Alene på en enkelt dag blev 21 personer henrettet i Irak og i Gambia vil præsidenten skyde alle dødsdømte inden september er ude – i øvrigt altimens kineserne fortsætter med at henrette mange med dødssprøjter eller nakkeskud.
GENEVA, 31 August 2012: The United Nations agency tasked with defending human rights voiced renewed concern Friday over the sudden spate of executions in countries around the world following the recent use of capital punishment in Gambia, Iraq, and South Sudan.
“We urge all States, who have not yet done so, to introduce – or reintroduce – an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty aiming to abolish it,” Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), declared in Geneva.
Until now, Gambia was at the forefront in Africa in its efforts to abolish the death penalty in law and practice. Last week, however, in a strong reversal of that trend, nine prisoners were executed shortly after Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s announcement that all people on death row would have their sentences carried out by mid-September.
Mr. Colville deplored the executions as a “tremendous regression (tilbageslag)” for the tiny Western african country’s justice system.
He noted that prior to last week the country had maintained a moratorium (midlertidigt stop) on the death penalty for 27 years and had abolished (afskaffet) capital punishment for drug offences in April 2011.
He pointed to the number of executions in Iraq, where 96 people have had their death sentences carried out since the beginning of 2012. During the month of August alone, 26 people have reportedly been executed, including 21 in a single day.
“Given the lack of transparency in court proceedings in Iraq, major concerns about due process and fairness of trials, and the very wide range of offences for which the death penalty can be imposed in Iraq, it is a truly shocking figure,” said Mr. Colville.
Mr. Colville also expressed concern that two men hanged in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, on 21 August, did not have proper legal assistance.
The overall global trend on the use of the death penalty has seen the number of executions worldwide decline.
An estimated 150 UN Member States have abolished the death penalty or introduced a moratorium, either in law or practice.
Kilde: FNs Nyhedstjeneste
