Taiwan: Six more executions signal cruel about-turn on death penalty

Source: Amnesty International (19 April 2013)

https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2013/04/taiwan-six-more-executions-signal-cruel-about-turn-death-penalty/

Taiwanese authorities executed six men on Friday night in what Amnesty International said was a cruel change of heart from their earlier stated commitment to abolish the brutal practice. Those put to death were: Chen Tung-Jung, Chen Jui-Chin, Lin Chin-Te, Chang Pao-Hui, Li Chia Hsuan, and Chi Chun-I. These latest executions come only a few months after Taiwan put to death six other inmates in December 2012, the only executions carried out in the country last year.  “A dozen executions in Taiwan in less than six months raises serious questions about the authorities’ pledges to abolish the death penalty,” said Catherine Baber, Asia-Pacific Programme Director at Amnesty International.  “President Ma Ying-jeou should impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty to engage in a national debate about abolishing its use in the future.”

In February, Manfred Nowak, a former UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and Eibe Riedel, a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, visited Taiwan after calling for such a moratorium. Novak and Riedel were part of an Independent Experts panel invited by the government to consider its report on implementation of UN human rights covenants. In their report issued in Taipei on 1 March 2013, the Independent Experts strongly recommended that the government of Taiwan intensify its efforts towards abolition of capital punishment and – as a first and decisive step – to introduce an immediate moratorium on executions. They urged the government, pending abolition, to observe all relevant procedural and substantive safeguards relating to the use of capital punishment and in particular to commute the death sentence in all cases where such punishment was imposed on the basis of a confession extracted through torture.

The Taiwanese government has replied to the observations saying that it would be "difficult" for Taiwan to abolish the death penalty at this stage and they have set up a special committee to examine the different possibilities for gradual abolition of the death penalty.Amnesty International’s annual Death Sentences and Executions report, published earlier this month, lists Taiwan as one of only eight countries or territories in the Asia-Pacific region that carried out executions in 2012. Its six executions last year made it the fifth-largest executioner in the region. There are currently 50 people awaiting execution in Taiwan after exhausting all appeals.Family members are typically not informed about scheduled executions in advance. They only find out when they are invited to collect the body from the mortuary. In addition, serious fair trial concerns have marked the country’s use of the death penalty. In April 2012, Taiwan's High Court quashed the convictions of three men sentenced to death over the murder of a couple 21 years ago, as it found that the convictions were based on unreliable confessions. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

Thailand among group in Southeast Asia not abolishing death penalty: UN report

Source: The Nation (Bangkok, 28 March 2015)

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-among-group-in-Southeast-Asia-not-abolish-30256909.html

THAILAND ranks somewhere in the middle among nations in Southeast Asia when it comes to abolishing the death penalty, with the Kingdom criticised for a "lack of tangible advancement" towards abolishing executions in a United Nations report released yesterday (Fri).

Although Cambodia, the Philippines and East Timor have abolished the death penalty, Thailand still maintains it, although no execution has taken place since 2009 and the country is regarded as a "retentionist state".

As of June 30 last year, there were at least 612 people on "death row" in the Kingdom and the year 2013 alone saw 294 people sentenced to death.

Crimes punishable by death in Thailand include offences against royalty, internal and external security, and liberty, and offences relating to sexuality causing death.

The 44-page report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' regional office for Southeast Asia, titled "Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Lessons in Southeast Asia", noted that Thailand, in its most recent review by the Committee against Torture, had stated that it would consider a moratorium on the death penalty.

"Abolition of the death penalty was included in the draft of [Thailand's] Third National Human Rights Action Plan (2014-2018), but there has since been a lack of tangible advancement in abolishing the death penalty, and a high number of death sentences were passed in 2013, almost half of them [for] drug-related offences," the report stated. 

It said recommended that Thailand impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolition, as outlined in the current National Human Rights Action Plan. 

