The latest report for the December – January period is now available thanks to group member Lesley for doing the research. The usual suspects feature: Saudi Arabia; USA; Pakistan and Belarus with the addition of Gaza this time. Remember that China is the world’s largest execution but the data is a state secret.
We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in putting it together. Note that China executes more of its citizens than the rest of the world put together but details are a state secret.
There is an action taking place in Salisbury on 1 September between 9:00 and noon. It will be in the Cheese market or in the Library passage. Details are in the above report.
Potential new members are invited to come along and make themselves known during this event.
Attached is the current death penalty report thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Grim news on several fronts with Sri Lanka thinking of re-using the penalty. China leads the world it is believed in the use of the penalty although details are a state secret.
On the issue of China, readers may like to read the website of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders which charts the systematic denial of human rights freedoms by the Chinese government. Links to many human rights sites can be found at the bottom of this site.
Pic: Amnesty
Belarus is the last country in Europe that maintains the death penalty. Good news is rare so when it happens it is to be welcomed. News broke yesterday that the Supreme Court of Belarus, in an unprecedented move, has decided to suspend and review the death sentences of Ihar Hershankou and Siamion Berazhnoy while their appeals are under consideration. Marie Struthers, Director of Amnesty’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, said:
This is a hugely significant and unprecedented decision for the only country in the region that has continued to execute people all these years. We are not aware of other cases where the Supreme Court of Belarus has suspended an execution. We continue to monitor the case closely, but it gives us hope that after years of discussion on the death penalty Belarus is ready to ‘walk the talk’ and has urged the authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on executions and to commute all death sentences as a first step towards abolition
UPDATE The Amnesty death penalty report is now to hand and can be accessed here.
The latest death penalty report is now available thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it.
Note that China remains the world’s leader in executions but the details and statistics are a state secret.
If you would like to join the local group you would be very welcome. Keep and eye on this site and on Facebook and Twitter for details of activities and come along and make yourself known. It is free to join the local group.
The monthly death penalty report is available thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it.
Theresa May has repeatedly stated her feelings that Britain would be better served by leaving the European convention on human rights than it would leaving the European Union. As we enter Brexit negotiations, there is now every possibility that both these scenarios could easily come to pass. The ECHR has been the bedrock of peace in Europe since the Second World War and was instrumental in the remarkable growth of democracy in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is no coincidence that the one state that is not part of the convention, Belarus, is known as “Europe’s last dictatorship”. The withdrawal of Britain from the EU and the ECHR in succession could embolden populist leaders in countries such as Hungary and Poland to abandon domestic and international commitments to human rights.
We face the threat of a human rights crisis with the UK trading away protections against torture for grubby trade deals with foreign tyrants. We are calling for the EU to make Britain’s membership of the ECHR a legally binding requirement for any future free trade deal with the UK. The rule of law and human rights are non-negotiable when new countries join the EU; they should be non-negotiable when countries leave and desire a free trade deal.
As parliament scrutinises the bill on withdrawing from the EU and further legislation on Brexit, MPs, peers and the EU itself must make sure that Britain’s membership of the ECHR is a requirement of any future trade deal with the EU.
Signed Sashy Nathan, Baroness Kennedy QC, Lord Lester QC, Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC, Alex Bailin QC, Alex Grigg, Ali Naseem Bajwa QC, Alistair Polson, Amos Waldman, Anya Lewis, Ben Cooper
Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, Celia Graves, David Jones, Dr Leslie Thomas QC, Grainne Mellon, Top of Form
Greg Ó Ceallaigh, Harriet Johnson, Helen Foot, James Wood, Jelia Sane, John Halford
Jules Carey, Keir Monteith, Louise Hooper, Malcolm Hawkes, Mark Stephens CBE, Navita Atreya, Nerida Harford-Bell, Paramjit Ahluwalia, Patrick O’Connor QC, Phil Haywood
Prof. Fergal Davis, Prof. Francesca Klug OBE, Professor Steve Peers, Ravi Naik, Sadat Sayeed, Sally Ireland, Sarah Forster, Sean Horstead, Sir Paul Jenkins KCB QC, Stephen Lue
We should add that our MP Mr John Glen, is in favour of this policy.
The latest death penalty report covering the period 13 January to 9 February is attached and thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. The report notes that many of the countries which feature in the report have close links with the UK as we have described in previous posts.
Reggie Clemons (picture Amnesty USA)
The latest edition of the death penalty report is now available thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. China leads the world in the number of its citizens it executes.
STOP PRESS
Since this item was posted we have received notification that Californian Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation has extended its written public comment period to 15 May. Full details can be found on another post.
The death penalty report for March/April 2016 is now available thanks to group member Lesley for compiling it. It has been a grim period with rises in executions in Iran and Pakistan and several executions in USA following dubious trials. Iran is coming under increasing scrutiny worldwide for its practice of executing people who were juveniles at the time of their alleged offences.
China continues to lead the world with more executions than all other countries put together.
