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World News Archive from 2007
- Archive
of World News
See all CADP World News links and excerpts
from the years 2000 | 2001 | 2002
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- UN
General Assembly Adopts Landmark Text
for Death Penalty Moratorium
The General Assembly today adopted 54 resolutions
and 12 decisions recommended by its Third
Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural),
including a landmark text calling for a
moratorium on executions to be established
in all States that still maintain the death
penalty, as well as a resolution strongly
condemning rape against women and girls
in all its forms, including in conflict
situations. The resolution calling for “a
moratorium on the death penalty”,
was passed by a vote of 104 in favour to
54 against, with 29 abstentions. It called
on all States that still allowed capital
punishment to “progressively
restrict the use of the death penalty and
reduce the number of offences for which
it may be imposed”. Those countries
were also called on to provide the Secretary-General
with information on their use of capital
punishment and to respect international
standards that safeguard the rights of
condemned inmates. (12/18/07, United Nations)
- European Union and World Leaders Mark
Day Against the Death Penalty
Member nations of the European Union and
the Council of Europe marked October 10th
as "European Day Against the Death
Penalty," an action to underscore
the continent's firm commitment to ending
executions throughout the world.
(10/15//07, DPIC Update)
- Britain
Pardons Soldiers Executed in WWI
Britain's lawmakers Tuesday granted
posthumous pardons for soldiers executed
during World War I, ending years of campaigning
by the families of men condemned to death
for cowardice. Around 300 soldiers, who
were executed during the 1914-1918 conflict
for failing to return to the front lines,
were included in the pardon. The government
has said it is continuing research to identify
other soldiers who were brought before
firing squads after only summary trials.
... "(The act) recognizes that execution
was not a fate that the servicemen deserved," the
Defense Ministry said. (11/7/06, ABC
News)
- China
Admits Selling Executed Prisoners'
Organs
BEIJING -- After years of denial, China
has acknowledged that most of the human
organs used in transplants here are taken
from executed prisoners and that many
of the recipients are foreigners who
pay hefty sums to avoid a long wait.
... Though China doesn't disclose the
number of annual executions, Amnesty
International says at least 1,770 people
were put to death in 2005, based on a
review of Chinese media reports. Some
activists say the annual figure could
be as high as 10,000. The lower estimate
represents more than 80% of at least
2,148 that Amnesty International says
took place worldwide last year. The United
States executed 60 prisoners. (11/18/06,
Los Angeles Times)
- France Amends Constitution to Ban the
Death Penalty
The French parliament voted to amend the
country's Constitution to include an explicit
ban on the death penalty. In a special joint
session held at the Palace of Versailles
(pictured), France's National Assembly and
Senate passed the amendment by a vote of
828-26. The death penalty has been outlawed
in France since 1981, but the recently passed
amendment officially inscribes the prohibition
into the constitution. "We are accomplishing
the wish of Victor Hugo in 1848, the pure,
simple, irreversible abolition" of the
death penalty, former Justice Minister Robert
Badinter told lawmakers.
(3/12/07, DPIC Update)
- Japan Lifts Secrecy on Executions
Japan hanged three murder convicts on
death row Friday and for the first time
publicly disclosed their names in a new
policy that lifts Tokyo's cloak of secrecy
surrounding executions.
... One of the few industrialized nations
to retain the death penalty, Japan had routinely
been criticized by human rights activists
for keeping details of its executions secret.
Amnesty International lauded the decision
to release more information about the convicts,
but strongly condemned the executions, which
increased the country's total for the year
to nine. "Executions were again carried
out suddenly, without advance warning to
either the convicts or their families," Amnesty
said in a statement. "We hope Japan
will take steps in the near future to abolish
the grave offense that the death penalty
is to human rights." (12/7/07, CNN.com)
- Iraq: Latest Hangings Pose a Dilemma
BAGHDAD - Iraq's leaders grappled
Thursday over the death sentences for three
former Saddam Hussein regime heavyweights
- including the notorious enforcer known
as "Chemical Ali" - amid warnings
the hangings could inflame sectarian violence
and derail efforts at reconciliation.
