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News and Developments 2006: International

Texas Court Rejects Presidential Order in Death Penalty Case

Posted: November 16, 2006
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rebuffed President Bush's order that Texas courts review the cases of Mexican foreign nationals who were sentenced to death without the benefit of their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.  Writing for the court, Judge Michael Keasler, stated: "We hold that the President has exceeded his constitutional authority by intruding into the independent powers of the judiciary."  Judge Sharon Keller concurred, writing: "this unprecedented, unnnecessary, and intrusive exercise of power over the Texas court

INTERNATIONAL: China Moves to Sharply Restrict Use of Death Penalty

Posted: November 01, 2006
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China has adopted new rules that will require all death sentences to be reviewed by the Supreme People's Court, the country's highest court.  In the past, China has been consistently listed as the leading country in the world in carrying out executions.  The current reforms are a response to domestic and international criticism that cited China's widespread and arbitrary use of the death penalty.  In addition, Chinese courts have been embarrassed in recent years when a number of people who had been executed were later shown to be innocent.  The New China News Agency said the changes are "

INTERNATIONAL: World Day Against the Death Penalty Marked Throughout Europe

Posted: October 11, 2006
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At a joint press conference held by the European Commission (EC) and the Council of Europe, Vice-President Franco Frattini of the EC stated that "the administration of State killing via the judicial system serves no useful purpose in preventing crime but can have a brutalising effect on societies that inflict it".
 

Their press release marking this occasion noted that considerable progress has been made towards abolishing the death penalty:

Rwanda Likely to End Death Penalty to Bring Closure to War

Posted: September 12, 2006
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The Justice Minister of Rwanda, Tharcisse Karugarama, announced that the country will likely pass a law by December 2006 ending capital punishment.  This move would allow Rwanda to try suspects charged with atrocities in the 1994 war who are currently in countries that refuse to extradite prisoners if they face the death penalty.  Karugarama said that abolition was necessary in order to achieve a sense of closure.  Unless the country abolishes the death penalty, countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland will not extradite suspects to be tried in Rwanda's national

INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE: "A Rare and Arbitrary Fate" - the Death Penalty in Trinidad & Tobago

Posted: August 28, 2006
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A new study on the use of the death penalty in Trinidad and Tobago has been published by Roger Hood and Florence Seemungal.  The authors closely examine prosecutions under the country's mandatory death penalty statute, which requires imposition of a death sentence whenever a defendant is found guilty of murder.  The study found that, despite a high number of killings, relatively few people were convicted of murder, and not necessarily those who committed the most heinous crimes.

INTERNATIONAL: Worldwide Organizations to Focus on the Death Penalty October 10

Posted: August 17, 2006
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The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty was created in Rome on May 12, 2002, and consists of 52 organizations throughout the world: NGOs, attorneys' associations, trade unions, local communities, and other organizations (including many that are active in the U.S.) challenging capital punishment.  The Coalition has chosen October 10, 2006 as the day to put particular focus on problems with the death penalty around the world.  For more information, see their Web site: www.worldcoalition.org. (World Day 2006: Call for Initiatives, Aug.

INTERNATIONAL SECOND THOUGHTS: Great Britain Moves to Pardon 300 Soldiers Executed During War

Posted: August 16, 2006
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The British Government plans to seek Parliamentary approval of a pardon for more than 300 soldiers executed for military offenses during World War I.  The announcement came just after a pardon was revealed for Private Harry Farr, who was executed at age 25 for refusing to fight.

Defense Secretary Des Browne said:

"I believe a group pardon, approved by Parliament, is the best way to deal with this. After 90 years, the evidence just doesn't exist to assess all the cases individually.

U.N. Human Rights Committee Urges U.S to Place Moratorium on Death Penalty

Posted: August 01, 2006
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Citing the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a United Nations panel recommended that the United States impose a moratorium on executions.  The report, issued on July 28 by the U.N. Human Rights Committee, stated the panel was "concerned by studies according to which the death penalty may be imposed disproportionately on ethnic minorities as well as on low-income groups, a problem which does not seem to be fully acknowledged."

NEW RESOURCE: Amicus Journal Features Articles on International Death Penalty Developments

Posted: June 07, 2006
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The latest edition of the Amicus Journal is now available and features articles related to death penalty topics such as gender bias and jurors, as well as information on international capital punishment developments in the Caribbean and Africa.  The journal features a story on the Middle Temple Library's Capital Punishment Collection in Great Britain, an archive of textbooks, case-preparation aides, film documentaries, and other primary sources on the death penalty.  The Amicus Journal highlights death penalty developments from around the world in an effort to broaden readers' understanding of

Philippine Senate and House Vote Overwhelmingly to Abolish Death Penalty

Posted: June 06, 2006
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On June 6, the Philippine Senate voted with no negative votes to abolish the death penalty.  Even senators who supported the death penalty voted for abolition.  Life without parole sentences or 40 years in prison will be substituted for execution, depending on the offense.   President Arroyo is strongly in favor of the effort to end the death penalty.  Under the bill, all death sentences will be commuted to life sentences.