World Congress on Abolition 1

5th World Congress for Abolition of the Death Penalty: Madrid 12^th – 15^th June, 2013

Since 2001, each three years a world congress for abolition of the death penalty is held. Until the present, the world meeting was located in a European city, with the exception of 2004, when it was held in Montreal, no doubt to bring the message of abolition closer to the US, one of the bastions of execution in a world making steady progress to total abolition.

Earlier congresses began on a note of celebration, welcoming new adherents to abolition. At the 2010 Congress in Geneva, there was an atmosphere of high hope with a prediction that the death penalty could be banished for ever by as early as the year 2015.

In Madrid, 2013, there was little expectation of such an early victory over the age old curse and aberration of human rights. The promise implied in the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 is still the mast head of the movement for abolition: Article 3 “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. In 1948 only 8 countries had abolished the death penalty. Currently, more than 150 countries have either abolished the death penalty or do not practise it. Last year, 174 United Nations Member States were "execution-free". The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, being entrusted by the UN with special responsibility for achieving the ideal of the Universal Declaration, keeps tally of the state of abolition.

He addressed a ringing invitation to the delegates of the 5^th World Congress. In a statement read at the official opening, he implored political leaders in countries across the world that still have the death penalty in their justice systems to abolish it, saying that the campaign to eliminate the death penalty as a form of punishment has mainly faced resistance from political leaders. In Thailand, the attitude of our leaders is rather one of apathy and disinterest, but the outcome is the same, persistence of death sentences in legal process. The secretary General added: "The taking of life is too absolute and irreversible for one human being to inflict on another, even when backed by a legal process. Too often, multiple layers of judicial oversight still fail to reverse wrongful death penalty convictions for years and even decades."

Shadows, alluded to by Ban Ki Moon, were cast on the 5^th Congress by a persistence of the death penalty which appear to contrast with the steady advance to abolition celebrated in earlier congresses. It appears that the gains of the past which led to the elimination of the death penalty in the 47 nation block of the Council of Europe, in the European Union, in the majority of American states, in many members of the Organization of African States, have reached geographical and ideological limits. In these countries, abolition of the death penalty was favoured by a cultural unanimity, which made it possible to impose it as a condition of membership, or to declare it as a favoured objective. Outside these regions, the advance to abolition must be made one country at a time, even if membership of the United Nations implies acceptance of the Universal Declaration. But the Declaration is not a binding treaty, and clear though its stand may be on the inviolability of life, nation members can and do continue to claim exemption from compulsory adherence. Some nations, notably Singapore, go even further and submit a formal objection to the UN sponsored motion calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, first passed by majority vote of the UN General Assembly in 2007 and repeated with a stronger voice in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

The Programme of the 5^th Congress revealed the serious concern of the world movement in the choice of topic of its plenary sessions. The first was devoted to what is now referred to as the MENA (Middle East and North African) region. The question asked was “Which arguments in favour of abolition from a sociological, religious and legal point of view? (sic)”. The crux of the matter is that the states of the MENA region are Muslim states where religion is paramount and Koranic injunctions of capital punishment are considered mandatory. In a huge plenary session it is not possible to have an open discussion. Exchange of viewpoint took place in parallel workshops which allowed participation of delegates. Specific subjects were, “Terrorism and abolition”, “Iran: What are the political instruments to try to stop execution waves”

The theme of terrorism was often heard throughout the Congress, referring to crimes for which some states were most insistent on retaining the death penalty. While states which retain the death penalty are increasingly prepared to restrict its use, they insist on its retention as a supposed remedy for the worst of the worst of crimes, namely terrorism. Those who oppose the death penalty for all crimes, respond that terrorists do not fear death and allowing the death penalty for terrorism is rewarding the terrorist with martyrdom!

The second day of the Congress, 14^th June, began with a second plenary session on “Asia”. Asia, referred to as “The New Frontier” in a seminal work on the death penalty in Asia, is the area where most executions in the world occur. China alone executes more than all other countries combined. The exact number is considered a state secret and unknown.  A conservative estimate is 7280 per year but a speculative figure reaches 10,000. In Asia too there occurs another sombre development, the reappearance of the death penalty in countries such as India and Pakistan which had been considered as de facto abolitionist, a title give to countries which were recorded as execution free for a period of ten years. A return to executions is usually ascribed to the need to counter terrorism. So central is the Asian region to the total of world executions that there is a strong movement to locate the next Congress in three years time to an Asian country, facilitating greater Asian participation and tackling the death penalty on its most tenacious ground.

