Long wait, sudden death in Japan

[Please note: long post]
Amnesty International (AI) has condemned the secrecy, lengthy delays and failures of criminal justice that beset Japan's death penalty system.

The human rights organisation released its July report Will this day be my last? to add pressure on the Japanese government to abolish the death penalty and reform aspects of its criminal justice and penal systems.

AI said it released the report as "activists and experts on the death penalty from across Asia-Pacific" met in Hong Kong to discuss the region's high rate of executions.

In this post:
· Executed at any time
· Japan's secret shame
· Innocent on death row?
· Preventing public debate
· Time for an end

Executed at any time
AI said death row prisoners live in a harsh and secretive prison system, where they may spend decades knowing they could be executed at any time.

It said a prisoner is usually notified in the morning on the day of their execution, and in some cases the prisoner is not notified at all.

According to the report: "This practice means that prisoners live with the constant fear of execution, not knowing from day to day whether they will be alive the next day. Once the appeal process is finalized, a prisoner can wait for years or decades before execution."

Earlier this year, a survey of death row prisoners by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations found that about a quarter of Japan's death row prisoners received no visitors and most spent their days locked alone in a small cell. Many who received visitors only had contact with their relatives or their lawyers.

Because of the long delays in the legal process and appeals in Japan, prisoners can wait decades to be executed.

The report says that Okunishi Masaru is "one of a number of very elderly prisoners on Japan's death row", having been sentenced to death in 1961 for poisoning five women. He is now 80 years old.

According to the report: "In April 2005, the Nagoya High Court granted a retrial citing new evidence that could prove his innocence. His supporters are urging that his retrial begin soon: in March 2006 he is said to have told visitors, "Please clear my false charge while I am alive." "

Japan's secret shame
The AI report describes a death penalty system where only the authorities know when an execution will take place. When a person is executed, "it usually occurs while Parliament is in recess and unable to debate the issue".

"According to a former Minister of Justice, Usui Hideo, this policy is designed to deprive opposition politicians of any opportunity 'to cause a big public row over the death penalty'," the report says. The only information about the execution of death sentences in Japan comes from statistics issued periodically by the Ministry of Justice. The government does not release the names of executed prisoners.

"The families of those on death row live under the constant pressure of knowing their loved ones face execution and that in many cases their death may come without warning," the report says.

The AI report cites the experience of Kimura Shuji's mother, who arrived to visit her son on death row on the morning of 21 December 1995. She was told visiting hours were busy and to come back at noon. She returned and was asked whether she wanted to take her son's body for burial.

"Many families abandon their condemned relatives in such circumstances either because of the shame of having a family member on death row or an inability to cope with the stress of continuing the relationship."

Innocent on death row?
AI claims that there is a "particularly high" risk of executing an innocent person in Japan because of the system of pre-trial detention in police custody, or daiyi kangoku.

"Suspects can be held in police cells for up to 23 days and are vulnerable to long periods of interrogation," the report says.

"Akahori Masao was sentenced to death in 1958 aged 25 on charges of rape and murder. He always claimed he was innocent and had confessed under duress, saying, "the interrogators hit me on the head, almost strangled me with their hands and kicked me... I decided to agree with all their questions because I could not put up with the torture."

"It was not until 1987, after four court applications, that his retrial began. He was acquitted aged 59, having spent over 34 years in detention."

Preventing public debate
AI said the secrecy surrounding Japan's death penalty system had suppressed and distorted public debate about its use.

Even Japanese parliamentarians have found it difficult to monitor detention conditions for condemned prisoners. The report says that in 2003 nine executive members of the parliamentary Committee on Judicial Affairs had to fight for the right to see the new execution chamber at the Tokyo Detention Centre.

"It was reportedly the first time since 1973 that the Ministry of Justice allowed people outside the penal and justice systems to see a death chamber."

Despite their requests, the parliamentarians were prevented from meeting with death row prisoners.

"Successive governments in Japan have failed to initiate a parliamentary debate about the death penalty. Ministers of Justice have also indicated that the role of the government in relation to the death penalty was to administer its use, but not to intervene in its discussion."

The report notes that "the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) also states that one of the main reasons that capital punishment has not been abolished in Japan is due to the extraordinary secrecy that surrounds the death penalty system and the subsequent lack of information for potential public debate".

The organisation urged the Japanese government to take note of criticisms about its administration of the death penalty raised by activists in Japan, international human rights groups and organisations such as the UN and Council of Europe.