(10/19/07, The Denver Post) - Iraq:
Crowds Protest Saddam Hanging in Iraq
Enraged crowds protested the hanging of
Saddam Hussein across Iraq's Sunni heartland
Monday ... Until Saddam's execution Saturday,
most Sunnis sympathized with militants
but avoided taking a direct role in the
sectarian conflict... Sunnis were not
only outraged by Saddam's hurried execution,
just four days after an appeals court
upheld his conviction and sentence. Many
were also incensed by the unruly scene
in the execution chamber, captured on
video, in which Saddam was taunted. (1/1/07,
ABC News)
- Iraq:
Saddam Hussein Executed
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
was hanged in the predawn hours today
for crimes against humanity in the mass
murder of Shiite men and boys in the
1980s, sent to the gallows by a government
backed by the United States and led by
Shiite Muslims who had been oppressed
during his rule, Iraqi and American officials
said. ... Saddam's final days were rife
with controversy. Human rights groups widely
criticized his death sentence as unfair and
marred by procedural flaws. There was failure
to disclose key evidence to Saddam's
attorneys, as well as violations of the
basic rights of the defendants to confront
witnesses, human rights activists said.
The first presiding judge resigned. Iraqi
politicians routinely denounced the tribunal
as weak. Three defense lawyers and a
witness were assassinated. Outbursts
by the second chief judge, Raouf Rasheed
Abdel-Rahman, undermined his impartiality,
the activists said. ... European leaders
appealed to the Iraqi government not to impose
the verdict. Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope
Benedict XVI's top official on justice matters,
told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica
that executing Saddam would punish "a
crime with another crime." (12/30/06,
The Daily Camera)
- Iraq:
Saddam Hussein Could Be Executed Within
Days
The Iraqi government has told
U.S. officials that former Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein could be executed within
the next few days, a senior Bush administration
official said on Thursday. "I've
heard that it's going to be a couple
more days, probably," the official
said while Bush took a holiday break
at his Texas ranch. (12/28/06, ABC News)
- Iraq: Rights Group Criticizes Saddam
Trial
Human Rights Watch said Monday that
the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein was not carried out fairly, calling
the verdict "questionable" and
saying the Iraqi court was not equipped
to handle such a complex case. (11/20/06,
ABC.com)
- Iraq:
Killing Saddam Hussein is No Solution,
Say Churches
The Vatican has said that it would be
wrong to execute former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein, and other opponents of
the death penalty - including peace churches
(Mennonites, Quakers, and Brethren in
Christ) and ecumenical bodies - are likely
to argue that such an outcome would be
counterproductive as well as morally
corrosive. The concern of church and
human rights bodies comes after the verdict
of death by hanging was passed upon Saddam
after the first of two projected trials in
Iraq, following the ex-president’s
seizure by the Americans after the US-led
invasion and occupation of the country
in 2003. (11/5/06, Ekklesia)
- Italian Premier Calls for Worldwide Death
Penalty Moratorium
Italian Premier Romano
Prodi called for a worldwide moratorium
on the death penalty in an address to world
leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
Prodi advocated passage of a U.N. moratorium
resolution, saying, "If genuine politics
means showing foresight, we shall perform
a great political act through the adoption
of this resolution. It will demonstrate
that humankind isn't capable of making
progress only in science but also in the
field of ethics."
(10/1/07, DPIC Update)
- Religion
and Death Penalty Web Page Debuts
The Death Penalty Information Center's
new Religion and the Death Penalty Web page
is now available online. In recent years,
a growing number of religious organizations
have participated in the nation's death penalty
debate. The purpose of this new Web page
is to provide access to information regarding
the efforts of these faith groups and to
highlight recent developments related to
religion and the death penalty. The page
features official religious statements on
the death penalty from nearly 20 denominations,
including a dozen branches of Christianity,
Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. (3/5/07, DPIC Update)
- World:
Several Boys Die Copying Saddam Hanging
The boys' deaths scattered in the United
States, in Yemen, in Turkey and elsewhere
in seemingly isolated horror had one
thing in common: They hanged themselves
after watching televised images of Saddam
Hussein's execution. ... The experts
say such graphic images can severely affect
youngsters who do not yet understand the
consequences of death and violence especially
because Saddam's death received intense international
attention. (1/15/07, ABC News)
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