The latest monthly death penalty report is now available thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. There is news of Reggie Clemons who has been on death row for 26 years now and we have heard from a family member.
Death penalty report
Forthcoming films
Two films to be shown at the Arts Centre
FRIDAY 9TH
As part of the Salisbury Arts Festival, the Arts Centre is showing two films with a human rights aspect to them: War Witch and Incendies. Both films will be introduced by Prof Lucy Mazdon from Southampton University.
War Witch starts at 7pm and Incendies at 9pm. You can of course go to either one or both. Details of how to book are to be found by clicking on the Arts Festival link above or their phone number is 0845 241 961.
Trailer:
Death penalty report
Attached is the Death Penalty report for April – May prepared by group member Lesley. It contains an update on the rush to execute people in Arkansas USA because of the imminent expiry of the drugs used. There is also an update on the situation with Reggie Clemons.
Urgent Action: Somalia
Boys at risk of execution in Somalia
This is an all too familiar story of poor justice which has led to the execution already of five boys with two more at risk.
The story is that seven boys were arrested in December 2016 for allegedly killing three high ranking officials. The boys were held in shipping containers for around 2 weeks before being transferred to a police station. Two of the boys said they were subjected to various forms of torture including electrocution; burning with cigarettes on their genitals; beatings; drownings and rape. Confessions were secured.
They were then tried before a military court with no other evidence other than the confessions. They were denied access to a lawyer. At the Appeal they were denied access to lawyers as well.
The two remaining boys – Muhamed Yasin Abdi who is 17 and Saud Saied Sahal, 15, are still in detention and are at risk of execution.
If you can spare some time to write or email that would be appreciated. Full details on the link below.
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Death penalty
Five reasons to end the death penalty
We are attaching the recent post issued by RightsInfo which gives 5 reasons to end the death penalty. There is a rising tide of executions around the world as the recent Amnesty report makes clear with China the country which leads the world (if ‘lead’ be the appropriate word) in executing the greatest number which it keeps a secret. Saudi Arabia and Iran are also major executioners often in barbaric circumstances.
Our local group produces a monthly report and these can be found on this site.
Briefly, the Rights Info report, entitled: 5 Reasons the UK is Trying to Stamp Out the Death Penalty Worldwide, says that the death penalty:
- will often execute the innocent. We have documented many instances on this site where for various reasons, the wrong person has been executed. Once done, it cannot be undone
- is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and often involves people incarcerated for decades under threat of execution
- it has no effect on crime rates, indeed there are more murders in those states in the United States where capital punishment is used
- it damages international crime fighting because we cannot extradite individualswhere there is the risk of someone being executed
[we were unable to find a fifth in the report]
5 Reasons the UK is Trying to Stamp Out the Death Penalty Worldwide – RightsInfo copy (pdf)
Urgent action: Iran
Juvenile due to be executed in Iran
This is an urgent action for someone who was accused and tried as a juvenile (aged 15 at the time of the alleged murder) and who is now due to be executed on 10 May. He was held in solitary confinement during his confinement and says he was beaten during his time in prison.
If you can find time to write or email that would be appreciated.
Arkansas: petition
Petition to the Governor Asa Hutchinson to stop the execution due this week
The rush to carry out executions in Arkansas, USA, continues apace with another one due tomorrow (Thursday 27th). This is a petition (see below) to send to the Governor asking him to stop. The panic to get the executions done is because the drugs being used are due to expire. Adds a new meaning to ‘sell by date’ we see on our foodstuffs.
The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights, as it violates the right to life. It is also a cruel and inhumane punishment that may constitute torture.
Amnesty always oppose the death penalty in every case because it violates rights. The idea of lethal injection as a ‘humane’ form of execution is simply a myth. There have been numerous cases of ‘botched’ executions by lethal injection in the US in recent years, with prisoners failing to die quickly or ‘quietly’. See our post on the process to be followed in California.
If you get time to send an urgent email that would be appreciated.
Slavery
Talk by Robert Key on Slavery
Voyages to Hell: Pirates and Slaves is the title of an illustrated history the former MP for Salisbury Robert Key,  is giving on Friday 12 May. Many people think that slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century with the end of the trade in slaves across the Atlantic. It is however alive and well and is taking many different forms in the modern world.
The talk will take place in Stevenson Hall, Leaden Hall Campus, Salisbury Cathedral School, starting at 7:30 with a bar from 7:00. Tickets are £10 each at the door, or to be sure of a seat, through Peter Lane 01264 771701 or phlane@btinternet.com. Money raised will go to the Cathedral Choir Foundation.
Robert Key is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Death penalty saga in Arkansas
UPDATE: two executed today (25 April)
April 2017
‘Execution by assembly line’
The death penalty saga in Arkansas continues with a blizzard of legal writs and appeals to the Supreme Court. The heart of the matter was the desire of the Governor, Asa Hutchinson, to execute eight inmates before the drugs run out. Ledell Lee was executed last Thursday.  States with the death penalty are finding it harder to obtain the medication to carry out the executions. This is partly due to the activities of anti-death penalty groups, waning support for the penalty with 49% of Americans in favour, and the refusal by drug companies to supply them. The EU has banned European firms from exporting them. Indeed, two firms who have supplied drugs – in particular Midazolam – have filed claims against its use on the basis that they were not supplied for that purpose. These claims have been rejected.
A recent appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected 5 – 4 and key was the vote by the newly appointed Justice Gorsuch. He was one of President Trump’s appointments.
One of the appeals was to re-examine crime scene materials using modern DNA techniques. These should prove conclusively either way whether the defendants were guilty or otherwise. These claims were denied which seems bizarre in the extreme when someone’s life is at stake. Ledell Lee has now been executed so it is too late for him. The inadequate nature of trials which lead to the use of the death penalty is describe in Clive Stafford Smith’s book Injustice.  The gruesome process of the death penalty is laid bare in the State of California’s procedure and protocol summarised here.
Arkansa now wants to execute two on the same day which is the first time that will have happened since 1970 in Texas.
This is a fast moving story and no doubt this item will be updated soon.
Sources:
Reuters; BBC; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Time; Arkansas Times; Death Penalty Information Center
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If you live in the Salisbury (UK) area and are interested in Human rights we would be delighted to see you. The best way is to keep an eye on events and come along and make yourself known. See also the Joining tab at the top of the page.
Petition signing: Syria
UPDATE 23 April:
Over 50 stopped to sign and we are grateful to those who did. If you have come to this site having read the leaflet we gave out – welcome. We hope you mark it as a favourite site and visit us from time to time. Details of other events can be found here.
On Saturday 22 April, we asked people to sign a petition concerning the atrocious conditions and executions in Saydnaya Prison in Syria. We were in the Library passage for an hour.
