Chan, a fellow member of the so-called Bali Nine who had also been convicted of drug trafficking offences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The execution of the two men united Australia against the death penalty as never before. The men's rehabilitation during their 10 years in prison, as well as the harshness of the ultimate penalty, had struck a chord. Hundreds of thousands of Australians campaigned for mercy and gathered together for candlelight vigils and protests around the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Australian government, to its great credit, advocated strongly for a stay of the executions. After the men were killed, Australia removed its ambassador to Indonesia in protest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later that year, the Australian government confirmed its commitment to working towards global abolition of the death penalty, making that cause a key part of its bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, the world's premiere human rights body.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Australia has not executed anyone for nearly 50 years. (It will be 50 years since Ronald Ryan's execution in February.) As a nation, we can and should be a global leader on this issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yet in the midst of our shared grief and pain, and the government's apparent willingness to lead internationally, there remains a nagging issue: it was a tip-off from the AFP that led to the Bali Nine's arrest in the first place. It was the AFP that requested that the Indonesian National Police gather evidence and keep the Bali Nine under surveillance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHugLCU1JMZapvR-lQgx-8J7dFCxwY4VvuVjHw674O07VS_awxQhYMIW41iG4JgtYL_gKW9GcqpJJMKYZL1m4qUBz410SJfTmNLQKd5KFFgsw9dWcTu_qNkeOmeVeFv5dbVza0DHjQ2gBw/s1600/Australian+Federal+Police+badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHugLCU1JMZapvR-lQgx-8J7dFCxwY4VvuVjHw674O07VS_awxQhYMIW41iG4JgtYL_gKW9GcqpJJMKYZL1m4qUBz410SJfTmNLQKd5KFFgsw9dWcTu_qNkeOmeVeFv5dbVza0DHjQ2gBw/s1600/Australian+Federal+Police+badge.jpg" /></a></div>Under current laws and guidelines, if the Bali Nine case happened again tomorrow, nothing would prevent the AFP from acting in exactly the same way. In fact, the AFP has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-04/renshaw-bali-9-and-the-afp/6443692" target="_blank">confirmed</a> its view that its actions in the Bali Nine case were not only lawful, but also the right thing to do.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The AFP has strong law enforcement ties with police services in neighbouring countries. Undoubtedly much of its international co-operation is for good and valid reasons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, elements of the AFP's co-operation place people in harm's way. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-afp-peddles-injustice-by-helping-asian-death-penalty-states-20150902-gjdvu3.html" target="_blank">Evidence</a> suggests that the AFP knowingly shares information with death penalty states and in so doing puts 370 people a year at risk of execution, 95 per cent of which is for drug offences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The AFP's ongoing information-sharing with foreign police in death penalty cases, represents Australia's complicity in the very practice it seeks to stamp out. It is a stain on our track record and a blight our legitimacy to lead in the global eradication of this inhumane practice. It's time we cleaned it up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fortunately, a way forward has been prepared and agreed across the political divide. It just needs to be implemented.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2016, a parliamentary committee chaired by Philip Ruddock presented a blueprint to ensure that Australia works comprehensively to abolish the death penalty worldwide. The committee's report, "<a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/Death_Penalty/Report" target="_blank">A world without the death penalty</a>", made 13 recommendations that must be implemented immediately in order to position Australia as a smart, sophisticated international leader on the issue.</div></div><br /><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-afp-policy-that-lead-to-the-bali-9-execution-still-hasnt-been-changed-20170111-gtpd49.html"><b>Click here to read the full article</b></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Emily Howie, January 12, 2017. Emily Howie is the director of advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre.</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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We know how to prevent another Bali 9 case, but the blueprint is gathering dust

Another Day in Paradise - Myuran Sukumaran's exhibition opens in Sydney. This week Sydneysiders will have their first opportunity to vie...

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Death Penalty Movie Week to be held at Tokyo theater