"The government has an obligation to initiate an informed public and parliamentary debate on the use of the death penalty, which in turn means ending the secrecy surrounding executions in Japan," the report says.

Time for an end
The report makes a series of six recommendations to the Japanese government, including abolishing the death penalty, improving prison conditions and taking steps to end torture, ill-treatment and coerced confessions.

"Japan is one of the few industrialised countries which still carry out state killings," said Suki Nagra, AI's East Asia Campaigner.

"By abolishing the death penalty Japan would provide leadership to the Asia-Pacific region, which is currently bucking the global trend towards abolition." As a first step towards abolition, we urge the Japanese government to end the secrecy currently surrounding its use of the death penalty.

"The government cannot justify this inhuman punishment on the basis of public opinion when it conceals the reality of the death penalty from people and so stymies public debate," Suki Nagra said.

Tags: death penalty Japan Amnesty International

Execution delay for Bali bombers

The execution of three men for their roles in the first Bali bombing has been delayed after defence lawyers indicated they would lodge a final application for judicial review.

Imam Samudra, Amrozi and his older brother Ali Ghufron were due to face a firing squad at dawn tomorrow (22 August) for organising the October 2002 attacks.

The Attorney General's spokesman I Wayan Pasek Suartha told the AAP newsagency: "Now the convicts and the lawyers have proposed to appeal ... and although it has not been registered to the district court, the process of judicial review is ongoing. That is the factor that delays execution," the attorney general's spokesman.

The appeals are expected to argue that the anti-terror laws under which they were convicted were applied retrospectively.

The three have been edging closer to execution since April, when the Attorney-General's Office asked the men's families if they intended to apply for clemency.

Victim's father opposes executions
Australian former magistrate Brian Deegan, whose 21 year-old son Josh was killed in the attack, said he still opposed the death penalty, even though the delay also affected grieving for his son.

"From a legal point of view, I am happy about the decision because everyone has the same rights as everyone else regardless of the crime so their right to appeal should be respected," he told AP.

"From a philosophical point of view, I'm totally against capital punishment.

"The only downside is that this for me delays the grieving process. I just wish it could be all put to rest so that I could put it behind me," he said.

'Poso 3' may still die
Speculation is mounting that the Indonesian government may execute three Catholics as early as tonight, for their alleged roles inciting violence between Christian and Muslim communities in central Sulawesi.

Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were less than an hour away from being shot by firing squad on 12 August, when they were granted a repreive until after Independence Day celebrations on the 17th.

Singapore forum against death penalty

The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) is organising a forum and debate on the death penalty on 27 August. The event will also highlight the largely unnoticed cases of two Africans who are currently on death row.

Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, 19, and Okele Nelson Malachy, 33, lost appeals against their death sentences on 16 March. They were arrested at Changi Airport on 27 November 2004 and later convicted of trafficking heroin into Singapore.

Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap. 185) carries a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of trafficking in more than 15 grams of heroin.

Unlike the highly publicised case of Australian citizen Van Tuong Nguyen, who was executed in Singapore on 2 December 2005, Tochi and Malachi have received very little media attention.

Tochi is from Nigeria and according to some reports Malachy is from South Africa, although he does not have current proof of his citizenship.

The two men have filed appeals for clemency with the Singapore President -- their final avenue of appeal -- although clemency is almost never granted.

For readers who wish to take action to try to save Tochi and Malachy, see Amnesty International's letter-writing action.

For readers in Singapore who are interested in attending, here is further information taken from SADPC's publicity material for the event.

-------------------------

Forum/Debate on The Death Penalty

27th August, Asia Hotel

37 Scotts Rd, 2.30-5.30 pm

(Next to Newton MRT Station)

"Please don't allow them to kill me," pleads 19-year-old Nigerian prison inmate Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi. "I don't understand why they have to kill somebody for something like this."

Agenda/Speakers/Input:

Debate for and against the Death Penalty, for Drugs, for Murder, in Singapore and Everywhere,
with:

• Lee Weng Choy, Art Critic and Cultural Activist.
• Alex Au, Gay Rights Activist, Social Commentator and Editor of Yawning Bread.
• Moderator: Lucy Davis, Editor, Forum On Contemporary Art & Society.