The outlook in Southeast Asia is mixed, as the report stated that of the 11 countries in the region, Cambodia, East Timor and the Philippines had consistently voted for UN General Assembly resolutions on moratoriums on the use of the death penalty. But Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore have consistently voted against such resolutions.

Thailand voted against the moratorium in 2007 and 2008 but changed its position by abstaining from voting in 2010 and 2012. Despite this, the report noted that Southeast Asia is generally part of the global trend against practising the death penalty.

All countries in Southeast Asia have legislation that ensures exceptions to the death penalty for children, pregnant women, and people with mental or intellectual disabilities. 

The report also noted that while some 160 countries had either abolished the death penalty, observed a moratorium or ceased practising it, a minority of countries still execute people.

"In some of these countries, the death penalty is mandatory for drug-related offences. The mandatory death penalty is problematic because it goes against the prohibition of the arbitrary deprivation of life and violates the right to fair trial."

China considers abolishing death penalty for 9 crimes

Source: Daily Sabah (27 October 2014)

http://www.dailysabah.com/asia/2014/10/27/china-considers-abolishing-death-penalty-for-9-crimes

China is considering trimming nine crimes from the list of offences punishable by death, state media said on Monday, as the ruling Communist Party considers broader reforms to the country's legal system.

Rights groups say China uses capital punishment more than any other country, raising public concern of irreversible miscarriages of justice.

A draft amendment to China's criminal law, which includes the use of the death penalty, was submitted for initial review to the country's National People's Congress, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Crimes that would be exempt from capital punishment under the amendment include "smuggling weapons, ammunition, nuclear materials or counterfeit currencies; counterfeiting currencies; raising funds by means of fraud; and arranging for or forcing another person to engage in prostitution", Xinhua said.

The crimes of "obstructing a commander or a person on duty from performing his duties" and "fabricating rumours to mislead others during wartime", are also under review, the news agency said.

Officials had previously said that China would review the application of the death penalty, which applies to 55 offences, including fraud and illegal money-lending.

China guards the number of people executed every year as state secrets.

The San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, which seeks the release of political prisoners in China, estimated that 2,400 people were executed in 2013. By comparison, 39 people were executed in 2013 in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The reduction in death penalty crimes, however, is not expected to greatly reduce the number of executions per year, scholars have said. 

The Communist Party, worried about rising social unrest and anger over land grabs, corruption and pollution unveiled legal reforms aimed at improving judicial independence at a key meeting last week.

The Party has stressed that it will remain in overall control of the judiciary, and despite the move to implement legal reforms, few analysts expect significant political change any time soon.

New Editorship and New Content for ADP

Dear Readers,

Asia Death Penalty is a blog founded in 2006, by Tim Goodwin.  The purpose of the blog is to provide information to support people in Asia - and around the world - in the struggle to end the death penalty. The blog focuses on countries in the Asian region (broadly defined), but it also reports on issues of interest in the worldwide campaign for a world without executions. This blog draws on the work of Asian media and international human rights organisations, but it is an independent site.

The original author of the Asia Death Penalty Blog, Tim Goodwin, decided not to continue posting in 2012 for various personal reasons.  Tim has invited myself (Daniel Pascoe) and Michelle Miao to take over as new editors to revive the blog.  We are both academics at City University of Hong Kong and the University of Nottingham, respectively.  Our research is focused on capital punishment in Asia.

We plan to post the following information on the blog, with proper attribution:

- NGO press releases and reports, including online petitions

- government press releases and UN documents

- academic articles, book reviews and notes on relevant international conferences

- relevant legal decisions

Here, we defined Asia broadly, as including East and Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.  As of April 2015, the countries within these regions that retain the death penalty as a criminal punishment in law consist of the following:

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, China (PRC), China (Taiwan), India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (DPRK), Korea (ROK), Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen.

Initially, our first few posts will document the most important developments in death penalty practice in Asia from 2011 to 2015 (the period during which the blog has been dormant). Thereafter, we will keep readers informed of regular developments.

