Press Release from the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty/Communiqué de la Coalition Mondiale Contre la Peine de Mort

La Coalition mondiale contre la peine de mort condamne la décision de la Cour suprême américaine datée du 16 avril 2008, qui confirme le caractère légal de l'injection létale comme méthode d'exécution d'une personne condamnée à mort.

La peine de mort est l'illustration la plus flagrante de l'échec de la politique publique en matière de Justice. Cette décision (relative à l'affaire Baze c. Rees, Etat du Kentucky) ne répond en rien aux interrogations croissantes du public concernant les failles de l’application de la peine de mort. En autorisant les Etats-Unis à poursuivre leur "bricolage avec la machine de la mort", la Cour maintient le pays en décalage vis-à-vis de la communauté internationale, majoritairement abolitionniste (135 nations du monde entier n’utilisent plus à ce jour la peine capitale).

Depuis la dernière exécution aux Etats-Unis, il y a 7 mois, l'Assemblée Générale des Nations unies a appelé les Etats du monde à adopter un moratoire universel sur les exécutions et l'Etat du New Jersey a aboli la peine de mort.

Pendant ce temps, aux Etats-Unis, quatre personnes de plus ont été innocentées et libérées après avoir passé à eux trois 79 ans dans les couloirs de la mort, attendant leur exécution pour des crimes qu'ils n'avaient pas commis. Depuis 1976, les échecs du système judiciaire ont envoyé 128 innocents dans les couloirs de la mort américains.

La Coalition Mondiale contre la Peine de Mort appelle les Etats-Unis, et ses 36 Etats rétentionistes, à reconnaître ce que beaucoup d'américains savent déjà, y compris les deux juges de la Cour suprême ayant exprimé une opinion dissidente et le juge John Paul Stevens : il est désormais temps pour les Etats-Unis de reconnaître que la peine de mort est un châtiment cruel et inhumain et que l’abolition sur tout le territoire américain s’impose.

(English version)

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty condemns the April 16th decision of the United States Supreme Court upholding the lethal injection as a humane method of executing a human being.

The death penalty is a failed public policy. This decision (case Baze vs. Rees, Kentucky) by a majority of the Court does nothing to address the growing public concern that the death penalty is deeply flawed. By allowing the continuation of the United States' practice of “tinkering with the machinery of death” the Court again leaves the United States out of step with the majority of the world’s nations : 135 States worldwide no longer use capital punishment.

In the seven months since the last execution in the United States, the United Nations General Assembly has called for a worldwide moratorium on executions and the State of New Jersey has abolished the death penalty.

In the same time four more innocent persons have been released in the United States after serving a collective 79 years awaiting execution for crimes they did not commit. The systemic failures of the justice have now placed 128 innocent persons on United States death rows since 1976.

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty calls on the United States, and its 36 retentionist states, to recognize what many Americans, including the Court's two dissenting Justices and Justice John Paul Stevens, already know: it is time for the United States to recognize that the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment, as stipulated in the 8th Amendment of the US Constitution, and to abolish its use throughout the United States.

Source : Coalition Mondiale contre la Peine de Mort

Comments

Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog