Guatemalan president move to veto death penalty legislation welcomed

On the eve of World Day Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International has welcomed President Álvaro Colom’s public commitment to veto proposed legislation that would lead to the reapplication of the death penalty.

The Guatemalan Congress had voted on 5 October 2010 to approve legislation that would have allowed the use of the death penalty. However, President Colom has since said he would veto the move because he does not think the president should decide on the life of others.

"This is very good news. The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights - the premeditated, cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state," said Sebastian Elgueta, Central America Researcher at Amnesty International.

"President Colom must now make his commitment a reality as he did back in 2008 following a similar move by Congress. Were Guatemala to reapply the death penalty, it would stand against a global and region trend towards the abolition of the death penalty."

More than 2/3 of countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.

"Even the USA, which is the country in the region that continues to carry out scores of executions, is showing signs of turning against this inhuman and degrading treatment," said Sebastian Elgueta.

Amnesty International urges the Guatemalan Congress to desist from putting forward such bills again and instead propose legislation for the abolition death penalty, and legislation which address the real issues that lie behind crime. Far from making society safer, the death penalty has shown to have a brutalizing effect on society. State sanctioned killing only serves to endorse the use of force and to continue the cycle of violence

"Congress should be discussing and passing bills to effectively equip the police force and judicial systems to eradicate impunity as well as bills which address inequality and discrimination," said Sebastian Elgueta.

With a 2/3 majority Congress passed legislation on 5 October establishing presidential pardons for those on death row and has 10 days to send Decree 37-2010 to the President for approval. The President will then have 30 days to approve or veto the decree. Should the President veto the decree, Congress can override the veto with 105 votes (2/3 majority) if the vote occurs within 30 days of the Presidential veto.

The Guatemalan constitution, adopted in 1985, permits the death penalty under article 18 for murder or kidnapping. The creation of presidential pardons would allow the country to use the death penalty for the first time since 2000 when the last execution was carried out. 10 people currently on death row could be executed if the death penalty is reactivated. Since 2000, successive governments have not applied the death penalty, by not implementing measures to enable them to issue presidential pardons for those sentenced to death.

Capital punishment is irrevocable; and coupled with judicial systems prone to human error and prejudice; the risk of executing an innocent person is ever present. In 2007, the UN reaffirmed and strengthened its position against this cruel and inhumane punishment, when the General Assembly passed a resolution calling upon member states to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing it all together.

Source: Amnesty International, October 8, 2010

Guatemala congress urged not to return to the death penalty

Human rights groups have called on the Guatemalan congress to abolish the death penalty instead of regulating it, as MP’s debate legislation that would allow its use for the first time since 2000.

The new legislation would create presidential pardons for those on death row, a move that would allow the country to use the death penalty in what politicians say is a response to public pressure over rising gang violence.

“The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, said Guadalupe Marengo, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Americas programme.

Marengo continued: “More than two-thirds of countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice as in the rest of the Americas. Even the USA, which is the only country in the region that consistently carries out executions, is showing signs of turning against this inhuman and degrading treatment. Guatemala would be turning against this positive trend if its congress paves the way for the reapplication of the death penalty.”

If the Guatemalan congress votes in favour of that legislation, ten people, who are currently in death row, could be executed.

Amnesty says it recognises that crime in Guatemala is widespread and Guatemalan congressmen and women have a duty to ensure they pass legislation that will reduce this worrying trend so that residents can live without fear.

“Executing those who commit horrific crimes will not be a deterrent. Studies from around the world show that the death penalty has no special deterrent effect and far from making society safer, it has a brutalizing effect on society. State sanctioned killing only serves to endorse the use of force and to continue the cycle of violence,” declared Marengo.

“The Guatemalan congress should be voting to abolish the death penalty instead of regulating it and address the real issues that lie behind crime. Police and judicial systems must be equipped to eradicate impunity and the government should address inequality and discrimination,” the Amnesty spokesperson said.

The Guatemalan constitution, passed in 1985, permits the death penalty under article 18. The last execution was carried out in Guatemala in 2000, using lethal injection.

Since then, successive governments have established a de facto moratorium in the application of death penalty, by not implementing measures to enable them to issue presidential pardons for those sentenced to death.

In 2005 the Inter-American court ruled that Guatemala could not apply the death penalty because it did not have a procedure in place for the granting of presidential pardons.

Bill 4175, currently being debated in congress, proposes a mechanism for presidential pardons. If the Guatemalan Congress votes in favour of that legislation, ten people, who are currently in death row, could be executed.

Capital punishment is irrevocable; and coupled with judicial systems prone to human error and prejudice, the risk of executing an innocent person is ever present, say Amnesty (http://www.amnesty.org/) and other critics.

In 2007, the United Nations reaffirmed and strengthened its position against this cruel and inhumane treatment, when the General Assembly passed a resolution calling upon member states to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing it all together.

Source: ekklesia.co.uk, October 5, 2010

Could Joran van der Sloot Get the Death Penalty in Peru for Murder of Stephany Flores?

Could Joran van der Sloot possibly get the death penalty in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores? The answer is quite simply, no.

While Peru is one of nine countries in the world that does have the death penalty, it has many limitations. Peruvian law reads something to the effect that the death penalty may be considered, but only for crimes "committed in exceptional circumstances". This means that only crimes that are committed in times of war or genocide or crimes under military law can be considered as death penalty cases.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia wanted to introduce the death penalty into law in 2007, for terrorists, but even that bill was rejected. A poll taken in '07 determined that more than 70% of Peruvians were in favor of instituting a death penalty in their country.

Murder is considered a fairly ordinary crime in Peru, so that won't even be a consideration in the case of Joran van der Sloot. It is almost incomprehensible that he was never tried for the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Now he has confessed to murdering Stephany Flores. Speculation has him serving only 15-35 years at the most. The Peruvian system is actually designed so that criminals who confess will be given more lenient sentences by the judge.

See video below that talks about the lack of the death penalty in Peru, and what speculation says about van der Sloot's possible sentence.

Source: K. Ripley, NewsGather.com, June 8, 2010

Joran van der Sloot Confesses To Murder, Will Get 15-35 Years “At The Most”

Joran van der Sloot could be formally charged as early as Tuesday in the killing of Stephany Flores Ramirez, Peruvian government authorities said.

The government authorities said Van der Sloot confessed to murder late Monday. He will likely be held at one of three maximum security prisons — Castro Castro, Piedras Gordas and Lurigancho, authorities said.

Efforts by CNN to contact van der Sloot’s attorney were not immediately successful. At his first court appearance, the judge may set a hearing date for van der Sloot and could order additional investigations in the case. The Peruvian justice system often issues a lighter sentence in cases where the suspect confesses. That may have influenced his alleged confession. Van der Sloot could get up to 35 years in prison. There is no death penalty or life sentence in Peru.

A Peruvian police report leaked Monday said Flores was found in his hotel room on the floor, half-dressed. The report provides new details about the hours before Flores’ body was found. Van der Sloot, who was twice arrested in connection with the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005.

Wow since there’s no death penalty or life sentence in Peru, they need to lock that boy up under the prison or something.

Source: CNN.com, June 8, 2010


Police say Van der Sloot confessed

LIMA, Peru | Joran Van der Sloot (left) — long the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of a U.S. teen in Aruba — has confessed to killing a Peruvian woman in his Lima hotel room, police said Tuesday.

Officials said plans are in place to take Van der Sloot to the hotel where the 21-year-old business student was killed on May 30.

Officials also said Tuesday that police have until the weekend to file charges against the Dutchman for the May 30 killing of Stephany Flores.

The beating death occurred exactly five years after Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old American, disappeared in Aruba — an assumed death in which Van der Sloot has been considered the prime suspect by authorities on the Dutch island in the Caribbean.

It wasn’t clear if Van der Sloot was represented by an attorney in Peru, and there was no comment from him or his family about the reported confession.

Peru’s chief police spokesman, Col. Abel Gamarra, told The Associated Press late Monday that Van der Sloot confessed earlier in the day.

Several Peruvian media outlets reported, without identifying their sources, that he admitted killing Flores in a rage after learning she looked up information about his past on his laptop without permission.

La Republica said Van der Sloot tearfully confessed, in the presence of a prosecutor and a state-appointed attorney, to grabbing Flores by the neck and hitting her because she had viewed images about the Aruba case on his computer while he was out buying coffee.

Gamarra, senior police officials and prosecutors would not provide details of the alleged confession, which came on Van der Sloot’s third full day in Peruvian custody.

Meanwhile, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant quoted the suspect’s lawyer in the Netherlands as suggesting the confession may have been coerced.