We welcome contributions and comments.  If you have material to contribute to to the blog, please contact us at dcpascoe@cityu.edu.hk or Michelle.Miao@nottingham.ac.uk.

Please note, this is an abolitionist site. Please do not use it to post comments in support of the death penalty or calling for particular people to be executed. We encourage you to use the stories and information posted on this blog. However, when you copy or distribute stories from this site, please acknowledge the original source and URL each time.

We hope you find the blog helpful,

Dr Daniel Pascoe

Assistant Professor

School of Law

City University of Hong Kong

dcpascoe@cityu.edu.hk

Dr Michelle Miao

British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Faculty of Social Sciences

University of Nottingham

Michelle.Miao@nottingham.ac.uk

Historical interest

I created the Asia Death Penalty blog in 2006 and actively posted on the site until late 2010. Throughout 2011, I did not have time to maintain posting, and this won't change in the forseeable future.

However I am leaving the blog online for historical interest, and to provide access to basic material about the death penalty in the Asian region, and the excellent work of campaigners and advocates fighting for abolition during this period.

Thank you for reading.

Glimpse of Chan family pain

Chan family appeal for Indonesian clemency
19 June 2011

AAP on The Sydney Morning Herald

The brother of Bali Nine ringleader Andrew Chan has appealed to the Indonesian president to give him "a second chance at life".

In an emotional appeal in Sydney on Sunday, Michael Chan said his parents were devastated at the news their son had lost his final appeal against his death sentence for his role in the plot to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia.

"Mum and dad are finding it very hard and are struggling to come to terms with this
decision," Mr Chan said through his tears.

"Each day is harder to see the pain and anguish they suffer knowing their son is facing execution."

The Indonesian Supreme Court on Friday said it had rejected Chan's final appeal against a death sentence for his involvement in the 2005 attempt to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin out of Bali.

A clemency appeal to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the 27-year-old's last hope of escaping the firing squad.

When asked what message he had for the president, Mr Chan said his brother didn't deserve to be shot.

"If he's listening, (please) give him a second chance at life," he said.

Mr Chan said his parents, who live at Enfield in Sydney, had not been given the news officially, but they were assuming it was true.

He said he had spoken to his younger brother since the final decision and Chan was staying positive.

"He's really clear on one thing - he's just going to keep on doing his best to be a better person, lead a good life, whether he's got a short time or a long time to go."

Chan had made great efforts to turn his life around, and was studying theology, participating in church and teaching other inmates English and computer skills, Mr Chan said.

"When he made his mistake he was a kid, he's grown into an adult in the last couple of years ...

"Hopefully the president can see that change in him."

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd have both said the Australian government would support Chan's likely bid for clemency, but his brother said the family had had no contact with the government in the past few days.

Australian PM backs Chan clemency

Gillard against Chan death penalty
By Petrina Berry
18 June 2011

AAP on The Brisbane Times

Prime Minister Julia Gillard hasn't ruled out appealing to Indonesia's president personally to have the death penalty against convicted Bali Nine ringleader Andrew Chan quashed.

Indonesia's Supreme Court has rejected Chan's final appeal against the death penalty.

His only chance now is a plea for clemency to Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Ms Gillard, ahead of her address at an ALP conference in Brisbane, said Australia does not support the death penalty and the government will do whatever it can to help.

Asked if she will talk to the president herself, she said: "I'll be happy to do whatever is necessary to put as much force as we can into the appeal for clemency, including personally involving myself.

She said the government was supporting the family and Chan's lawyers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd, also in Brisbane for the party's annual conference, said the government would stand by Chan.

"We will do what we have done with any other Australians who have been convicted of a capital offence and that is to use every form of representation to government concerned in support of that person," Mr Rudd said.

Indonesia: Andrew Chan appeal lost

Bali Nine ringleader loses final appeal
By Indonesia correspondent Matt Brown, wires

From: ABC Online, 17 June 2011

One of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ringleaders, Andrew Chan, has lost an appeal against his death sentence.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were found guilty of organising a shipment of more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005 and sentenced to death.

