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World News Archive from 2004
- Archive
of World News
See all CADP World News links and excerpts
from the years 2000 | 2001 | 2002
| 2003.
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- Africa: Abolition of the Death Penalty
Gaining Ground
During the past 10 years, most Commonwealth
African countries have moved toward abolishing
the death penalty and today almost half of
these countries have abandoned the practice
according to Amnesty International. Government
leaders from around the continent recently
met in Entebbe, Uganda, for a two-day summit
to discuss capital punishment. Five Southern
African Development Countries have abolished
capital punishment, and the number of countries
ending the death penalty in the Economic
Community of West Aftican States region and
Mauritania jumped from one to 10 in just
one decade. In addition, Presidents from
several nations, including Zambia, Nigeria,
and Kenya, have taken significant steps toward
commuting death sentences and working toward
abolition. (5/18/04, DPIC)
- Europe
Split Over Possible Saddam Execution
PARIS, France (AP) -- Baghdad's decision
to re-establish the death penalty ahead
of the war crimes trial of Saddam Hussein
evoked a mixed reaction in Europe, recalling
the split across the continent over the
war that toppled the Iraqi leader. Germany
and France, two of the most vocal anti-war
opponents, strongly stated their opposition
-- without exception -- to the death
penalty and called on Iraqi authorities
to ensure Saddam a fair trial. ... The
25-member European Union intends to let Iraq
know of its opposition to
the death penalty, said Emma Udwin, external
relations spokeswoman for the European
Commission. (7/1/04, CNN.com)
- India: First Execution in Nine Years
CALCUTTA, India -- A man convicted
of raping and murdering a teenage girl
was hanged at dawn today in this Indian
city, the first execution in nine years
in a country where the death penalty is
reserved for "the rarest of rare cases." Dhananjaya
Chatterjee, 39, was executed at 4:30 a.m.
local time. He walked out
of Cell No. 3 at the Alipora Correctional
Home, where he has spent the last 13 years
in solitary confinement, and walked down
a concrete path to
the wooden gallows. An 84-year-old hangman brought out of retirement carried
out the execution, helped by his son and
grandson. Earlier at the prison,
about 70 protesters had gathered at 2 a.m.,
lit candles and held anti-death penalty
banners. At the time of the hanging, they
were silent for a moment, and then left. ...
The case also raised objections from human
rights groups and intellectuals in West
Bengal state. The European Union asked
India on June 23 to abolish capital punishment.
(8/14/04, The Daily Camera)
- Iraq:
World Coalition Condemns New Iraq Death
Penalty
After the transfert of sovereignty to
the new sovereign Iraqi Interim Government,
the World Coalition against the Death
Penalty regrets the decision of the Iraqi
Interim Government to reinstate the death
penalty in Iraq. ... The World Coalition
against the death penalty is opposed to the
death penalty
in any circumstances whatsoever and recalls
the recent developments within the international
community which, with the Arusha and
The Hague courts, and then with the International
Criminal Court, which came into being
the 1st July 2002, refuses to petition
the death penalty to judge any perpetrator
of crimes against humanity, genocide
or war crimes. The opposition to the
death penalty concerns in particular the
judicial
fate
of Saddam Hussein. The deposed Iraqi
dictator no longer represents a threat
to the international community. Likewise,
using the DP against "terrorists" is
likely to be counterproductive, and would
elevate these criminals to the level
of martyrs by giving them a posthumous
victory. (7/1/04, NCADP)
- Iraq:
Bush Wants Saddam Death Penalty
WASHINGTON
-- Saddam Hussein deserves the "ultimate
penalty" for his crimes, President Bush
said Tuesday, putting the United States sharply
at odds with Europe and the United Nations
which adamantly oppose the death penalty.
(12/17/03, The Daily Camera)
- World
Court Says U.S. Must Review Death Penalty
Cases
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The world
court ruled that the United States violated
the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row
to receive diplomatic help, and ordered
Washington to review their cases. ... Mexico
does not have the death penalty. In 2002, Mexican
President Vicente Fox
canceled a visit to U.S. President George
W. Bush's ranch in Texas to protest the
state's execution of convicted police killer
Javier Suarez Medina, a Mexican national.
The Supreme Court had refused to hear his
appeal. It is the third time the United
States was brought before the court over
death penalties imposed against foreign
nationals. (3/31/04, CNN.com)
- World
Leaders Lobby Against USA Juvenile Executions
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jimmy Carter, Mikhail
Gorbachev, the American Medical Association
and 48 nations are among those lobbying
the Supreme Court to end the execution
of killers who committed their crimes before
age 18. The United States is among only
a handful of nations that allow the practice.
The high court will reconsider this fall
whether such executions are constitutional.
... "By
continuing to execute child offenders in
violation of international norms, the
United States is not just leaving itself
open to charges of hypocrisy, but is also
endangering the rights of many around the
world," said the filing on behalf
of Nobel Peace Prize winners, including
former President Carter and former Soviet
President Gorbachev. ... The liberal wing
of the nine-justice Supreme Court is already
on record supporting 18
as the minimum age of eligibility for the
death penalty. Those four justices took
an extraordinary step in the fall of 2002,
signing a dissent in an appeal by a death
row inmate that called it "shameful" to
execute juvenile killers. ... The case
[next term] is Roper v. Simmons, 03-633.
(7/19/04, CNN.com)
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