Input from:

• Tochi’s Lawyer and Anti Death Penalty campaigner, M. Ravi
• Madam Letchumi Murugesu, Mother of Shanmugam Murugesu, executed last year

And messages from:

• Amnesty International
• World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
• Nigerian Civil Liberties Organisation
• Australian Council Against The Death Penalty
• UN Desk on Extra Judicial Killing
• Video plea from Tochi's brother in Nigeria

The Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) comprises a concerned group of Singaporeans and residents from diverse backgrounds who have come together over the issue of the Death Penalty. Through a series of debates and events we hope to foster a public debate on the practice of capital punishment in Singapore and throughout the world.

-------------------------

Indonesia: Poso executions delayed

Three Indonesian Catholics who were scheduled to be executed at 12.15 this morning [12 August] at a secret location in Central Sulawesi were granted a last-minute reprieve.

Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were less than an hour away from being shot by firing squad, when Indonesian officials announced they would now be executed after Independence Day celebrations on 17 August.

Reports suggested the three men had been given the last rites and doctors were waiting to travel to the execution site to pronounce them dead.

The Jakarta Post reported that National Police chief Gen. Sutanto made the announcement following a limited Cabinet meeting late on Friday with chief security minister Widodo A.S., Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin and Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh.

According to The Jakarta Post, "Sutanto said the decision was based on consultation with the Central Sulawesi Police, local administration and prosecutor's office."

Gen. Sutanto stressed the executions had not been cancelled, simply delayed.

"It's only a matter of the timing. The decision must be carried out, and those who are guilty must follow their sentence," he said.

One report said they would be executed on 20 August at the earliest.

Papal appeal denied
The executions were delayed following an appeal for clemency from the Pope, although the Indonesian Government denied the postponement was a response to foreign pressure.

In a letter to President Yudhoyono on Friday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano said on behalf of the Pope that clemency should be granted "on humanitarian grounds".
[See below for the full text of the Vatican's appeal.]

The Jakarta Post reported that Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Saturday denied the appeals for clemency had caused the delay.

"We postponed the executions but we did not cancel them because we are a sovereign country. It was only a postponement," Hassan was quoted as saying.

"There are a lot of letters asking for postponement including apparently from the Vatican."

Political trade off?
The three men were convicted of inciting sectarian violence between Christian Muslim communities in Poso in Central Sulawesi, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.

They have denied the charges, and their lawyers claimed to have evidence demonstrating that 16 other men had masterminded the violence. They said the three men would in be fact key witnesses in the event that the true perpetrators were brought to justice.

Amnesty International has expressed its concern at "reports indicating that the trial of the three men in Palu District Court did not meet international standards of fairness".

Some analysts have suggested the Indonesian Government was now moving to execute the three Catholics in a political trade off between the Muslim and Christian communities. The government is also planning to execute three Muslim militants in the coming weeks for the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

Appeal from the Pope

Text of the Vatican appeal for clemency, from the website of the Vatican news service:

Telegram from the Holy Father

His Excellency
Susilo Yudhoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Jakarta

I am writing to you in regard to the imminent executions of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu. In the name of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI I turn to you again, Your Excellency, to seek your intervention on humanitarian grounds, and in light of the particularity of the case, in order that an act of clemency might be granted to these three Catholic citizens of your nation. In adding my voice to others I would also note the position of the Catholic Church which on numerous occasions has spoken out against the death penalty. Trusting that this appeal made on behalf of His Holiness will meet with a positive outcome, I extend to you my sentiments of esteem.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano

Secretary of State

[01141-02.01]
[Original text: English]
[B0399-XX.02]


Related stories:
Indonesia: Six may soon be shot -- 10August 2006
Indonesia: Poso 3 facing imminent execution -- 16 May 2006

Indonesia: Six may soon be shot

Reports from Indonesia indicate that the government is preparing to execute three Christians this weekend in Central Sulawesi. And three more may follow, if the executions of the three leading Bali bombers are carried out as planned in late August.

Fabianus Tibo, 60, Dominggus da Silva, 42, and Marinus Riwu, 48, were sentenced to death in April 2001, convicted of premeditated murder and inciting riots in the town of Poso, Central Sulawesi in May 2000. They were accused of inciting sectarian violence in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.

A Reuters report said the three would "face a firing squad just after midnight on Friday at a secret location in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu", citing remarks by a spokesman for Indonesia's Attorney General.

Reuters said I Wayan Pasek Suartha told reporters: "There will be no delay unless there's a natural catastrophe. The families of the convicts have been notified".

The Jakarta Post reported that "more than 2,000" Indonesian Christians held a protest rally against the planned executions on Thursday in the Sulawesi town of Tentena. Protests were also held in two towns on Floresisland, where the three men were born.