Indonesia's supreme court has now rejected his final appeal.

The decision was made on May 10 but was only posted on the supreme court website this afternoon.

His lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, says he is shocked at the result and could not comment further until he has spoken with his client.

The supreme court judges reviewing Chan's appeal say they found no obvious error in the original decision to impose the death penalty.

But Chan's Balinese lawyer, Nyoman Gede Sudiantara, says the legal team is shocked because Chan was not caught with any of the drugs the Bali Nine planned to smuggle to Australia.

Chan's last chance for a reprieve would be an appeal for clemency to Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The decision is a bad sign for Sukumaran, who is also waiting on the results of his appeal.

Chan and Sukumaran both launched final appeals in August last year.

The appeals rested on evidence that the men have been successfully rehabilitated and are role models inside prison.

Chan and Sukumaran had both been running education courses for fellow inmates inside Bali's Kerobokan prison as part of their efforts to rehabilitate.

Chan, 26, told the Denpasar District Court last year he knew he could not change the "stupid things" he did in the past.

"But I have genuinely changed my behaviour and I really want to focus on what I can do now and in the future," he said.

Chan, who has also been studying for a bachelor's degree in theology while in prison, said he hoped to become a minister or a counsellor so he could help others avoid his mistakes.

"I accept that I deserve to be punished for my crime but I beg the court that I not be executed," he said.

"I hope I am given another chance in life."

At the hearing, both men apologised for previously pleading not guilty, blaming bad advice from their previous legal team.

They also apologised for their behaviour at earlier court appearances, conceding they did not show appropriate respect.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd says the Government will vigorously support clemency for Mr Chan.

She says the Minister's thoughts are with Mr Chan and his family at this deeply distressing time.

A supreme court decision in May spared fellow Bali Nine death-row inmate Scott Rush the death penalty, instead sentencing him to life in prison.

Five other members of the drug smuggling plot - Martin Stephens, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen - are also serving life sentences.

The final member of the drug ring, courier Renae Lawrence, is serving a 20-year sentence.

- ABC/AAP

EU regrets three Taiwan executions

EUROPEAN UNION
Brussels, 4 March 2011

Statement by the High Representative, Catherine Ashton, on the executions in Taiwan

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, made today the following statement:

"I deeply regret today’s executions in Taiwan, the first after the resumption of executions in Taiwan last year. The European Union had been encouraged by the de facto moratorium on executions that had been in place from 2006 until last year. Taiwan is now once again one of the very few industrial democracies to implement capital punishment.

"The European Union's strongly held view in favor of the abolition of capital punishment is well known. The European Union considers that the abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights. It is the European Union's view that the death penalty does not serve as an effective deterrent, and that any miscarriage of justice, which is inevitable in any legal system, would be irreversible.

"I therefore urge Taiwan not to undertake further executions, but instead to put in place an immediate de facto moratorium on executions, pending legal abolition."

____________________
P R E S S
FOR FURTHER DETAILS:
Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 299 97 80 - Michael.Mann@ec.europa.eu
Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 - Maja.Kocijancic@ec.europa.eu
COMM-SPP-HRVP-ASHTON@ec.europa.eu
www.eeas.europa.eu

Taiwan executions condemned

ADPAN REGRETS YET MORE EXECUTIONS IN TAIWAN
4 March 2011
ASA 38/001/2010

The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) says the latest executions of five men in Taiwan on 4 March 2011 calls into question the Taiwan government's stated intention to abolish the death penalty.

This brings the number of executions to nine since last year and goes against the global trend towards abolition.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP), who are members of ADPAN, pointed out today that, "carrying out any executions at this point in time would violate both domestic and international law." Taiwan has legally committed itself to the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 2009, which includes the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence, and incorporated it into domestic law the same year.

