Taiwan: Legality of capital punishment upheld

DEATH ROW: Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu said there was no timetable for carrying out executions, although a plan to prioritize them was under consideration

The Justices of the Constitutional Court rejected a petition yesterday aimed at halting plans to execute the 40 inmates that remain on death row.

"The defendants are given the opportunity to defend and express themselves during the trial process ... There is no violation of the Constitution in the convictions," the Constitutional Court said in a statement.

"The request to suspend the executions is dismissed, as the court declines to review the case," the court said.

"Execution of the death row prisoners does not violate the two United Nations covenants that Taiwan has signed," the court said, in a reference to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The covenants were passed by the legislature on March 31 last year and later signed into law by President Ma Ying-jeou.

The petition was filed by the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, on behalf of the 40 death row inmates.

Taiwan executed 4 of the 44 prisoners on death row on April 30, the 1st executions to be carried out since December 2005.

The Ministry of Justice said the 4 men had been tried and convicted of "grave offenses such as lethal kidnappings and murder" and their sentences had been confirmed by courts at various levels.

The executions came 5 weeks after former minister of justice Wang Ching-feng resigned amid a political storm sparked when she declared that she would not sign any death warrants during her term in office.

The justice ministry yesterday said it respected the Consitutional Court’s decision.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, however, said in a statement it was saddened by the decision, which it described as "deeply regrettable."

The non-profit organization, which has a team of volunteer lawyers, said it would make further comments on the judgment after it receives official confirmation of the decision from the Judicial Yuan.

Legal experts said the ministry could resume the execution of death row inmates at any time.

Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu said yesterday there was no timetable for carrying out more executions despite the court's decision.

The execution date of the 40 inmates currently on death row would be based on the gravity on their crimes, he said.

In a meeting with the Chiayi District Prosecutors' Office, the minister said a plan to prioritize the execution of inmates whose crimes involved brutal murders, including multiple deaths or killings within the family, was under consideration.

His comments came shortly after a report appeared in the Chinese-language United Daily News claiming that the ministry could carry out a 2nd round of executions before the end of the year.

Taiwan reserves the death penalty for serious crimes including aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery.

Source: Taipei Times, May 29, 2010

Thieves steal from Colombian World Cup players' hotel

THIEVES have stolen $2000 cash from the hotel rooms of Colombia's World Cup squad in an embarrassment for organisers ahead of the showpiece tournament in South Africa.

Two employees of the five-star Hyde Park Southern Hotel in Johannesburg who were already under investigation for unrelated offenses have been charged with the crime, Johannesburg's The Times newspaper said

It occurred prior to the team's World Cup warm-up match against South Africa which they lost 2-1 on Thursday.

South Africa's high crime rate, including 50 murders a day, has become a major headache ahead of the World Cup which opens on June 11. Organizers have drafted in 44,000 additional security personnel to police the event.

But cases like the Hyde Park theft may be difficult to avoid, according to police.

"It was an inside job. How do you police that? You cannot," the newspaper quoted police spokesman Eugene Opperman as saying.

US warns of World Cup terrorism in South Africa

The US government has issued a travel alert warning its citizens that South Africa faces a heightened risk of terrorism during the World Cup.

It says that large-scale public events present an attractive target.

"There is a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within South Africa in the near future," the US state department said.

The warning came as US President Barack Obama wished the the American World Cup football team good luck.

"I just want to say how incredibly proud we are of the team," said Mr Obama, who was joined by former President Bill Clinton to give the players a presidential send-off at the White House in Washington.

Everybody's going to be rooting for you," he said.

"And although sometimes we don't remember it here in the United States, this is going to be the biggest world stage there is."

for more news details : us warns

Death Penalty Dashes Migrant Workers’ Hopes

MANILA, May 11, 2010 (IPS) - Every day some 4,500 Filipinos leave their homeland in search of the proverbial green pastures. But some of them end up facing death instead.

Jakatia Pawa, 33, a mother of two working as a domestic helper in Kuwait, was convicted of killing her employer’s daughter despite the lack of evidence linking her to the alleged crime. She currently faces a death sentence in Kuwait.

Joselito Zapanta, 30, who works as a tile setter in Riyadh, claims he fought back when he was beaten by his Sudanese landlord. Early this year, the father of two was sentenced to death for the alleged accidental killing of his employer.

These are just two of the cases of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row that have been documented by Migrante International, the largest alliance of Filipino migrant organisations, which claims that the plight of OFWs has gotten worse.

"Some cases have recently been commuted to life imprisonment, but there are roughly about 60 Filipinos on death row," Garry Martinez, chairperson of Migrante International, told IPS.

At least 26 of these come from the Middle East for crimes like homicide and murder in self-defense. Death row cases in China are also on the rise, mainly for drug-related offences, according to Migrante.

Local news reports cite the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as saying some Filipinos are also facing death sentences in Malaysia, Kuwait, Brunei and the United States.

Roughly one-third or 58 countries around the world still hand out death sentences, according to the New York-based Amnesty International (AI), while 139 countries, including the Philippines, have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

According to the Commission on Population, an estimated 10 percent of the country’s 92 million population works abroad, making the Philippines one of the biggest senders of workers for overseas employment. Between January and November 2009 alone, some 1.28 million Filipinos were deployed abroad, said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, which monitors the overseas employment of Filipinos.

