Bush clashes with Texas on the execution of a Mexican National

According to the Associated Press, President George W. Bush has tried to halt the execution of a Mexican national on death row in Texas, Jose Ernesto Medellin (pictured to the left), whose case is to be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Read more in The Guardian which reports, "It puts Mr Bush in the unusual position of arguing against the death penalty and against the very same Texans who helped put him in the White House. Even more unusually, it puts Mr Bush on the same side of the dispute as the International Court of Justice in The Hague."

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Iraq's Death Penalty

Found this article about Iraq's death penalty and unfair trial system to be interesting, particularly as their execution rate has risen dramatically since the new government was formed.

From CNN:

Sitting on Iraq's death row is a 25-year-old woman convicted in the slayings of three relatives. She says her husband carried out the killings and fled. She confessed to being an accomplice, she says, only after being tortured in police custody...

She was tried and convicted in a single day, August 15, 2005...

The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority abolished capital punishment in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. But shortly after the government was handed over to Iraqis, the death penalty was reinstated in August 2004.

Since that time, more than 270 people have been sentenced to death, and at least 100 people -- including Hussein -- have been executed, according to Amnesty. Four women are currently on death row. Two of the women have their young children, ages 1 and 3, with them on death row, Amnesty says.

You can read an April 20th press release from Amnesty about Iraqi trials and confessions in regards to the death penalty here.

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The International Death Penalty Debate Rages On

The Economist:

...The horrors of cruelly administered, or botched, execution are not confined to developing countries or to lands that follow the letter of hudud, traditional Islamic punishment. In Florida last December, Angel Diaz was executed by lethal injection. The three-drug cocktail that is used by 37 American states is supposed first to induce unconsciousness, then to paralyse muscles and block breathing, and finally to stop the heart. But after the first injection, Diaz continued to move, squint and grimace as he tried to mouth words...

...According to Amnesty International's latest report, “at least” (precise figures are hard to get) 1,591 executions were carried out worldwide last year, well down on the previous year, but nearly 40% higher than in 2003. Yet Piers Bannister, the lobby group's death-penalty specialist, believes that the world is gradually inching its way towards abolition....

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Chinese Law Agencies Urge More Caution

China's four major law enforcement agencies, the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Justice, called for more cautious handling of death penalty cases in a jointly issued document on Sunday.

"Our country still cannot abolish the death penalty but should gradually reduce its application," the statement said. "But where there is a possibility someone should not be executed [due to possibility of innocence], then without exception the person should not be killed."

The statement indicated that China cannot entirely abolish the death penalty, but took major steps toward ensuring that "each death sentence is made in a fair way." The agencies asked law enforcement officials to strictly obey laws in identifying facts, collecting evidence, dealing with procedures and adopting punishments. The document especially sought to prevent law enforcement officials from inquisition by torture and extorting confession, going as far as noting the human rights of criminals.

Asserting such principles is a big step for China's judicial system, which executes more people than any other nation in the world. China revised its death penalty laws last year, mandating the Supreme People's Court to review any death sentences handed down. The country has been under pressure to take a closer look at its policies after China's deputy chief prosecutor revealed that almost every wrongful conviction in recent years has been the result of torture and intensive interrogation techniques.

See the AP story here: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070312/D8NQICPG0.html

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International Death Penalty Abolition Day

Today, March 1st, marks the anniversary of Michigan becoming the first US state and English-speaking territory worldwide to abolish the death penalty back in 1847. This action has its roots in the wrongful execution of a Detroit native based on circumstantial evidence in 1828. Seven years after his execution, his ex-roommate confessed to the crime on his death bed. This lead to the abolition of the death penalty in Michigan being the first act of the legislature upon Michigan becoming a state in 1847.

We hope that someday soon, we can celebrate the same accomplishment here in Indiana.

However, until then, we will honor this holiday by holding our committee meetings at the CSC beginning at 6:30. Click here for the posted committee schedule. We hope to see you there.

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Vatican Denounces Death Penalty

In a statement to the 3rd World Congress Against the Death Penalty, the Vatican reiterated the need for abolition of the death penalty. The statement noted that it is "difficult to justify today" and also that it is "not only a refusal of the right to life, but is also an affront to human dignity."

While the link to the full text of the statement seems to be missing, more excerpts can be found here.

When we note that the Vatican's statement is not considering only the United States with our super-max prisons and highly developed penal system, but rather the entire globe, we realize that it is impossible to justify the use of the death penalty here in the United States.

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