The executions today of Wang Chih-huang, Wang Kuo-hua, Chuang Tien-chu, Kuan Chung-yen and Chong De-shu were carried out by shooting. None of the family members were informed before the executions took place.

The Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) is a cross-regional network made up of over 50 members including lawyers, NGOs and human rights activists from 23 countries.

For more information:

- Lin Hsiny-Yi, Executive Director, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, (TAEDP)
+886-(0)930-019345
+886 (0)2 25218870 / FAX: +886 (0)2 25319373
BLOG: http://www.taedp.org.tw/ / E-MAIL: taedp.tw@gmail.com

- Louise Vischer, ADPAN Coordinator, louise.vischer@amnesty.org
+44 (0)207 413 5656

Pakistan Christians face death for 'blasphemy'

Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi 'has price on her head'
By Orla Guerin
From: BBC News, Punjab province
7 December 2010

Ashiq Masih has the look of a hunted man - gaunt, anxious and exhausted.

Though he is guilty of nothing, this Pakistani labourer is on the run - with his five children.

His wife, Asia Bibi, has been sentenced to death for blaspheming against Islam. That is enough to make the entire family a target.

They stay hidden by day, so we met them after dark.

Mr Masih told us they move constantly, trying to stay one step ahead of the anonymous callers who have been menacing them.

"I ask who they are, but they refuse to tell me," he said.

"They say 'we'll deal with you if we get our hands on you'. Now everyone knows about us, so I am hiding my kids here and there. I don't allow them to go out. Anyone can harm them," he added.

Ashiq Masih says his daughters still cry for their mother and ask if she will be home in time for Christmas.

He insists that Asia Bibi is innocent and will be freed, but he worries about what will happen next.

"When she comes out, how she can live safely?" he asks.

"No one will let her live. The mullahs are saying they will kill her when she comes out.

"Asia Bibi, an illiterate farm worker from rural Punjab, is the first woman sentenced to hang under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law.

'Old score'
As well as the death penalty hanging over her, Asia Bibi now has a price on her head.

A radical cleric has promised 500,000 Pakistani rupees (£3,700; $5,800) to anyone prepared to "finish her". He suggested that the Taliban might be happy to do it.

Asia Bibi's troubles began in June 2009 in her village, Ittan Wali, a patchwork of lush fields and dusty streets.

Hers was the only Christian household. She was picking berries alongside local Muslim women, when a row developed over sharing water.

Days later, the women claimed she had insulted the Prophet Muhammad. Soon, Asia Bibi was being pursued by a mob.

"In the village they tried to put a noose around my neck, so that they could kill me," she said in a brief appearance outside her jail cell.

Anarchy threat
Asia Bibi says she was falsely accused to settle an old score. That is often the case with the blasphemy law, critics say.

At the village mosque, we found no mercy for her.

The imam, Qari Mohammed Salim, told us he cried with joy when sentence was passed on Asia Bibi.

He helped to bring the case against her and says she will be made to pay, one way or the other.

"If the law punishes someone for blasphemy, and that person is pardoned, then we will also take the law in our hands," he said.

Her case has provoked concern abroad, with Pope Benedict XVI joining the calls for her release.

In Pakistan, Islamic parties have been out on the streets, threatening anarchy if she is freed, or if there is any attempt to amend the blasphemy law.

Under Pakistan's penal code, anyone who "defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet" can be punished by death or life imprisonment. Death sentences have always been overturned on appeal.

Human right groups and Christian organisations want the law abolished.

"It was designed as an instrument of persecution," says Ali Hasan Dayan, of Human Rights Watch in Pakistan. "It's discriminatory and abusive."

'Hanging sword'
While most of those charged under the law are Muslims, campaigners say it is an easy tool for targeting minorities, in this overwhelmingly Muslim state.

"It is a hanging sword on the neck of all minorities, especially Christians," says Shahzad Kamran, of the Sharing Life Ministry, which ministers to prisoners, including Asia Bibi.

"In our churches, homes and workplaces we feel fear," he says.