"Many leave the Philippines for other countries to work as migrant workers due to the lack of jobs, poor working conditions and wages and salaries which are inadequate for decent living in the country. But many of them end up isolated, abused, trapped and, worse, some are killed," Dr Aurora Parong, director of AI-Philippines, told IPS.

Migrante estimates that there are close to 5,000 overseas Filipinos languishing in foreign jails. Cases of mysterious deaths of Filipinos in foreign countries are also common. The non-governmental organisation receives five to six new cases daily.

Based on cases it has handled, Migrante said that OFWs have been turned away from Philippines embassies when they sought help, were not given legal counsel, and that they were forced, usually by the host country’s police, to make false confessions. Language and cultural barriers are also a major challenge.

"We received a letter written on toilet paper from several (Filipinos) on death row detailing how they were tortured for five days until they confessed to a crime they did not commit," shared Martinez. The victims, who were working in Saudi Arabia, were able to mail the letter to their families through the help of Filipino nurses based in the same country.

When sought for comment, the Office for the Undersecretary of Migrant and Workers Affairs (OUMWA) under the DFA could not give any updates on the cases of the OFWs facing the death penalty.

"I have no knowledge on these cases because the different (consular) desks assigned to the countries concerned are handling that," Bert Manayao, case officer of OUMWA, told IPS.

When asked what services they provided to OFWs in distress, Manayao said that they gave "legal assistance" but would not elaborate further. He added that it was difficult to deal with the cases of Filipinos who "pretended to be innocent" and that many OFWs were easily fooled into becoming drug mules.

According to its website, the OUMWA is mandated to deliver "timely assistance to Filipino nationals" and protect "the dignity, rights and freedom of Filipino citizens abroad."

The Philippine government, though, has been able to save several OFWs on death row in the past, by appealing to host countries’ governments, writing a ‘tanazul’ (letter of forgiveness) and offering blood money, a compensation paid by an offender to the family of the victim, said Migrante.

But this practice is unacceptable to some of the OFWs.

"For those in jail who are innocent, asking for forgiveness is like admitting that they committed a crime. What they want is for the Philippine government to defend them and fight for their innocence," said Migrante’s Martinez.

Fifteen years after the hanging of Filipina domestic helper Flor Contemplacion in Singapore sparked public outrage, Migrante laments that not much progress has been achieved to improve the plight of OFWs.

Despite the threats confronting Filipinos abroad, the labour export policy in the country remains strong, which Migrante attributes to the billions the government rakes in from mandatory contributions and fees required of departing OFWs as well as from their remittances, which hit 17.348 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, up from 16.426 billion dollars in 2008, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines.)

Now that the May 10 presidential elections are over, Migrante hopes that the next administration will do something concrete to address the hapless conditions of migrants, adding that six OFWs have been beheaded under outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s watch.

"What we want to see is the (government’s) willingness to reverse the labour export policy and ensure jobs locally so that these kinds of human rights violations no longer occur," said Martinez.

Source: IPS News, Kara Santos, May 11, 2010

Obama in Gulf as BP makes progress

Obama visited the Louisiana coast, where sticky oil has permeated wetlands, closed down with the lucrative fishing trade and angered locals whose communities are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said that so-called top kill procedure, in which heavy drilling "mud" is pumped into the seabed well shaft, was showing some signs of success in choking off the leak that has already spewed millions of gallons (liters) of oil into the Gulf.

But the success of the operation, never attempted at such depths,and was still uncertain and it would be another 48 hours before the company knew whether it worked, he said.

"We don't know whether we will be able to overcome the well," Hayward told NBC's "Today" show. The British-based energy giant has said that the "top kill" plugging operation had a 60 to 70 percent chance of success.

The spill is a major challenge for Obama.

Opinion polls show many Americans are dissatisfied with Obama's handling of the five-week-old crisis. He was on the defensive at a news conference on Thursday, rebutting criticism that his administration had been too slow to act and too quick to believe what it was being told by BP.

On his visit to the Gulf coast, Obama inspected oil-trapping booms at a beach in Port Fourchon, the hub of the Gulf oil industry and one of the areas worst affected by crude coming ashore from the spreading spill.

Sex monster Garry Narkle faces life in jail for raping homeless man

WESTERN Australia's most notorious sex offender may spend the rest of his life behind bars after repeatedly raping a homeless man.

Garry Narkle, 55, was found guilty yesterday of six counts of sexual penetration without consent.

Narkle had elected not to be tried by a jury, and sat in the dock with his head bowed for almost 90 minutes as Perth District Court Judge Philip Eaton read his verdict - raising his head only briefly on being found guilty and led away into custody.

Narkle, who has a long list of sex and other offences, was once described by former WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty as a "serial sex monster''.

After the verdict was read, prosecutor Janet Whitbread said the state would apply to have Narkle held indefinitely, given his extensive criminal record.

The six charges were in relation to events on the night of January 29, 2009, when Narkle met his 39-year-old victim outside a bank ATM and invited him back to his Queens Park caravan, in Perth's southern suburbs.

All My Sons Press Night

David attended the Press Night for the Arthur Miller play All My Sons at The Apollo Theatre in London last night.
Whatsonstage.com has a review of the show and a selection of photos from the event.