Death Penalty News

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace laureate who described himself as “passionately opposed to the death penalty,” died in Cape Town, South Africa on December 26, 2021. He was 90 years old. Tutu, who as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town helped turn the conscience of the world against the white supremacist policies of apartheid that oppressed his homeland, later was tasked by President Nelson Mandela with chairing the nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. While unrelenting in his opposition to apartheid, he remained a consistent voice of non-violence. “The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement. During his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, Tutu condemned violence both by government security forces and by those fighting for the liberation of the na...

In Ghana, home to a diverse array of religions, leaders of major churches have united in denouncing homosexuality as a “perversion” and endorsing legislation that would, if enacted, impose some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ policies in Africa. In Nigeria, the umbrella body for Christian churches depicts same-sex relationships as an evil meriting the lengthy prison sentences prescribed under existing law. And in several African countries, bishops aligned with the worldwide United Methodist Church are preparing to join an in-the-works breakaway denomination so they can continue their practice of refusing to recognize same-sex marriage or ordain LGBTQ clergy. In the United States, Western Europe and various other regions, some prominent Protestant churches have advocated for LGBTQ inclusion. With only a few exceptions, this hasn’t happened in Africa, where Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran leaders are among those opposing such inclusion. “The mainstream churches — all of them — ...

ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu once said: “To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.” There is no doubt that the continuing incidents of child abuse and murders across the country require action. However, we need to ask ourselves whether such mediaeval retribution is the right approach. Pakistan’s justice system is undoubtedly flawed, with nominal conviction rates and even lower rates of actual punishment being meted out. Keeping in view the growing public sentiment against child sexual abuse, the National Assembly recently passed a non-binding resolution in support of publicly hanging those convicted of such crimes. As the world moves towards a more humane approach towards criminal justice, wherein the focus is on the crime rather than the criminal, many of our politicians have decided to regress towards the Stone Age notion of seeking vengeance and retribution rather than strengthening the justice system. Some refer to such acts as ‘populist punitiveness’,...

Desmond Tutu Saudi Arabia plans to execute 14 Shiites for crimes linked to 2012 protests in Qatif, as violence in the province continues Ten Nobel laureates from across the world have written an open letter urging Saudi authorities to hold off on the execution of 14 Shiites convicted of protest-linked crimes. Fears are mounting of the imminent mass execution of the 14 Shiites convicted of charges linked to protests in 2012, including rioting, theft, armed robbery and armed rebellion. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Saudi authorities of coercing confessions which were later retracted in court and failing to grant fair trials to defendants, including juveniles. Signed by anti-apartheid leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman, Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi and former East Timor president and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, the letter released late on Friday urged King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his son...

Texas Death House, 'The Walls' Unit. The holding cells, where the doomed inmates spend their last hours, are on the left. The death chamber is located at the far end of the corridor.  Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, TX. New information in the case of Joseph John Cannon, being revealed for the 1st time today, casts a fresh look at the murder trial that reached the Supreme Court, prompted reaction from the Pope, and caused a nation to debate executing someone who committed at crime at age 17 . If Cannon was alive today, he would have turned 56 on January 13, 2016. But on April 22, 1998 the 38 year-old ate his last meal. Cannon ordered "fried chicken, barbecue ribs, baked potato, green salad with Italian dressing, chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream or both, a thick chocolate shake or malt and iced tea." The meal was delivered in the afternoon, not long after he entered a holding room located about 30 feet from where he was set to die. While eating, little d...

Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday (Dec. 4) urged Uganda to scrap a controversial draft law that would send gays and lesbians to jail and, some say, put them at risk of the death penalty. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill is expected to become law after Parliamentary Speaker Rebecca Kadaga offered it to Ugandans as a "Christmas gift." The bill is believed to exclude the death penalty clause after international pressure forced its removal, but gay rights activists say much of it is still horrendous. "I am opposed to discrimination, that is unfair discrimination, and would that I could persuade legislators in Uganda to drop their draft legislation, because I think it is totally unjust," Tutu told reporters here on Tuesday at the All Africa Conference of Churches meeting. The former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, who was a hero of the anti-apartheid movement, has emerged as a leading pro-gay voice both in the church and across A...

Despite at least 96 executions in Iraq this year and well-documented human rights abuses, the world remains silent. Three women were among the 21 people executed within one day in Iraq, last Monday. It was followed, two days later, by the reported execution of five more people. The number of people executed since the start of this year is now at least 96 and they are not the only ones. The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, said: "I am appalled about the level of executions in Iraq. I deeply deplore the executions carried out this week, and am particularly alarmed about continuing reports of individuals who remain at risk of execution." There is also news of another 196 people on death row. According to Iraqi officials, they have all been convicted on charges "related to terrorism," but there is little information about their names, what crimes they committed or whether they have access to lawyers or n...

Troy Davis Death brings cheers these days in America. In the most recent Republican presidential debate in Tampa, Florida, when CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked, hypothetically, if a man who chose to carry no medical insurance, then was stricken with a grave illness, should be left to die, cheers of "Yeah!" filled the hall. When, in the prior debate, Governor Rick Perry was asked about his enthusiastic use of the death penalty in Texas, the crowd erupted into sustained applause and cheers. The reaction from the audience prompted debate moderator Brian Williams of NBC News to follow up with the question, "What do you make of that dynamic that just happened here, the mention of the execution of 234 people drew applause?" That "dynamic" is why challenging the death sentence to be carried out against Troy Davis by the state of Georgia on 21 September is so important. Davis has been on Georgia's death row for close to 20 years, after being convicted of kill...

"Capital punishment in America is a lottery." " The reality is that capital punishment in America is a lottery. It is a punishment that is shaped by the constraints of poverty, race, geography and local politics ."--Bryan Stevenson, death row lawyer " Imposition of the death penalty is arbitrary and capricious. The decision of who shall live and who shall die for his crime turns less on the nature of the offense and the incorrigibility of the offender and more on inappropriate and indefensible considerations: the political and personal inclinations of prosecutors; the defendant's wealth, race and intellect; the race and economic status of the victim; the quality of the defendant's counsel; and the resources allocated to defense lawyers ."--Gerald Heaney, a former appellate judge There is nothing moral or just about the death penalty--certainly not the way it is implemented in America, and anyone who says otherwise is either deluding themse...

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, clearing the way for the state to resume planning for Davis' execution. The justices on Monday refused to order the federal appeals court in Atlanta to examine Davis' case and they declined to do so themselves. In 2009, the high court ordered a federal judge to examine evidence Davis said would show he was innocent of the 1989 killing for which he has been sentenced to death. But the judge decided last year that Davis had failed to clear his name. At the moment, executions are on hold in Georgia after federal agents seized the state's supply of a key lethal injection drug. Source: Associated Press, March 28, 2011 Appeal denied in high-profile US death row case The US Supreme Court Monday rejected an appeal to death row inmate Troy Davis who is seeking a new trial after 7 of the 9 witnesses against him recanted their murder trial testimony. The Supreme Court rejected a request for an...

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a historic ban on the death penalty in Illinois and commuted the sentences of 15 death row inmates to life without parole. Quinn signed the legislation in his Capitol office surrounded by longtime opponents of capital punishment in a state where flaws in the process led to the exoneration of numerous people sentenced to death. "For me, this was a difficult decision, quite literally the choice between life and death," Quinn wrote in his signing statement. "This was not a decision to be made lightly, or a decision that I came to without deep personal reflection." "Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it," Quinn wrote. "With our broken system, we cannot ensure justice is achieved in ever...