"It's very easy to make this accusation because of a grudge, or for revenge. Anyone can accuse you.

"Even our little children are afraid that if they say something wrong at school, they will be charged with blasphemy.

"Asia Bibi's story has sparked a public debate in Pakistan about reforming the law, but it is a touchy - and risky - subject which many politicians would prefer to ignore.

Campaigners fear that the talk about reform of the blasphemy laws will amount to no more than that.

Beheading threat
When Pakistan's Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, raised the issue six months ago, he was threatened with death.

"I was told I could be beheaded if I proposed any change," he told us.

"But I am committed to the principle of justice for the people of Pakistan. I am ready to die for this cause, and I will not compromise".

Mr Bhatti, himself a Christian, hopes that Asia Bibi will win an appeal to the High Court, or be pardoned by Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari.

He says she is one of dozens of innocent people who are accused every year.

"I will go to every knock for justice on her behalf and I will take all steps for her protection".

But even behind bars Asia Bibi may not be safe.

Several people accused of blasphemy have been killed in jail.

Thirty-four people connected with blasphemy cases have been killed since the law was hardened in 1986, according to Pakistan's Justice and Peace Commission, a Catholic campaign group.

The death toll includes those accused, their relatives, and even a judge.

In a neglected graveyard by a railway track in the city of Faisalabad, we found two of the latest victims of the blasphemy law.

'Electric shock'
They are brothers, buried side by side, together in death, as they were in life.

Rashid Emmanuel was a pastor.

His brother, Sajid, was an MBA student. They were gunned down in July during their trial - inside a courthouse, in handcuffs and in police custody.

Relatives, who asked not to be identified, said the blasphemy charges were brought because of a land dispute.

After the killings, the extended family had to leave home and move to another city. They say they will be moving again soon.

"We don't feel safe," one relative told us.

"We are shocked, like an electric shock. We are going from one place to another to defend ourselves, and secure our family members.

"Once a month they come to the cemetery to pray at the graves of their lost loved ones.

They are too frightened to visit more often.

They bow their heads and mourn for two men who they say were killed for nothing - except being Christian.

Taiwan justice minister willing to hang

New justice minister faces up to death penalty controversy

From: Focus Taiwan News Channel
22 March 2011

Taipei, March 22 (CNA) Taiwan's new justice minister Tseng Yung-fu, who entered office Monday under pressure to address a recent controversy over the death penalty, said enforcing capital punishment would not violate United Nations human rights conventions.

Former Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng was forced to resign on March 11, after her insistence on not signing off on the executions of 44 inmates currently on death row sparked outrage from victims' families and some legislators.

The furor died down while acting Minister Huang Shih-ming temporarily held the post, but public pressure remained to name a new justice minister who would be willing to see the executions through, even if the country has not carried out an execution of a death penalty inmate since late 2005.

Asked if carrying out the death penalty would not violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) , which Taiwan has signed into law, Tseng said the covenant only hopes that countries reduce the use of capital punishment.

That has happened in Taiwan, Tseng said, citing the reduction in the number of death sentences meted out and the elimination of laws in which the death penalty is the only punishment option.

"Carrying out a death penalty cannot be considered as violating the treaties," Tseng said.

He indicated that there was no deadline binding the minister of justice to sign the execution orders of the 44 death row inmates but said those who were sentenced to death for the most heinous of crimes would have their cases reviewed first.

Despite the controversy, a ministry task force on studying ways to abolish capital punishment will hold its first meeting Tuesday as scheduled, and the ministry will conduct a survey every six months to gauge public opinion on the issue.

At Monday's handover ceremony, acting Minister Huang praised Wang for her enthusiasm and lauded her as an official who stood up for principles.

"It was to everyone's regret that she left," Huang said.

Meanwhile, Tseng also pledged that he would promote a mechanism during his tenure that would make it possible to dismiss incompetent judicial personnel.

"He who laughs at crooked men better walk very straight, " he stressed.