Bali bombers to die

Indonesian government officials have also said the three men convicted of organising the October 2002 bombing Bali - which killed 202 people - would be shot on 22 August.

Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Ghufron (also known as Mukhlas) have said they would not ask for clemency but would answer only to God.

Despite these earlier statements one of their defence lawyers, Muhammad Mahendradata, said an appeal would be filed before 22 August.

AP newsagency reported the appeal would argue the three had been convicted on the basis of retroactive legislation.

"The criminal code stipulates that if there is any change in the law then the law applied should be beneficial to the defendant," the BBC quoted him as saying.

Any further appeal would be likely to postpone the executions for several months.

Australia 'should act against death penalty'

Australia should take stronger action against the death penalty at home and in the region, according to the opposition Labor Party.

Shadow Attorney-General Nicola Roxon MP said in a statement that Australia should "advocate more strongly" for its neighbours and allies to abolish the death penalty.

Australia has close diplomatic and economic relationships with some of Asia's leading executioners and it is a close ally of the USA, the only Western democracy that retains the death penalty.

She said any method of execution was "inhumane, no matter what the crime".

"Australia needs to use its position internationally and in the region to abolish the death penalty universally," Ms Roxon said.

"In the last year we have been sadly reminded of this by the hanging of van Nguyen in Singapore, the first Australian to be executed since Malaysia hanged Michael McAuliffe in 1993," she said.

Ms Roxon issued the statement on 11 July, the fifteenth anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations' human rights protocol against the death penalty.

She said Australia should also encourage its neighbours to ratify the Second Optional Protocol.

Although Australia had ratified the protocol, she said it had not yet been adopted into domestic law.

"I would like to see bipartisan support for adoption of the Protocol, so that its provisions would have binding force over the Commonwealth, States and Territories into the future," she said.

'Use Philippines to help end death penalty'

The lawyer who defended the last Australian hanged in Asia said the Philippines should be held up as an example for other countries in the region to follow.

Lex Lasry QC said in late June that Australia should publicly congratulate the Philippines for abolishing the death penalty, and encourage other countries in Asia to do the same.

"Such a step demonstrates the potential in South-East Asia for countries in that region who have maintained capital punishment to be persuaded to change their policy," he said.

"Australia, a country internationally committed to the abolition of capital punishment, should immediately publicly congratulate the Philippines on its decision and use it as an example to persuade other countries in our region to do likewise."

Mr Lasry represented Van Tuong Nguyen, who was hanged for heroin trafficking in Singapore on 2 December 2005.

Malaysia's 'inexcusable' position on death penalty

Leading human rights activists and a newspaper columnist have rejected the Malaysian Government's claim that the death penalty was needed to deter serious crime and safeguard public interest.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk M. Kayveas told Parliament on 28 June that: "The Government has no intention of abolishing the death penalty."

The Deputy Minister said the death penalty was "only provided for serious crimes" such as murder and drug trafficking, and there were "enough safeguards" in the judicial system to ensure it was not handed out easily.

N. Surendran and Charles Hector, from the group Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET), said they were "disappointed" by the Deputy Minister's "unsubstantiated and false statement".

They said in a media release posted on the website of the Malaysia Bar that the statement was "baseless and cannot be justified by any facts or statistical proof", citing studies that have "failed to find convincing evidence that capital punishment is a more effective deterrent of crime than long-term imprisonment".

"The Malaysian government ought to have conducted a thorough study on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the death penalty as a deterent to serious crime before having a Deputy Minister, who is a lawyer, stand up in Paliament and attempt to turn a myth into an empirical truth," they said.

Umran Kadir, a columnist with publication Sun 2 Surf, described the Deputy Minister's stance as "an inexcusable position to take when international studies overwhelmingly support the notion that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent to crime".

He said "the ugly truth is that in dispensing justice mistakes can and do happen".

"Civilisation has moved far beyond the time of Hammurabi when "an eye for an eye" was the basis of all laws. The death penalty creates a senseless and vicious cycle of violence. I firmly believe that we are in no position to take away that which God has bequeathed upon each of us," Umran Kadir wrote.

What safeguards?
MADPET also rejected the Deputy Minister's statement that there were adequate safeguards in the judicial system, and described as "laughable" the claim that the country's experienced police provided an additional safeguard against a miscarriage of justice.