<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/AVvXsEgjy8cBaDopv6QH5NFRtjD_Yzv3QA6q9Obivh6jEnbFTmUvsmSr67CDc9PrTf552UiFP28151oUp7xtrR00-wZqSFDrgSSplH7_OXthyphenhyphenD0GZ0K9pyLY1g6o8N64ZYjYW5_dTn3Kpg4kHRI/s1600/Former+death-row+inmate+Iwao+Hakamada+and+his+sister.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy8cBaDopv6QH5NFRtjD_Yzv3QA6q9Obivh6jEnbFTmUvsmSr67CDc9PrTf552UiFP28151oUp7xtrR00-wZqSFDrgSSplH7_OXthyphenhyphenD0GZ0K9pyLY1g6o8N64ZYjYW5_dTn3Kpg4kHRI/s400/Former+death-row+inmate+Iwao+Hakamada+and+his+sister.jpg" title="Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release in March 2014</td></tr></tbody></table>TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The annual Death Penalty Movie Week will be held at a Tokyo theater in February, with eight films from home and abroad providing viewers with an opportunity to think about the "right to life."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The event will take place as pro- and anti-death penalty groups have been facing off at symposiums and on other occasions since the Japan Federation of Bar Associations declared in October it would work for the abolition of capital punishment by 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The eight films to be screened include 2005 German movie "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426578/" target="_blank">Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days</a>," which depicts the anti-Nazi struggle of a student who was executed, and "Freedom Moon," produced in Japan in 2016, that recounts the life of death row inmate Iwao Hakamada.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hakamada, convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder, was released in 2014 after a court decided to reopen the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The film shows how his mental state has deteriorated due to decades-long solitary confinement and the endless fear of execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South Korean popular movie "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2659414/" target="_blank">Miracle in Cell No. 7</a>," produced in 2013, will also be screened during the sixth event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Murder victims are deprived of their lives unjustifiably, but offenders are also robbed of their 'right to live' under capital punishment," said Masakuni Ota, one of the event organizers. "People seem to accept such circumstances without question, at a time when exclusion and intolerance are prevalent around the world."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the event from Feb. 18 to 24 at the Eurospace movie theater in Tokyo's Shibuya district, four movies will be shown each day, accompanied by sessions with guest speakers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The scheduled speakers include actress Kirin Kiki, who played the mother of a death row inmate in a movie based on a true story, and pop singer Tsuyoshi Ujiki, whose father was convicted of war crimes after World War II.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We welcome both those seeking abolition of the death penalty and those who support or accept capital punishment" so the issue is discussed from various viewpoints, Ota said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The previous five Death Penalty Movie Week events attracted a total of around 6,000 viewers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the four years since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power, 17 inmates have been hanged, with a government survey showing over 80 percent of people in Japan support the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, Tokyo was urged by the U.N. Human Rights Committee in 2014 to "give due consideration to the abolition of the death penalty."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Currently, more than two-thirds of nations have abolished the death penalty by law or in practice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For further information on the screenings, call Eurospace at 03-3461-0211 or check its website at <a href="http://www.eurospace.co.jp/" target="_blank">http://www.eurospace.co.jp/</a></div><br />Source: Mainichi, January 3, 2017<br /><br /><br /><h2>Hakamada: Tapes point to police duress in miscarriage of justice</h2><br /><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/AVvXsEjr8vj-u4mA02VRwROPa4sr8grOzhtYYHKjaBJd4YSJsFC8IhcTKrEgvqcY8Yt8LyzUy96Ci-Ht9mqZvJjLB_KV8pNigT2V_nN3t_ABNgXLifi_bu_WhtyY4a9-jj-vNxxFPCmPdD9bpnk/s1600/Iwao+Hakamada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iwao Hakamada (left) spent more than three decades on death row." border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8vj-u4mA02VRwROPa4sr8grOzhtYYHKjaBJd4YSJsFC8IhcTKrEgvqcY8Yt8LyzUy96Ci-Ht9mqZvJjLB_KV8pNigT2V_nN3t_ABNgXLifi_bu_WhtyY4a9-jj-vNxxFPCmPdD9bpnk/s400/Iwao+Hakamada.jpg" title="Iwao Hakamada (left) spent more than three decades on death row." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iwao Hakamada (left) spent more than three decades on death row.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Police records of interrogations that led to Iwao Hakamada being wrongfully convicted of multiple slayings show that the one-time death row inmate was not allowed to use the restroom as officers relentlessly tried to force him to confess.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just two days later, Hakamada, now 80, confessed to killing a family of four and setting fire to their home in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1966.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A former professional boxer, Hakamada spent more than three decades on death row. He was released in March 2014 after the Shizuoka District Court ordered a retrial, having concluded that his conviction was likely based on faked evidence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Defense lawyers pressing for an early retrial presented documents to the Tokyo High Court on Dec. 21, highlighting apparent brazen violations of procedures during Hakamada's interrogation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The high court is weighing whether to hear Hakamada’s case. Prosecutors have appealed the district court decision.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hakamada, who is from Hamamatsu in the prefecture, had his death penalty finalized in 1980.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Defense lawyers said 24 tape recordings of Hakamada being questioned were discovered at the police storage room in October 2014.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The tapes recorded interrogations between his arrest on Aug. 18, 1966, and late September that year after he was indicted. The lawyers played the tapes to get a better grasp of how the interrogation was carried out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They said a session on Sept. 4 was particularly problematic as it appeared Hakamada was deprived of the use of restroom facilities, as he later testified in court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the tape, an investigator trying to get him to confess, says, “It must be the case.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After more exchanges with the investigator, Hakamada says, “I would like to use the bathroom.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The investigator responds, “Why don’t you reply (to my question) before doing so?”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lawyers said the recording makes clear that Hakamada had to urinate inside the interrogation room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Get a lavatory pan. Let him urinate here,” the interrogator is heard saying.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During his trial at the Shizuoka District Court in December 1967, Hakamada testified that he was forced to urinate in the interrogation room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I was not permitted to go to restroom on many occasions,” he said. “I was not permitted to do it properly.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The interrogator in question denied Hakamada’s account when he appeared in court as a witness in 1968.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There never was such a thing,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The defense team also said that among the tapes were recordings of conversations between Hakamada and his lawyers, suggesting that the police eavesdropped on them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawyers argued that the investigators violated various laws in the course of establishing the case against Hakamada and during his trial. This, they said, was further ammunition for an early retrial.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Forcing a suspect to urinate in the interrogation room constituted assault and cruelty by special pubic officers, and eavesdropping and recording interviews between defense lawyers and a client constituted an act of malpractice, they noted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also noted that lying in court constitutes perjury.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201612220063.html" target="_blank">The Asahi Shimbun</a>, December 22, 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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Death Penalty Movie Week to be held at Tokyo theater

Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release in March 2014 TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The annual Death Penalty Movie Week will be held at a...

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