Tseng, 67, a former deputy justice minister, has served as chief prosecutor in Taipei and Tainan cities and Taitung, Yunlin and Chiayi counties as well as the outlying island of Kinmen.

He has also served as the chief prosecutor with the Public Prosecutors Office for the Taiwan High Court and as the Ministry of Justice's chief secretary.

(By An Chi-hsien and Elizabeth Hsu)

Indonesia: Australian faces capital charge

Australian man faces death penalty
November 26, 2010
From: TheAge.com.au

AUSTRALIAN man Michael Sacatides faces the death penalty in Indonesia after being formally charged with drug importation offences yesterday.

Sacatides, 43, was caught with 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine in his luggage at Bali's airport last month.

He maintains his innocence.

Bali police handed a dossier of evidence to prosecutors yesterday, who charged Sacatides with importing drugs, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of death by firing squad.

Sacatides is a kickboxing instructor who hails from Sydney but lived in Bangkok for several years.

He was moved to Kerobokan prison on October 27 and will join three other Australians on death row for drug offences.

Scott Rush, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have legal appeals in train.Sacatides is expected to front a Denpasar court next month.

He has previously told police a man who gave him the bag containing the drugs was a former business associate.

TOM ALLARD

Pakistan: "Extreme" blasphemy laws need reform

An instrument of abuse?
by annie on 11 26th, 2010
From: Dawn.com

The death sentence handed down to Pakistani Christian woman Aasia Bibi by a court in Punjab province's Nankana district has once again brought attention to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. And while the 45-year-old mother of five awaits a review of the verdict against her, questions are being raised regarding the intent behind and utility of the said laws.

While the Constitution of Pakistan criminalises "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage" the religious sentiments of "any" community, the blasphemy laws, in the form of additions to Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), proceed to recommend much more exacting penalties, including death, if the accused is found to be either disrespectful toward or critical of the Quran, Prophet Mohammad, Islam’s caliphs and other important figures mentioned in the statutes. These particular laws therefore do not stand up for religions other than Islam thereby rendering defenceless other religious communities. Moreover, the laws' provisions pertaining to the Ahmedi community in many ways constrain them from practicing their religion. Forbidden from calling themselves, or "posing" as, Muslims, the legislation makes abundantly clear, albeit circuitously, that their faith should not be what it is.

It was in the early 1980s and during the regime of former military dictator Ziaul Haq that committing blasphemy was made a penal offence under the PPC. In its current state, the law prescribes a jail term for anyone found disrespectful toward the Quran and death penalty for anyone found to be reproachful of Prophet Mohammad. Oddly enough, while the question of intent is not considered when it comes to the latter offence, it continues to remain punishable by nothing short of the death penalty. The blasphemy laws also prescribe a fine and a prison term with regard to penal offences associated with the Ahmedi community.

Having survived for nearly three decades in its current and extreme form, the blasphemy laws have so far escaped all reform due to opposition from religio-political groups. At the same time, other, essentially secular, political groups have been succumbing to these hardline forces mostly out of fear of losing clout in regions with conservative leanings and where religious organisations seem to enjoy a considerable degree of influence. Even at this point, with the international community ramping up pressure on the government to pardon Aasia and to eventually repeal the blasphemy laws, certain otherwise antagonistic clerics from the Barelvi and Deobandi schools of thought have come together to caution President Asif Ali Zardari over going ahead with the pardon saying the move may lead to "untoward repercussions".

While the sentencing of Aasia has led to much international uproar, hers is just one of the many cases which have led to blasphemy convictions by the courts. Moreover, many of the blasphemy accused – mostly from the unprotected religious minority groups – have been targeted and sometimes killed by lynch mobs. The still recent killing of two Christian brothers in Faisalabad, the case of Zaibunnisa who remained incarcerated for 14 long years on blasphemy allegations and the violence that targeted Christians in Gojra in 2009 are just some of the recently reported instances which clearly depict how such laws have effectively abandoned the country's religious minorities and emboldened extremists.