"What safeguards is the Honourable Deputy Minister speaking of? In Malaysia there is no immediate access to a lawyer upon arrest, immediate right to a phone call and no right to full pre-trial disclosure [of all evidence to the accused]," they said.

"It must be reiterated that even in jurisdictions where all these safeguards exist, the number of persons wrongfully condemned to death have been frighteningly high. Human justice is dangerously fallible, and the only acceptable choice for any civilized nation is to abolish the death penalty.

"The fact that a person has the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal and then the Federal Court, and thereafter to the Pardons Board for clemency is grossly insufficient to justify the keeping of the Death Penalty in our law books.

"It is laughable that the Deputy Minister even suggested, at this day and time in Malaysia, that thorough investigations carried out by an experienced and effective police force is yet another safeguard to prevent miscarriage of justice," the MADPET statement said.

World turning away
Umran Kadir and MADPET both noted the worldwide trend of countries rejecting the death penalty and referred to the Philippines, which abolished the death penalty last month.

Umran Kadir wrote that: "Malaysia is among a shrinking group of 71 countries that continue to cling on to an unmerciful and irreversible punishment."

"It is high time we let compassion guide us on this issue."

In a footnote to his newspaper column, Umran Kadir noted "with sadness" that from 1970 to the present, 359 people had been condemned to death byMalaysian courts while 159 were currently on death row.

MADPET called for an immediate moratorium on all executions and the complete abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia.

The Deputy Minister tabled a written statement in Malaysia's Dewan Rakyat in response to a question from parliamentarian Karpal Singh.

Malaysia: Life sentence under the noose

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is investigating the country's long-term death row inmates, including a man who has spent 22 years in prison awaiting execution.

The New Straits Times reported on 28 June that Suhakam came across at least five cases when a team visited death row in Kajang Prison while investigating the death in custody of Alex Wong.

The prisoners, who were convicted of murder, drug trafficking and firearms possession offences, have been held in prison for periods between 10 and 22 years.

The newspaper reported that Suhakam is examining whether the prisoners have in fact received two sentences for their crimes: long-term imprisonment in solitary confinement and a death sentence.

It said authorities would not say why the men had not been executed, but it understood "a combination of administrative hitches and delays in handing down written court judgements have kept these criminals in solitary confinement for years".

"Usually, those sentenced to death spend up to 10 years exhausting the appeals and clemency process," the paper said.

According to the NST, "In 1993, a British court found that it was inhuman and degrading to hang anyone who had spent more than five years on Death Row."

Lawyers welcome inquiry
The Malaysia Bar Council welcomed the report of an investigation by Suhakam and renewed its call for the abolition of the death penalty.

The Malaysia Bar passed a resolution at its annual general meeting on 18 March 2006, calling for an end to the death penalty and for all death sentences to be commuted.

Council Chairman Yeo Yang Poh said in a statement: "Death penalty is a cruel and extreme form of punishment. Keeping a person on death row waiting indefinitely or for a long period of time adds to its cruelty.

"The uncertain and indefinite waiting and fearing for the final moment constitutes inhumane psychological torture, the nature of which those who have not suffered the experience will not even begin to comprehend," Yeo Yang Poh said.

He said this situation was made worse by the fact that prisoners were kept in solitary confinement most of the time "which means that they have to face the suffering all alone".

Yeo Yang Poh said The Bar Council understood the delays were caused by the slow operation of the clemency process because "the Pardons Board convenes infrequently".

"This issue needs urgent attention, as long as capital punishment remains in our statute books," he said.

'An extreme process'
The Bar Council opposed the death penalty because "No legal system in the world is foolproof or error-free".

"No matter how procedurally fair the system is, how stringent the rules of evidence may be, how much reliance is placed on advanced and scientific investigation methods, or how many opportunities of appeal are afforded; one cannot rule out the possibility of error," Yeo Yang Poh said.

"Experience all over the world shows that this possibility is a real and not a theoretical one. Perfection and absolute correctness are neither expected of, nor attainable by, any legal system."

Yeo Yang Poh acknowledged "considerable" public support for the death penalty in Malaysia.

But he questioned whether it was acceptable for an innocent man or woman to be put to death under Malaysia's legal system "because society wishes to punish the guilty ones by employing this most extreme and irredeemable process".

Abolition sparks human rights debate in Philippines

The President of the Philippines presented the Pope with a copy of the bill abolishing the death penalty, two days after she signed it into law. But the final step in the long campaign to end executions in the Philippines has prompted further debate about human rights in the country.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave Pope Benedict XVI a copy of Republic Act 9346 at their meeting in the Vatican on 26 June.

