2006

UNITED NATIONS. UN BODY CONCERNED OVER JUVENILE EXECUTION IN IRAN

the representative of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, condemned the execution of juveniles in Iran.

IRAN. FIVE HANGED FOR RAPE AND KIDNAPPING

five Iranian men convicted of kidnapping and rape were hanged in the southern cities of Kerman and Zahedan.

JAPAN. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR MAN WHO KILLED 2 IN OSAKA WHILE ON PAROLE

Japan’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Susumu Nakayama, a man who stabbed two people to death in Osaka Prefecture in 1998, seven years after he was released on parole while serving a life imprisonment sentence imposed for a separate murder an

MALAYSIA. COURT DISMISSES DEATH PENALTY APPEAL OF DECEASED MAN

the Malaysian Federal Court dismissed the appeal of businessman Alex Wong Teck Choy against his death sentence for murder. During the hearing, counsel Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed the court that his client had died on May 8.

PAKISTAN. THREE PEOPLE TO BE HANGED WITHIN NEXT THREE DAYS

it was reported that three death row convicts were scheduled to be hanged in the following three days

TAIWAN. NO VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said that Taiwan had not violated any human rights principles in its handling of capital punishment cases or in its treatment of death-row inmates, but it promised to refer to other countries' measures to refine the existing

SAUDI ARABIA. MAN BEHEADED FOR MURDER

HANDS OFF CAIN: MYTH SURROUNDING HUMANENESS OF LETHAL INJECTION CRACKING, SERGIO D’ELIA

following the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow inmates to challenge lethal injection, Secretary of Hands Off Cain, Sergio D’Elia, declared: “Once again, following the abolition of the death penalty for those with mental retardation, for minors and th

IRAN. THREE MEN EXECUTED IN WESTERN IRAN

three men were hanged in city of Qazvin, west of Tehran.

IRAN. MINOR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER

a 17 year old boy was sentenced to death in Iran for murder, according to the daily ‘Etemad’.

UNITED STATES. COURT ALLOWS INMATE APPEAL ON LETHAL INJECTION

US Supreme Court ruled that a death row inmate can bring a challenge under a federal civil rights law to the method of execution that uses a lethal three-chemical cocktail.

AZERBAIJAN. PRISONERS ON DEATH ON HUNGER STRIKE

109 prisoners whose verdict was replaced by life imprisonment after abolishment of capital punishment launched hunger strike.

IRAN. THREE WOMEN HANGED

three women were reported to have been hanged in Qazvin, west of Tehran.

THE PHILIPPINES. CATHOLIC PRIESTS SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION

the Butuan Diocesan Council, the Philippines, stated its support for the law abolishing the death penalty. Fr. Joecilo Amalla of the Butuan Diocesan Council said that as a Christian country, "we should not inflict death penalty."

THE PHILIPPINES. SC INSISTS ECHEGARAY EXECUTION WAS CORRECT

the Philippines Supreme Court stood firm on its 1996 ruling that sent convicted rapist Leo Echegaray to his death, in light of a brewing storm over a public statement by Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban that the court may have committed an irreversible “j

NIGERIA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RITUAL KILLING

a Mgbidi High Court, Nigeria, sentenced Obinna Onyema and Benjamin Arizo to death for killing one Damian Okorocha for ritual purposes, on October 8, 2002 at Ubaha Etiti Omuma, Oru.

UGANDA. TWO PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE

it was reported that the previous week, the High Court in Mbale, Uganda, sentenced two men to death after they were found guilty of committing robbery with violence.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. COURT CONDEMNS ALLEGED ADULTERER TO DEATH BY STONING

an Islamic court in the United Arab Emirates condemned a man to death by stoning and his female lover to one year in jail and 100 lashes.

OKLAHOMA. LAW ALLOWS EXECUTION OF REPEAT CHILD MOLESTERS

Oklahoma became the fifth state to allow the death penalty for certain sex crimes although legal scholars questioned the constitutionality of the new state law.

CHINA. FOUR EXECUTED FOR KILLING, ROBBERY

four young Chinese men were executed in the capital Beijing for robbery and murder. Yan Shusen, Wang Jianzhong, Zhao Qian and Sun Shizhong -- all peasants in their early 20s -- were executed for robbing a van driver before killing him in 2004.

CHINA. WOMAN EXECUTED FOR KILLING NIECE

a court in China’s Yunnan Province executed a woman who drowned her niece.

JAPAN. PROSECUTORS DEMAND DEATH PENALTY FOR PERUVIAN MURDERER

Japanese prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Jose Manuel Torres Yagi, a Peruvian charged with killing a seven-year-old girl.

JAPAN. DEATH SENTENCES UPHELD FOR MEN WHO BURNED SISTERS TO DEATH IN METAL DRUMS

Japan’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for two men convicted of stuffing two sisters into metal drums, pouring gasoline over them and burning them to death.

MALAYSIA. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR MURDER OF ACCOUNTANT

Abdullah Lee’s death sentence for murdering an accountant in 2000 was upheld by the Malaysian Federal Court which unanimously dismissed Lee's appeal against the Appeal Court’s decision to send him to the gallows for killing 52-year-old Lee Good Yew.

PAKISTAN. LAHORE HIGH COURT DIRECTS JAIL AUTHORITIES TO RESCHEDULE PRISONERS’ EXECUTION

a Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench in Pakistan directed jail authorities to reschedule the execution of three condemned prisoners within 15 days.

THAILAND. GOVERNMENT TO FREE 25,000 PRISONERS

Thailand was to release 25,000 prisoners across the country on June 9 in an amnesty to celebrate the King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th anniversary on the throne, officials said. Thai authorities often grant royal

AFGHANISTAN. UN RIGHTS EXPERT DEPLORES REPORTED PUBLIC EXECUTION BY TALIBAN

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, condemned “in very strong terms” the reported public execution by Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime of an alleged murderer in Daikundi province.

EUROPEAN UNION. EU HAILS END OF DEATH PENALTY IN PHILIPPINES, PRESSES OTHERS

the European Commission welcomed the adoption of a bill by Philippine legislators to abolish capital punishment, saying it hoped other countries in the region would follow suit.

THE PHILIPPINES. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP HAILS ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) expressed its agreement to the abolition of the death penalty in the Philippines.

THE PHILIPPINES. BISHOPS LAUD CONGRESS FOR REPEAL OF DEATH PENALTY

the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBPC) lauded the move of Congress to abolish the death penalty, revealed CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.