These and similar other incidents have inevitably led to questions pertaining to the rationale behind the laws as well as to their outcome in terms of greater social good. And while the laws are frequently used to blackmail and victimise Pakistan's miniscule religious minorities, they also come in handy by those wanting to settle personal scores, sort business rivalries and tackle land disputes with other Muslims. Rights groups have continually demanded that the laws be repealed and have referred to the statutes as fundamentally unjust and discriminatory in nature.

Moreover, legal experts and analysts have frequently termed the text of the laws as vague and even flawed in ways that make it a ready instrument of abuse. Incompatible with the universally accepted human rights charter, the laws and their application also stand in clear violation of the Constitution of Pakistan which guarantees every citizen the "right to profess, practice and propagate" his/her religion and in fact forbids the state from making "any law which takes away" the citizens' fundamental rights.

Given the fact that the blasphemy laws have only served to fuel disharmony and strife in society, a thorough review of the legislation, followed by significant changes to it, can be the first small step toward countering the culture of exploitation that has become all-too-synonymous with these laws.

Qurat ul ain Siddiqui is the Desk Editor at Dawn.com

China claims one tenth overturned

China: 10 percent of death sentences overturned
Fri, Nov 26, 2010
From: China Daily/Asia News Network

Beijing - China's top court has overturned, on average, 10 percent of all death sentences nationwide since 2007 when it took back the right of final review from lower courts, a senior court official said.

Hu Yunteng, head of the research department under the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said regaining the review "played an obvious role" in reducing the number of executions.

"It has ensured that the death penalty can only be applied for the most serious crimes," he told China Daily.

But Hu declined to specify the number of death sentences carried out each year.

In 1981, to tackle rising crime, the highest court granted provincial courts the authority to pass death sentences.

The practice, widely criticized following reports of miscarriages of justice, ended on Jan 1, 2007, when the SPC was again given the sole power to review and ratify death sentences.

Hu said death sentences were overturned mostly for lack of evidence, procedural flaws or for an inappropriate penalty.

"The SPC will not tolerate any mistakes regarding evidence or procedure and will thoroughly investigate" questionable judgments, he said, adding that the quality of local courts' handling of death penalty cases is improving.

"We must make sure the use of the death sentence is accurate and free of mistakes to respect and protect the convicts and their rights."

Earlier, Zhang Jun, SPC vice-president, told judicial departments to only impose a death penalty for the most heinous crimes.

The SPC also increased its criminal tribunals from two to five to better examine all death sentences passed, Hu said.

The SPC also ordered that all cases that carried a possible death penalty must be heard at a court session, with the defendant or defendants in attendance, he added.

The move "prevents unjust, false or invalid cases on the one hand and, on the other hand, respects the rights of defendants", he said.

About 90 percent of death sentences passed are for serious crimes ranging from intentional homicide, robbery, serious injury, rape, drug trafficking to kidnapping, according to Hu.

In August, the National People's Congress, the top legislature, dropped the death penalty for 13 economy related, non-violent crimes in the latest amendment to the country's Criminal Law.

Hu said the SPC "strongly supports" the move as it has sent "a positive signal for strictly controlling the imposition of a death penalty".

Despite these moves, he said, the final review still faces challenges, including the use of torture as well as poor standards among some rural judges.

In one of the country's most notorious forced-confession cases, Zhao Zuohai, after serving 11 years in prison, was released in early May after the man he was alleged to have murdered turned up alive.

The Henan farmer said the police tortured him into making a confession.

Zhao Bingzhi, head of the criminal law research committee under the China Law Society, said it's essential for the SPC to classify and summarize cases where the death penalty has been overturned and then release them to guide lower courts.

"What's more, the SPC should go beyond only examining evidence, and establish rules to better define serious crimes where the death penalty is applicable to ensure its appropriate use," he said.

-China Daily/Asia News Network