The act repealed the 1994 legislation that restored the death penalty and commuted all outstanding death sentences to life imprisonment without parole.

A statement from the presidential palace said the presentation to the Pope was a “gift of life” that was "wrapped in the high moral imperatives to walk away from capital punishment."

The statement said that abolition brought "swift emotional and moral relief to the third largest Catholic nation in the world".

"The President has made no secret that the abolition of the capital punishment would add new meaning to her meeting with Catholicism’s No. 1 defender of the sanctity of human life," it said.

The repeal of the death penalty law was criticised by anti-crime and victims' groups, and drew accusations that Mrs Arroyo was seeking support from the Church to strengthen her embattled presidency.

Political analyst Earl Perrano from the Institute of Political and Electoral Reforms told BBC News that the death penalty would always be divisive in the Philippines.

"There are often miscarriages of justice as police work in the Philippines is very sloppy and technology is outdated," he told the BBC.

"Because the justice system is very corrupt, most of the convicted are the poor because the rich bribe their way out of a sentence," he said.

'Prison conditions next'
Following victory in the campaign against the death penalty, the Catholic Church's Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) plans to step up its campaign to address the state of the prison system.

A conference at the end of July will consider the Church's work with inmates in the Philippine prison system, which has problems with severe overcrowding, disease and detention of vulnerable juvenile prisoners in the same cells as adults.

AsiaNews.it reported that a Manila prison built to hold 800 detainees is currently housing more than 5,000, and the prison in Quezon City is built for 815 people but its population is nearly 3,500.

Call to end political killings
Human rights groups have also highlighted that while judicial killings have now been outlawed, there is a growing problem with extra-judicial killings -- political killings outside the framework of the law.

The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) "warmly" welcomed the abolition move and called on Mrs Arroyo to address an apparent increase in politically motivated killings.

PAHRA Secretary-General Renato G. Mabunga and FIDH President Sidiki Kaba wrote an open letter to the President on 28 June urging her "to mark a new commitment to the absolute and unequivocal respect of the most fundamental human right, the right to life".

"Reports of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines are received by our organisations with alarming regularity," they wrote in their letter.

"There is a growing pattern of politically motivated killings, reported across a number of provinces nationwide. Witnesses have reported victims being shot dead by unidentified men, suspected of links with the military, police, and other security forces.

"The principal targets of the shootings are human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, community leaders, and union workers who speak out against the authorities. Groups and individuals identified with the opposition are increasingly at risk. Over the past year dozens of activists identified with opposition groups have been killed."

Mr Mabunga and Mr Kaba accused the government of consistently failing to investigate or bring to justice the people responsible for the attacks.

"This climate of impunity further fuels human rights violations," they said.

They called on the Philippine authorities to meet their obligations under international human rights standards by conducting prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all extra-judicial killings, and ensuring that those identified as responsible were brought to justice before independent and impartial tribunals.

"Our organisations call upon you as President to send a clear and strong message that these unlawful killings will not be tolerated under any circumstances" they said.

President Arroyo signs death penalty law

With one signature the death penalty was formally abolished in the Philippines and more than 1,000 people spared execution.

President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9346 abolishing the death penalty at a ceremony at the Malacañang presidential palace on 24 June 2006. The act commutes all death sentences to life imprisonment without parole.

The President signed the law one day before she was due to fly to the Vatican to meet the Pope.

Her signature formally ratified the bills passed by both houses of the Philippines Congress on 6 June.

At the signing ceremony she said that in gathering together to abolish the death penalty, "we celebrate life in the most meaningful way".

She said she appreciated the "enthusiasm of Congress" and thanked the church for providing a "beacon of grace and discernment".

"When I meet the Holy Father soon in the Vatican, I shall tell him that we have acted in the name of life for a world of peace and harmony," she said.

The President acknowledged concerns that abolishing the death penalty would lead to an increase in serious crime in the Philippines, and she committed her government to efforts to prevent and control crime.

"I allay the concerns of those who think that the abolition of the death penalty opens the floodgates to heinous acts... We shall continue to devote the increasing weight of our resources to the prevention and control of serious crimes, rather than take the lives of those who commit them," she said.

A report from the palace said Archbishop Fernando Filoni, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, welcomed the move saying "this (abolition) shows that the culture of life is alive and important".

The report said the ceremony was witnessed by "the principal authors of the bill" Reps. Edcel Lagman, Salacnib Baterina and Rene Velarde, from the House of Representatives, and Senators Francis Pangilinan and Juan Flavier from the Senate.

Members of a number of non-government organisations which had lobbied Congress for the abolition of the death penalty were also present. They included Couples for Christ, the National Interfaith Convention Committee, the Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Samahang Pamilya sa Death Row, the Free Legal Assistance Group and Isaiah Prison Ministry.

The President's speech

The President's full speech on the occasion is reproduced below.

PGMA's Speech during the signing into law of the House Bill Abolishing the Death Penalty or Republic Act 9346 or An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Rizal Hall, Malacañang

"Thank you, Secretary Ermita.

"Today in signing the abolition of the death penalty, we celebrate life in the most meaningful way by gathering our institutions together to repeal the death penalty.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm of Congress in expressing the moral and spiritual force of the Filipino in this law.

"I thank the church for the beacon of grace and discernment. When I meet the Holy Father soon in the Vatican, I shall tell him that we have acted in the name of life for a world of peace and harmony.

"I allay the concerns of those who think that the abolition of the death penalty opens the floodgates to heinous acts. We shall devote... We shall continue to devote the increasing weight of our resources to the prevention and control of serious crimes, rather than take the lives of those who commit them.

"I call on the entire criminal justice system -- law enforcers, prosecutors, judges, jailers and the whole community -- to take stock of the responsibility of sharpening law and justice for all.

"On the bombing in Maguindanao targeted at the governor and which killed five people, I condemn this act of terrorism in the strongest terms as a crime against peace and humanity. The authorities must identify the perpetrators, launch a manhunt with the proper rewards, and bring them to justice.

"I extend my sympathies to the families of the victims and assure them that the search for justice will be firm and relentless. We will never be intimidated by these treacherous acts and we shall fight terror as seriously as we embrace peace and development, solidarity among our law-abiding citizens, and our strategic alliances. This commitment stands firm and will not relent until the total defeat of terrorists in every part of the country.

"The rule of law, strictly enforced, shall ride side by side with social justice in paving the way for an atmosphere of political and economic security, so that every person and family shall have the blessings of stable employment, better health, education and public safety.

"We have taken a strong hand against the threats to the law and the republic, but at the same time we yield to the high moral imperatives dictated by God to walk away from capital punishment."

/Ends.

Trade undisturbed by Singapore execution

Singapore's Prime Minister visited Australia in mid-June and both governments agreed that the "difficult issue" of a hanging would not interrupt a strong and lucrative relationship.

On 14 June a 19-gun salute welcomed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Parliament House in Canberra for official talks on trade and security issues.

Mr Lee's visit, his first as prime minister, came nearly seven months after the Singapore Government hanged convicted Australian drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen.

The execution was carried out on 2 December 2005 despite repeated appeals for clemency from the Australian government and widespread protest in the Australian community.

'Could not be closer'
At a joint press conference at Parliament House, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said "Australia and Singapore could not be closer", and referred to the two countries' common interests in strategic, defence and free trade issues.

Prime Minister Lee said the relationship between the two countries was "in good shape" despite having had "some difficult issues to deal with over the last year".

His remarks were widely interpreted to refer to the execution of Van Nguyen and disagreements over Singapore's access to Australian international aviation routes.

Mr Lee said these issues were handled "within the overall understanding that we are really strategic partners, Singapore with an interest in having Australia engaged in the region and Australia working with Singapore as a long term friend".

"These are issues which we can manage and keep in proportion as we move forward," he said.

Singapore is Australia's eight largest trading and investment partner and its largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN.

Death penalty to stay
When asked whether Singapore was going to soften its policy of executing or others convicted of drug crime, Mr Lee said the death penalty was "part of our criminal justice system, that applies in particular to drug traffickers whether they’re Singaporeans or foreigners".

"It is not targeted at Australians or any particular country but it is a set of laws which apply in Singapore in which we have to enforce impartially and which we will continue to do so."

In an interview with The Australian newspaper prior to his visit, Mr Lee said he accepted many Australians were opposed to the death penalty, but he said many also supported his government's policy.

"I don't think Australian pressure on high-profile cases like these will cause any Southeast Asian nation to change its position on the death penalty," he said.

Following the execution in December, Amnesty International Australia criticised the Australian government's "selective opposition" to the death penalty.

