Death Penalty News

The International Commission of Jurists says the punitive cost orders against lawyers representing death row inmates have obstructed the prisoners' access to justice. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today joined the chorus of criticism over Singapore's use of the death penalty for drug offences as well as the penalties slapped against lawyers representing death row inmates, saying the punitive cost orders have obstructed prisoners' access to justice and their right to a fair trial and life itself.  The Geneva-based ICJ, comprising senior judges, attorneys and academics, urged the city-state to put an immediate halt to any impending executions and to cease its imposition of penalties against lawyers. "This is a violation of the basic right of every person to legal representation of their choice. Every human being is entitled to be treated with dignity, more so those who are fighting for their lives," ICJ commissioner Ambiga Sreenevasan added.  The ICJ...

EU leaders will hold a special online summit on Wednesday (19 August) backing Belarusian protesters and telling Russia not to interfere, top EU officials said on Monday. European Council president Charles Michel called for the extraordinary video summit as mass protests continued in Belarus against long-time president Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed a landslide victory in an election on 9 August, which the opposition says was rigged. Lukashenko's security forces brutally cracked down on initial protests, which prompted the biggest rally in the country's modern history over the weekend against the strongman. "The people of Belarus have the right to decide on their future and freely elect their leader," said Michel in a tweet announcing the summit of the 27 leaders. "Violence against protesters is unacceptable and cannot be allowed," he added. EU leaders are also expected to send a message to Russia not to meddle in Belarus, as Russian...

Introduce ‘systematic changes’ to the legal framework to deter violence and improve access to justice for women, it urges Centre The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on Friday condemned the hanging of the four men convicted for Nirbhaya’s gangrape and murder while stating that the execution of the perpetrators was an “affront to rule of law and does not improve access to justice for women.” Denouncing the executions, the ICJ urged the Centre to abolish death penalty and introduce “systematic changes” to the legal framework to deter violence and improve access to justice for women. Frederick Rawski, ICJ Asia-Pacific Director, said: “State-sanctioned executions are little more than public theatre that risk celebrating and perpetuating violence at the expense of the ‘rule of law.’ As heinous as these crimes were, the imposition of the death penalty — the deterrent effect of which has been widely debunked — does nothing to improve the lives of women.” The ICJ a...

Nirbhaya convicts and their families have written a letter to the Judges of the International Court of Justice seeking urgent hearing to prevent their “unlawful execution”. As per the latest death warrant, the four convicts ie. Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay are slated to be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 am. The letter states that the legal remedies/cases are still pending before courts, yet the Tihar Jail Authorities are going to hang the convicts on March 20. While calling the scheduled execution of convicts as hurried, secretive and illegal, The letter urges, "I write to you to request your support and help, in whatever form, to prevent this barbaric and inhumane punishment from being inflicted upon convicts, the death penalty has no relevance in a progressive and modern International era. Inflicting it upon prisoners, who belong to the economically most vulnerable section of society will only serve to take out international forum several steps back." ...

Activists have put up posters in public places in cities like Colombo opposing the introduction of the death penalty in Sri Lanka, 40 years after the last state-sanctioned execution in the country.  Sri Lankan President Maithripana Sirisena believes that reinstating the death penalty is the best deterrent to the country's growing drug problem, but a priest-run center and other rehabilitation facilities in Colombo are trying to show that therapy works better. Sirisena's sanity was questioned recently after he fired a former ally, dissolved parliament, and threw the country into chaos, but the Court of Appeal voided a petition in January seeking to have him face a panel of psychiatrists. Regardless of the soundness of his decision-making, Sirisena said on Feb. 7 he would authorize implantation of the death penalty within two months for those convicted of serious drug offenses. With nearly 1,300 people on death row in Sri Lanka, religious leaders have rallied ag...

A Mexican citizen on death row in Texas was executed Wednesday night for the slaying of his 16-year-old cousin who was abducted from her family's apartment and fatally beaten. Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, 47, was given a lethal injection after several federal court appeals failed to halt his punishment for the February 1997 killing of Mayra Laguna. Asked by the warden to make a final statement, he replied, "No, sir." As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began, he took a couple of breaths and then began snoring. After less than a minute, all movement stopped. 21 minutes later, at 10:26 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead, making him the 7th convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state. Shortly after the execution, Mexican President Enrique Nieto tweeted, "I express my firm condemnation of the execution of the Mexican Ruben Cardenas Ramirez in Texas, which violates the decision of the In...

Government calls Texas execution an 'illegal act' Mexico had vowed to exhaust all efforts to prevent the execution tomorrow of a Mexican inmate on death row in a Texas prison but now it appears those efforts were unsuccessful. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today voted unanimously against a recommendation to the governor to halt the execution of Mexican national Rubén Cárdenas. In 2 votes that went 6-0, the board voted against recommending that Governor Greg Abbott postpone the inmate’s death by lethal injection and that his sentence not be commuted. Yesterday, Foreign Affairs official Carlos Sada told a press conference yesterday in Mexico City that Texas prosecutors did not follow due process in the case of the 47-year-old Cárdenas, who was sentenced to death for raping and killing his 15-year-old cousin in 1997. “From the start, there has been a failure, and from our perspective, this is an illegal act ,” Sada said of the execution. The for...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Senior Mexican diplomats on Monday condemned the upcoming execution of a Mexican inmate on death row in Texas, calling his sentence “illegal” and vowing to exhaust all possible efforts to prevent him from being killed later this week. In a news conference in Mexico City, Carlos Sada, Mexico’s deputy foreign minister for North America, told reporters that Texas prosecutors did not follow due process in the case of Ruben Cardenas, who was sentenced to death for raping and killing his 15-year-old cousin in 1997. “From the start, there has been a failure, and from our perspective, this is an illegal act,” Sada said. The planned execution comes as relations between Mexico and the United States are at a low, hurt by U.S. President Donald Trump’s vows to build a wall along the Mexican border, and his threats to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Cardenas, who is due to die on Wednesday, was not given the chance to speak with consula...