News

Maryland to Abolish Death Penalty

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is expected to sign a bill next month that would end the use of the death penalty.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, a supporter of repealing the death penalty, is expected to sign a bill abolishing capital punishment into law next month after lawmakers passed the bill this week. (Photo Courtesy of the Washington Post)

On Friday, the state’s House of Delegates voted 82-to-56 to repeal capital punishment after the state’s Senate voted 27-to-20 last week for a repeal.  Now the bill only needs O’Malley’s signature, which his aides say should come when the legislature session ends in April.

If signed, the law would take effect on October 1, and all current inmates on death row would have their sentences replaced by life terms without parole.  Maryland would become the eighteenth state in the country to abolish the death penalty, marking an end to the state’s 375-year history of capital punishment.

“With [the] vote to repeal the death penalty in Maryland, the General Assembly is eliminating a policy that is proven not to work,” O’Malley said during a press conference after the legislative approval.  The governor pushed the effort to repeal, making it one of his top goals for this year’s legislative session.

Maryland has used the death penalty only five times since it was reinstated during the 1970s, the last time happening in 2005.  In 2006, Maryland’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled that a legislative committee had not properly approved the state’s lethal injection protocols, effectively putting capital punishment on hold.

Supporters of the repeal applauded state lawmakers for eliminating a measure they called costly and counterproductive.  Delegate Heather Mizeur said the decision about who lives or dies, even the worst criminal offenders, is not one anybody should make.

“By willfully taking a human life, the state enacts the worst of human impulses,” she said.

“Maryland’s rejection of the death penalty adds to the national momentum against this cruel and increasing unusual punishment,” said Antonia Ginatta, an advocacy director with the nonprofit Human Rights Watch.

Opponents, however, criticized the legislature and called on O’Malley to not sign the bill.  They said the law would put officers’ safety in jeopardy.  Most significantly, though, opponents said capital punishment was a necessary measure in criminal justice.

“The death penalty is not a deterrent; it is justice,” said Delegate C. T. Wilson, a former prosecutor and U.S. Army veteran.

Even if O’Malley signs the bill into law, the death penalty might not be entirely forgotten yet.  According to the Baltimore Sun, those who support the death penalty could petition it to be on the 2014 ballot, leaving the issue up to voters.  If they succeed, the law would be put on hold pending the results of the election.

State Sen. Thomas Miller, the Senate President, predicted that kind of challenge happening.  Even though no group has publicly supported the idea yet, the Sun reported that recent polls indicate a narrow majority of voters still supports the death penalty.

For further information, please see:

The Baltimore Sun — House Votes to Repeal Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

The Capital Gazette — Maryland General Assembly Votes to Abolish the Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

Human Rights Watch — US: Maryland Expected to Abolish Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

The Washington Post — Md. Assembly Votes to Repeal Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

Iran Responds to U.N. Special Report on Human Rights

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – The former foreign affairs minister of the Maldives, Ahmed Shaheed, recently delivered his latest United Nations report on Iran’s human rights record. Iranian delegation leader and Iranian Human Rights Council head Mohammad Javad Larijani disputed basically all of the complaints in the report.

Mohammad Javad Larijani attacks the UN Special report for being based foreign value systems, the word of terrorists, and US bribes. (Photo Courtesy of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran)

Shaheed stated “that the prevailing situation of human rights in Iran continues to warrant serious concern, and will require a wide range of solutions that are both respectful of cultural perspectives and mindful of the universality of fundamental human rights.”

Mohammad Javad Larijani believes that human rights are subjective and not universal. He views such U.N. reports predicated on universal principles as a cultural invasion on the Iranian way of life. Similarly, his brother, Iranian Chief Justice Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani considers Iran’s ratification of the December 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be a “mistake.”

Iran was charged with detaining individuals on bogus charges, torturing detainees, permitting marital rape, and systematically persecuting those of the LGBT community.

Regarding the charges and the torture, Mohammad Javad Larijani claims that Shaheed relied on the testimony of convicts who belonged to terrorist factions. Larjani insists they were given their day in court and received due process before being convicted on counts of “contact with foreign media and the office of the UN Special Rapporteur” and “propaganda against the regime.”

With respect to the treatment of those in the LGBT community, Iran in 2013 takes a similar stance to that of the American medical community prior to 1974. The official stance in Iran is that homosexuality is a disease. Larijani stated that, “we consider homosexuality an illness that should be cured. We don’t consider it acceptable to beat or mistreat homosexuals, either.”