Spain, and Madrid’s majestic Palacio Municipal de Congresso, provided a congenial meeting place for the huge congress against the death penalty. In a central room of the congress was exhibited a garrotte, the grotesque instrument of execution in Spain, which had been used for hundreds of years to inflict death, last used in 1974. This instrument of horror is a stark reminder of the heritage of suffering we are now working to end, and to remind countries which have already abolished the death penalty that we speak from sad experience and not from any position of moral superiority.

A Buddhist Lesson on Penalty of Death

The Silent Prince

In ‘The Silent Prince”, Somtow Sucharitkul presents in operatic form a Buddhist lesson on human accountability and the death penalty. The opera relates the pre-history of the Buddha in a previous incarnation. Such pre-incarnation stories are a technique of relating isolated instances of Buddhist teaching where the Buddha, not yet enlightened, is faced with a moral ambiguity, the solution of which is an essential step on the path to enlightenment.

In the tale of the Silent Prince the gods in heaven, who are also subject to the cycle of rebirth, hear the plea of an anguished queen, which echoes the sorrow of the human race.  She and her husband the king are without child or heir to the Kingdom of Kashi in Benares. A deva, to be the future Buddha, is sent to be born and is named Temiya.

A few years later the King decides that the time has come for Tamiya to move beyond childhood, and begin to assume responsibilities of kingship. On a day of judgement a criminal is brought before the King and the sovereign delegates to his son the powerr to order the execution. The dilemma is set. The most basic tenet of Buddhism is that all life is sacred, to order even the just death of a criminal would block the path to enlightenment of the future Buddha. As the boy raises his hand to obey his father, a moral obligation of his state in life, Temiya learns from the God of the Underworld that in a previous existence he was once King of Benares, and that the executions he had ordered, led to delays in his reincarnation for millions of pain filled years. The boy withdraws into silence, and the King himself executes the criminal before him.

Years pass and Temiya remains silent. The King tempts him with beautiful girls, and a day of full regality to receive the homage of the population. But neither one attraction nor the other lures Temiya to break his silence. In desperation, the King orders his closest servant to take Temiya to the forest, to kill and bury him. He promises the Queen other children who will fulfill their wishes of royal succession.

The servant leads Temiya to the forest and begins to dig the grave. However, he is overcome by a vision of the future Buddha, and at last Temiya speaks to explain why he has been silent and urges the servant not to interrupt his long journey to enlightenment which will take many more lifetimes to unblock the secret to human suffering.

But the order of a King cannot be unsaid. When the King and Queen hear the story of Temiya they abdicate their royalty, leave Benares, and live simply as disciples of their

son. The heavens open and the gods themselves rejoice that a further step to enlightenment has been made.

Kampong Boy - M Ravi

M. Ravi is a good lawyer. He is good at what he does, he does it for good reasons, and, above all, he is a good man. His autobiography ‘Kampong Boy’ begins the story in his village. Reminded of the African proverb, that “it takes a whole village to raise a single child”, we see Ravi make his first advances in human compassion in his own troubled family, and in the mixture of helpful support of some as well as disdain of others, that make up a village environment. He grew up in an Indian culture, with a feel for the Tamil language which he mastered well, and which fostered the eloquence that was to make him a great performer in courts. In Indian dance he was less proficient, unaware that enthusiasm and energy were not quite sufficient to master an art that requires the coaching of a mentor. But the dance has given him immense personal satisfaction, a philosophy of life, a means of creative expression, and a refuge in times of stress.

In the context of this page our interest is above all in his empathy for ‘les miserables’, those on the edge of life who are rejected by society and condemned to death. It is utterly moving to read of his interest in taking up the most hopeless cases, of those with barely days to live, to whom every avenue of escape from the death penalty appears closed by Singapore’s robotic system of justice. As he scans the impenetrable walls of Singapore’s justice, his legal and humane genius discovers barely discernable cracks which can be exploited. Tragedy in his own life has given him a sensitivity for the centres of pain in the lives of the victims of the monstrous injustice of the death penalty. He travels to meet the families of the condemned and, literally, becomes members of those families, returning with some token possession of the condemned, as a talisman to inspire their defense. Some cases he has lost, as when a judge refused a delay an execution to await the result of a procedural appeal but, callously granted time to take leave of his client.