“Joran told his mother crying Monday that he was being interrogated under reasonably barbaric conditions,” the paper quoted Bert De Rooij saying. “He said the police were trying to force him to confess.”

Under such conditions, he said, the “confession was possibly false.”

Officials at the Dutch Embassy, who said the suspect’s family was attempting to obtain private counsel for Van der Sloot, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Flores, the daughter of a Peruvian circus impresario and former race car driver, was found beaten to death, her neck broken, in the 22-year-old Dutchman’s hotel room. Police said the two met playing poker at a casino.

Source: kansascity.com, June 8, 2010

Ecuador: Indian town drops death penalty in murder case

An Indian community that sentenced a young man to death by hanging for the murder of another man softened his punishment Sunday, ordering him to do five years of community service instead.

Orlando Quishpe, 21, was also subjected to punishments that included carrying a heavy sack of dirt, an ice-water bath and a public whipping with a thorny plant while he was forced to beg forgiveness.

Ecuador's attorney general had threatened legal action against the community after it ordered Quishpe's execution last week, because the South American nation does not allow the death penalty.

The Indians refused the government's request that the suspect be handed over to the regular courts. Ecuador's constitution recognizes indigenous justice as long as it does not violate the charter or human rights.

An assembly of residents in La Cocha, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) from the capital, debated for 6 hours Sunday and dropped the death penalty.

They decided Quishpe will carry out "5 years of work in the field," community leader Ricardo Chaluisa told reporters. He said the work would be supervised by members of Quishpe's home community, Guantopolo.

Before he was turned over to leaders from Guantopolo, Quishpe, who works as a carpenter and is in a rock band, underwent a day of punishment.

Nearly naked, he first was made to hold a sack of dirt for 10 minutes. Tied to a whipping post, he was doused in an icy bath and beaten with nettles while he apologized to the townspeople – although he denied any guilt in the slaying of Marco Olivo, 21.

Olivo was beaten and then hanged with a belt on May 9. Town leaders accused Quishpe of using his belt in the killing. No motive for the attack has been released.

4 other young men underwent a day of punishment for the crime a week ago. The community said they confessed to participating in the attack.

Source: Associated Press, May 29, 2010

Iran, China Repression Worsened; U.S. Disappoints, Amnesty Says

Human rights abuses and repression increased in Iran and China last year, while South American countries made strides in punishing former dictators, Amnesty International said in its annual report.

"The situation in Iran is critical," Claudio Cordone, interim secretary general of the London-based human rights group said in a telephone interview. "In China, we saw many attempts to repress free speech and block the Internet."

Amnesty found evidence of torture or other types of mistreatment in 111 of 159 countries surveyed. There were unfair trials in 55 countries, freedom-of-speech restrictions in 96, and political prisoners in 48 countries. It also highlighted delays to the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. U.S. President Barack Obama had promised to shut it within one year of taking office.

"Unfortunately, progress in the U.S. has not been as fast nor as deep as we hoped," said Cordone. "There's been no accountability, and there are still military tribunals, which we don't feel allow for a fair trial."

While 2009 was a "landmark" year that saw the International Criminal Court indict its first head of state, many national governments continue to block attempts by international courts and organizations to pursue human rights abuses, Amnesty said in the report, published today.

"Powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient," it said.

War Crimes

The African Union refused to cooperate with The Hague-based ICC after it indicted Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir, Amnesty said. It also said the United Nations' Human Rights Council took little action while Sri Lanka's army and Tamil militants both committed potential war crimes, and Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas never followed up a UN report that accused both sides of human rights abuses during their January 2009 war.

"Impunity for U.S. violations related to counter-terrorism continued," it added.

Political repression increased notably in Iran after contested elections, but also in Tunisia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and China, Amnesty's report said.

Latin America

The main advances during the year were in Latin America, where countries including Argentina, Uruguay and Peru pursued past leaders for human rights abuses.

Amnesty also praised the new Japanese government for suspending capital punishment and starting a national debate about the death penalty, and it noted that South Africa and Botswana refused to follow the African Union's repudiation of the ICC after Bashir's indictment.

It noted that 7 members of the G-20 group of leading nations -- the U.S., China, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India and Indonesia -- haven't joined the ICC.

"If you belong to this exclusive club of leading countries, then you should prove that you are helping to close the justice gap," Cordone said.

Source: Bloomberg News, May 27, 2010