While Iran does not condone the beating of homosexuals, the alleged “disease” is punishable by death according to the fatwas declared by Iranian clerics. Iran also has executed individuals who have been found guilty of committing sodomy. Those men who were executed were married. Unmarried men who engage in the same act may only face stern prolonged lashings. Furthermore, even the ‘passive’ recipient of the sodomy can be executed. This punishment may be received regardless of whether he was a consensual participant or one who was raped.

Besides for debating the concept of universal rights and discrediting Shaheed’s report for taking the word of terrorists, Larijani also criticizes the Special Rapporteur for taking bribes from the United States State Department. He believes that everything written in the report is designed to achieve some result that comports with the interests of the United States.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Iranian Human Rights Official Describes Homosexuality as an Illness – 14 March 2013

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran – Denial and Personal Attacks: Iran’s Larijani Responds at the UN – 12 March 2013

World Politics Review – Human Rights Deteriorate in Iran as Elections Approach – 12 March 2013

Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization – Ahwazi: UNHRC Condemns Iranian Delegate for Attacking UN Special Rapporteur – 11 March 2013

Ecuadorian Preacher And Presidential Candidate Charged With Hate Speech

In what is being called a victory by Ecuadorian gay and lesbian rights activists, local preacher and former Presidential candidate Nelson Zavala was sentenced this week for making homophobic comments during his presidential campaign. An electoral court cited him for remarks after he insisted that gays were “immoral” and implied that he could “cure” gay people of this immorality.

Preacher Nelson Zavala was cited and charged with electoral malpractice  by using hate speech against the LGBT community. (Photo courtesy of El Comercio)

This is just the latest in a series of ill events for the former presidential candidate, he lost his bid for election last month against Rafael Correa. He placing eighth and last with just 1.23% of the vote, much lower than his projected 700,000 votes he expected to receive from evangelicals from the church. Zavala did not take the news lightly, and condemned the female judge who issued the verdict  “Those who judge me will be judged,” then insisted that “God will judge us all in the end,” before implying that the tribunal will be used against them when they stand at heavens gates.

 

The honorable judge Patricia Baca Mancheno found that Mr Zavala violated the electoral ethics, which “forbids candidates of publicly expressing any thoughts that discriminate or affect other people’s dignity or utilise symbols, expressions or allusions of a religious nature.”  Mr. Zavala had been cited and condemned for using hate speech before and according to the electoral law, the ” disregard of orders and judgments” of the electoral board “could lead to the suspension of political rights of the offender, as a candidate.” His statements concerning the homosexual lifestyle as sinners were found to degrade the LGBT’s rights to dignity.

 

Beyond the moral condemnation and ill response from local citizens, Ecuadorian Judge Baca deemed that Zavala would be banned from any political affiliation or government movement for a year, effectively ending any hope of spreading his homophobic message on any grand electoral scale. He had resigned from the Roldosista Ecuadorian Party (PRE) after the lack of turnout in his favor, stating that he will continue to denounce acts of corruption from within his church. The sentence includes a $3,000 fine and opening up liability against Zavala to be charged for a hate crime.

For further information, please see:

Huffington Post – Ecuadorian Ex Presidential Candidate And Preacher, Nelson Zavala, Penalized For Homophobic Comments – 12 March 2013

BBC – Ecuador Preacher Sentenced For Homophobic Comments – 11 March 2013

El Comercio – Zavala Announced His Resignation From The PRE – 22 February 2013

El Comercio – Begin In Ecuador Presidential Candidate Process Such Homophobic – 10 February 2013

Few Jews in Egypt, Even Less on its Silver Screen

By Justin Dorman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt –  A day before the film, The Jews of Egypt, was set to open in Egypt, it was banned by an Egyptian security agency. The film captures the lives of the sixty-five thousand some Jews who lived in Egypt prior to the bad blood that developed between Israel and Egypt during the late nineteen-fifties.

A still frame from the film ‘The Jews of Egypt’ which was banned just before its release date in Egypt. (Photo Courtesy of Ahram Online)

Producer of the documentary, Haytham el-Khamissy, has been very disappointed by this recent development. He claims that there is “no excuse for this except delay and obstruction,” and that the Egyptian security agencies seek to “terrorise thought and repress creativity.” Khamissy and director Amir Ramses’ anger is directed at multiple agencies including the culture ministry, the Supreme Council for Culture and the General Censorship Authority, as long as the interior ministry and the National Security apparatus.