His most notable success is the case of  Yong Vui Kong, the self confessed young drug mule, who by all the logic of Singapore’s inexorable mandatory death penalty should be long dead, but whose life has now been extended by a further three years due to Ravi’s exertions for another ‘kampong boy’. While the case continues, it is clear that Singapore’s judiciary has lost the stomach to send a technically guilty but ethically innocent child to the gallows. This change of heart has even extended to Malaysia where sympathy for Yong, a Malaysian citizen, has caused the Malaysian government to make unprecedented representation for cancellation of his death penalty

Here lies the ultimate contradiction of the death penalty and its executioners. You may dress the execution in all the paraphernalia of your trade, solemn courts and codes of law, black caps, last meals and cigarettes, rolls of drums, but who are you and what are you to abrogate the right of life and death over another human being?

“The death of any man diminishes me” wrote John Donne.”There but for the grace of God go I” said a saint as he watched a man being led to the gallows. Ravi, for his part gives example of a fight tooth and nail against all executions. Meanwhile he invites us to join while he dances Lasy, the gentle form of South Indian dance, and Tandava the violent and dangerous side of dance. Perhaps we too will catch a glimpse of chakras, the spiritual energy centre which inspires him
 Kampong Boy: M. Ravi, Ethos Books Singapore, 2013

Sad statistics of a country which still hands down death sentences 1

Department of Corrections 1May 2013 

สถิตินักโทษประหารชีวิตทุกคดีความผิด - all crimes

เพศ Gender	อุทธรณ์  Under appeal	ฎีกา Supreme court	เด็ดขาด Legal process complete	รวม Total
ชาย male	380	195	63	638
หญิง female	56	8	4	68
รวม combined	436	203	67	706

ตารางที่ 2

สถิตินักโทษประหารชีวิตคดียาเสพติดให้โทษ - drug related crimes

เพศ	อุทธรณ์	ฎีกา	เด็ดขาด	รวม
ชาย	180	62	18	260
หญิง	44	6	4	54
รวม	224	68	22	314

ตารางที่ 3

สถิตินักโทษประหารชีวิตคดีความผิดอื่นๆ - Other crimes

เพศ	อุทธรณ์	ฎีกา	เด็ดขาด	รวม
ชาย	200	133	45	378
หญิง	12	2	0	14
รวม	212	135	45	392

Addendum to Killings in Taiwan

Since above Review Meeting there have been two unacceptable developments. The first is a resumption of executions. On 19^th April 2013 six condemned men were executed, with the same unjust procedures so strongly condemned in the Review exercise. What was the point of the Review exercise, if its strongest recommendations are ignored? Not only were the executions carried out, but reasoning to justify the executions to which the experts strongly protested, was brashly repeated. Nor does it appear that any account was taken of suggestions by the experts to allow legal and humane procedures to modify the undue haste and secretiveness of the executions.

A second act of provocative disdain for the Review, is a continuation of the eviction and displacement of unfortunate families, especially in the Huagang community, without the provision of alternative housing. It was already of grave concern that the land involved was the property of the Ministry of Justice, which hosted the Review process. The continuation of the expulsions against the explicit recommendations of the Experts renders null the whole Review exercise.

In the face of such provocative disdain for the review exercise it is pointless to continue any prolongation or follow-up of the review process.   

Killings in Taiwan

The move to execute six death row inmates, Friday 19th April 2013,

was necessary and taken based on the law, says Taiwan's vice justice minister, Chen Shou-huan.
The six convicts were given the death sentence because they "tortured and killed women and children," Chen said at a press conference following the executions that were carried out in four cities — Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. "The ways they committed crimes were too brutal to show any sign of humanity and mercy," he said.
Chen noted that the six convicted murderers had all been sentenced to death in trials at a district court, the high court and the Supreme Court. Moreover, before deciding to carry out the sentences, his ministry had confirmed that there was nothing that would suggest the sentence should not be carried out on the individuals, he said.

