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World News Archive from 2005
- Archive
of World News
See all CADP World News links and excerpts
from the years 2000 | 2001 | 2002
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2004.
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- Amnesty
International Reports on Death Penalty
The world continued to move closer to
the universal abolition of capital punishment
during 2004. By the end of the year 84
countries had abolished the death penalty
for all crimes. A further 12 countries
had abolished it for all but exceptional
crimes, such as wartime crimes. At least
24 countries were abolitionist in practice:
they had not carried out any executions for
the previous 10 years or more and were either
believed to have an established practice
of not carrying out executions or had made
an international commitment not to do so.
Seventy-six other countries and territories
retained the death penalty, but not all of
them passed death sentences and most did
not carry out executions during the year.
... At least 3,797 people were executed in
25 countries in 2004, and at least 7,395
people were sentenced to death in 64 countries,
according to Amnesty International. The true
figures were certainly higher. As in previous
years, the vast majority of executions worldwide
were carried out in a tiny handful of
countries. In 2004, 97 per cent of all
known executions took place in China,
Iran, the Viet Nam and the USA. (Amnesty
International)
- Austria: Hometown Snubs Schwarzenegger
Over Death Penalty
An Austrian town once
proud of its native son takes his name
off the local stadium after an execution
in California. (12/27/05, New York Times)
- Austria:
Terminate Schwarzenegger's Citizenship?
VIENNA, Austria -- California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger should be stripped of
citizenship in his native Austria for
approving the execution of a convicted
killer, a leading Austrian politician
said Saturday. The demand, by a top official
from the environmentalist Green Party,
had little chance for success, but it
underscores how Schwarzenegger has lost
popularity in his homeland over his support
for the death penalty. Most Austrians
-- and many other Europeans -- abhor
capital punishment as cruel and inhumane.
(1/23/05, The Daily Camera)
- European Parliament President Calls for
End to Capital Punishment
During a recent
meeting of the European Union's full assembly,
European Parliament president Josep Borrell
called on the 76 countries around the world
that continue to retain the death penalty
to discontinue use of capital punishment.
He noted that the United States is the only
democratic state that makes "widespread use" of
the death penalty and that the European
Union has a duty to convince Americans
to end the practice. "Most unfortunately,
in the U.S. the 1000th execution was carried
out. The fact that it almost coincided
with Human Rights Day makes this fact particularly
poignant," Borrell told the assembly. "But
there is a glimmer of hope. U.S. society
is changing its views on the death penalty." Borrell
then added, "For us in Europe, the
right to life is an inalienable right.
No one ever loses their right to life,
no matter what they have done." (12/21/05, DPIC Update)
- Iraq: European Union Criticizes Resumption
of Executions in Iraq
As Iraq resumed carrying
out the death penalty with the execution
of three nationals on September 1, the
European Union (EU) expressed its hope
that Iraq would abandon capital punishment.
In a statement released after the executions,
the EU noted, "The
EU is of the view that the death penalty
does not serve as an effective deterrent
and any miscarriage of justice, which
might arise in any legal system, would
be irreversible. The EU therefore regrets
that the government of Iraq has elected
to implement the death penalty in these
cases. ...The EU is strongly opposed
to the death penalty and condemns its
use. While recognizing the sovereign
right of the government of Iraq to decide
on judicial sentencing, we strongly urge
that the death penalty should be abolished." (9/2/05,
Islamic Republic News Agency)
- Kenya
Committed to Abolishing Capital Punishment
Kenyan Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi
announced that those on the nation's death
row will soon have their sentences commuted
to life imprisonment. Murungi noted that
he is working closely with Kenya's President's
Office to bring the nation into compliance
with its obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "We
are committed to abolishing the death penalty.
The death sentence is a violation of the
right to life," he said. (6/13/05, DPIC Update)
- Mexico Ends Death Penalty
Even as the
United States celebrated its 1,000th execution
since the reinstatement of the death penalty
in 1976, Mexico has finally wiped its own
death penalty off the books. On December
9th, President Vicente Fox signed off on
constitutional amendments that abolished
capital punishment in both civil courts
and military codes. Executions in Mexico
have been suspended for decades - the last
Mexican to be executed went before a military
firing squad in 1961. (12/23/05, www.CounterPunch.org)
- Mexico Wants to Prohibit Death Penalty
Mexico's House on Thursday approved a measure
striking the death penalty from the constitution
and inserting language expressly prohibiting
capital punishment. The amendment now
must be passed by legislatures in a majority
of the nation's 31 states, where it is
expected to face little opposition.
The Mexican legal system has not put
anyone to death since 1961, and courts
usually refuse to extradite suspects
to the United States or other countries
if there is a chance they could wind
up on death row. But capital punishment
is still technically legal, especially
in military courts. (6/24/05, The Daily
Camera)
- Report:
Death Penalty Hurts USA's International
Relations
A new report by the ACLU's Capital
Punishment Project discusses the
United States' position on the death
penalty in the face of international
concerns regarding this practice.
The PDF report, How
the Death Penalty Weakens U.S. International Interests, notes that many
other nations are moving toward abolition of capital punishment and are
critical of specific aspects of the death penalty in the U.S. Among the
topics featured in this resource are the ongoing international efforts to
abolish the death penalty, foreign intervention in U.S. capital cases, international
extradition cases involving the death penalty, rulings by the International
Court of Justice, and how the death penalty has affected America's war on
terror. (1/10/05, DPIC Update)
- Taiwan President Promises to Abolish
the Death Penalty
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has vowed
to abolish the death penalty so that his
country can become a nation founded on
the basis of human rights. In making his
announcement, Chen noted, "Abolishing
the death penalty has become a world trend.
Almost every year there is one country
abolishing the death penalty. (9/19/05, DPIC Update)
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