The film had been cleared twice by the state’s official censorship body. Its script was approved back in 2010. Later, before it was viewed at film festivals it was granted a screening license by the same censorship body.

The Jews of Egypt was already viewed at the Panorama and Palm Springs International film festivals in Egypt last year. Additionally, it had been aired at festivals in the United States.

The documentary purports to show a heterogeneous society that got along really well together, without many problems. It begs the question in the mind of director Amir Ramses of “how did the Jews of Egypt turn in the eyes of Egyptians from partners in the same country to enemies.”

Because of tension that developed as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the creation of Israel as an independent home for Jews in nineteen-forty-eight, very few Jews remained in Egypt. Today, Jewish temples in Egypt are filled mainly with tourists.

The movie was set to open in three different venues before it was banned by local censors. The local censors took their actions after a security agency pre-viewed the documentary, on censorship committee director Abd El-Satar Fathi’s request. Fathi alleges that he never put the kibosh on the film, and that he has “supported the film all along.”

One possible reason that the film’s official premiere was delayed was because there was a fear that the documentary’s title could stir a commotion. This concern developed after Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian’s controversially declared that all Israeli’s of Egyptian descent should come back to Egypt.

If the ban on the film is not soon lifted, its producer may take legal action against all relevant ministries. He will do so if he deems that the documentary’s delay has caused economic loss.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Egypt Bans Film About Jewish Community – 13 March 2013

World Jewish Congress – Egyptian Authorities Stop Cinema Documentary on Jews – 13 March 2013

Abram – Egypt Security Apparatus Delays ‘Jews of Egypt’ Premiere: Producer – 12 March 2013

New York Times – Egypt: Film on Egyptian Jews is Blocked – 12 March 2013

Venezuela Accuses The West Of Assassinating Hugo Chavez

By Brendan Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – With the death of Hugo Chavez the people of Venezuela have begun their morning period. But with the Venezuelan base restructuring itself to protect the transition of power come rumors and accusations of a western based assassination.

After his death on March 5, conspiracies fly concerning western assassination attempts on his death. (Photo courtesy of Human Rights Watch)

Since his death on March 5, accusations have come from the upper echelons of the Chavez administration have been implying that the United States and Israel conspired to assassinate Hugo Chavez and destabilize Venezuela. In 2011, Chavez upon discovering he had cancer implied that he had been injected by foreign imperialistic forces.

However at this stage, giving other people cancer via injection seems highly suspect. While Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has implied similarities to Palestinian Leaders Yasser Arafat death, even polonium poisoning does not give you cancer, and merely mimics end stages of cancer.

The assassination of a foreign leader has been denounced by the Geneva Convention, which in Article 37 of Protocol I states “It is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by resort to perfidy. Acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence, shall constitute perfidy.” Beyond the rules of International Conflict, President Reagan signed Executive Order 12 333, which prohibits US Intelligence agencies from assassinating foreign leader targets.

Venezuela has since expelled two U.S. military attaches, and the U.S. has in turn expelled two Venezuelan diplomats. It seems that until the Venezuelan administration finishes their probe into Hugo Chavez’s death, tensions will rise between the two nations. Yet the possibility of an unbiased report seems unlikely, as in 2006 Chavez told reporters, “If they kill me, the name of the person responsible is George Bush,” unwilling to acknowledge the numerous Venezuelans who were economically displaced when the President altered the economic and social structure of the country.

When Hugo Chavez took power after his failed coup d’état in 2002, he seized power away from the court systems, and undercut the ability of journalists, and human rights defenders to exercise their ability to report on violations within the country. Chavez was able to use the government’s free reign to intimidate, censor and prosecute those within the country who challenged his political agenda. In September 2012, Venezuela announced its withdrawal from the American Convention on Human Rights, indicating a radical decision in the face of international scrutiny.

For further information, please see:

BBC – Venezuela To Investigate Chavez Murder Allegations – 12 March 2013

Tehran Times – Assassination Of Hugo Chavez – 8 March 2013

Gawker – Could The U.S. Have Assassinated Hugo Chavez Using Cancer? – 8 March 2013

Miami News Times – Did Assassins Give Hugo Chavez Cancer? Conspiracies Fly As Groups Request CIA Docs – 7 March 2013

Human Rights Watch – Venezuela: Chavez’s Authoritarian Legacy – 5 March 2013