"There was nothing that would suggest the sentence should not be carried out". The Minister has a short memory. The Government of Taiwan invited a team of 10 independent experts from 10 different countries to review Taiwan's compliance with the International Bill of Human Rights which was solemnly ratified by Taiwan in 2009. The experts met in Taipei, welcomed in person by the President of Taiwan. Over three days (25 - 27 February 2013) they heard the reports of government and closely questioned its representatives. On 1st March 2013 they issued concluding observations and recommendations. In the issues they raised, the strongest recommendation was that the Government of Taiwan intensify its efforts towards abolition of capital punishment and. as a first and decisive step, immediately introduce a moratorium on executions in accordance with resolutions of the UN General Assembly.
But regardless of his memory, the Minister also displayed his total absence of understanding of the right to life, the most basic of all human rights. In conversation with representatives of the International Federation of Human Rights in Novermber of 2012, the same minister asserted the right of Taiwan to carry out the death penalty. Oblivious of the inapplicability of the ancient tribal origin of its source, the Minister quoted "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' to justify Taiwan's death penalty policy. He was then, and is today, completely unaware that this principle is in total contradiction to an understanding of justice in a modern democratic state, and of the priority of human rights among the family of nations.
"No man is an island ..... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind"
John Donne 1572 - 1631
Is Taiwan serious in its wish to participate in the worldwide advance of human rights, or was the exercise of February 25 -27, a meaningless showpiece?

Rehabilitation for Prisoners under Sentence of Death

On Tuesday last, 2nd April, Sutawan Chanprasert, a Thai student in the Master of Arts Program in International Development Studies (MAIDS), Faculty of Political Studies, Chulalongkorn University, successfully defended a thesis on Rehabilitation for Prisoners under Sentence of Death in a Human Rights Perspective: A Case Study of Bang Kwang Central Prison.
The title of her thesis is an oxymoron, surely rehabilitation and sentence of death are incompatible! Nevertheless, there is a unique conjunction of a Thai condition and a window of opportunity which made her research possible. Thailand persists in handing down the death penalty; there are currently 687 prisoners condemned to death, 618 men, mostly detained in Bang Kwang prison, and 69 women. The research of Sutawan relates to the male prisoners held in Bang Kwang. The window of opportunity, of which she ingeniously availed, was the possibility of interviewing 10 of these prisoners, 5 prison authorities, 3 former prisoners, and one informed external person. The recently imposed "White Prison" policy which consists of a strict isolation of prisoners would surely hinder such interviews. The resolution of the apparent anomaly whereby rehabilitation could, and should, coexist with a death sentence lies in the fact that while prisoners are sentenced to death at a rate higher than one per week, very few are actually executed. Six have been executed in the last ten years. Eventually the large majority of prisoners benefit from a royal commutation of sentence to life imprisonment, and subsequent reductions in sentence which result in eventual release.
Prisoners remain under sentence of death for up to ten years until all legal procedures are completed. Such prisoners have been excluded from rehabilitation programmes. They live their lives in a no man's land of inactivity and are the subject of the thesis.
It is a innovative and unique investigation, with immense implications for the human rights of prisoners, and the very persistence of capital punishment. This website will report details of the thesis when the final formalities of thesis revision are completed and the 24 year old Sutawan graduates. Meanwhile, deathpenaltythailand hails her achievement.  

Death penalty and abortion, an unfortunate conjunction

While the election of an Argentinian, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to the Papacy is a favourable development in the Catholic Church, there are worrying implications relating to the death penalty. In recent years the Catholic Church has taken a strong, if not total stand, in opposition to the death penalty. However the new Prelate, has insisted on linking the opposition to the death penalty with abortion:

He once called abortion a “death sentence” for unborn children, during a 2007 speech and likening opposition to abortion to opposition to the death penalty.

In an October 2, 2007 speech Bergoglio said that “we aren’t in agreement with the death penalty,” but “in Argentina we have the death penalty. A child conceived by the rape of a mentally ill or retarded woman can be condemned to death.”

The death penalty is not comparable with abortion. The death penalty is the judicial killing by the state of a person condemned to death for a variety of charges, including those relating to narcotics, deemed by international law to be unjustifiable. Abortion is an interruption of pregnancy, at the request of a woman, who, for significant reason, claims propriety over her own body. Who can deny her, least of all a celibate clergy, who quote divine injunction not accessible to ordinary human beings, and who have had significant failure in moderating their own sexual urges.

Those who are active in working for abolition of the death penalty appear to have lost an ally.  

Death Penalty Thailand Statistics

Statistics of persons condemned to death in Thailand: 21^st March 2013

1. All cases

Gender	Appeal court	Supreme court	Legal Process Complete	Total
Male	383	191	44	618
Female	56	9	4	69
Total	439	200	48	687

 

 2. Drug related cases

Gender	Appeal court	Supreme court	Legal Process Complete	Total
Male	177	69	12	258
Female	44	7	4	55
Total	221	76	16	313

3. Homicide related cases

Gender	Appeal court	Supreme court	Legal Process Complete	Total
Male	206	122	32	360
Female	12	2	0	14
Total	218	124	32	374