"Australia cannot support the death penalty when it is convenient and then argue that Australian citizens should be the only people spared execution," the organisation said.

"Australia should take a principled stance against the death penalty and not be afraid to express its views throughout the region. It is not unrealistic to expect Australia to take a strong and unapologetic position on such a cruel and inhuman punishment."

Political questions over China's new appeal judges

China's supreme court is preparing to hear appeals against death sentences, but it appears the new system will still raise concerns about political interference in the administration of the death penalty.

Xinhua newsagency reports the Supreme People's Court (SPC) is recruiting new judges from a list of experienced lawyers and law teachers nominated by provincial judicial organs.

The report said those with "strong political qualifications and a sense of responsibility" would be chosen as judges to hear death penalty reviews, according to SPC Vice-President Xiong Xuanguo.

In April, Xinhua reported that tribunal staff had been selected from regional courts across China and they were receiving a month of training in Beijing.

Xinhua said that the move by the SPC "appears to be a response to many Chinese media reports in recent years, which exposed wrongful death penalty sentences, sparking public debate". (See the ADP report here.)

It is still unclear when the supreme court will begin hearing appeals or how the provincial courts will respond to the reassertion of authority by the SPC.

Xiong Xuanguo was quoted in the latest Xinhua report as saying: "Taking back the power of death penalty review is the final safeguard (against miscarriages of justice). We'll ensure the sentence is appropriate and follow the principle of strictly controlling the passing down of the death penalty."

Xinhua said the SPC's appeal judges may question the defendant and hear the prosecution arguments, where the case is in dispute between the prosecution and defence.

Where the prosecution and defence "do not have conflicting opinions", the SPC is likely to base its decision on a review of the files from the hearings in the local courts.

Call for South Korea to show 'leadership'

Amnesty International (AI) has written an open letter to South Korea's Minister of Justice, Mr Chun Jung-bae, welcoming the current review of the death penalty and encouraging the country to consider its abolition.

The letter, from AI's Secretary-General Irene Khan, highlighted and addressed four "key arguments" for abolition:

• Whether executions achieve justice for the victims of crimes and their relatives
• The death penalty as a deterrent to crime, and the corresponding fear that abolition will lead to higher rates of criminality
• The "ever present" risk of executing the innocent, and
• Whether societies should show their "revulsion" for heinous crimes by executing the perpetrators.

The letter notes that "the question of the death penalty often prompts heated political and public debate".

"The death penalty is most commonly used in the belief that it acts as a deterrent to violent crime and governments therefore find it difficult to abandon a measure they believe protects their citizens," the organisation said.

"Scientific studies have, however, consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments."

The open letter noted the Asian region was an exception to the global trend towards abolition and urged South Korea to provide leadership and a positive example on human rights.

"The region contains countries with high rates of executions and no apparent prospect of abolition. Nations such as Japan, China, Singapore and Indonesia appear to be staunch supporters of capital punishment," it said.

"Amnesty International believes that the abolition of the death penalty in South Korea would provide the region with much needed human rights leadership and be a valuable example of a nation progressing towards the full protection of human rights.

"Such a step would encourage further positive developments in the region such as the abolition of the death penalty in Cambodia, Nepal and Timor Leste, and the Philippines’ decision this month to abolish the death penalty after it was re-imposed in 1994."

The human rights organisation concluded: "Executions give society the illusion of control over the threat posed to public safety by serious crimes. In the immediate period around an execution there is a feeling that a blow has somehow been dealt against criminality. However, the reality is that capital punishment serves no useful purpose in the fight against crime."

Read the full text of the open letter here.

Viet Nam: Take action against the death penalty

Amnesty International Australia has issued a letter-writing action encouraging people to write to the Vietnamese government outlining human rights concerns about its use of the death penalty.

According to Amnesty International, there has been a "dramatic increase in Viet Nam's use of the death penalty, especially for drug-related crimes". The organisation is particularly concerned about the application of the death penalty for economic crimes such as embezzling state property, as well as drug-related offences.

The action says that: "Concern about the use of the death penalty in Viet Nam is compounded by the routine unfairness of trials that do not conform to international standards."

However, there are "some positive signs that the death penalty is being discussed within the Vietnamese government," and AI Australia is asking people to write to the government to encourage this discussion.

"These debates are an opportunity to point out that the death penalty has not been shown to be a more effective deterrent to crime, and to encourage Viet Nam to abolish the death penalty," the action says.