26
Set
2015
America's racist practices - including police violence and the implementation of its criminal justice system - have human rights implications and face international scrutiny. The United Nations has reviewed the country's human rights record and the international body slammed the U.S. for its racial profiling and use of deadly force, and its
Leggi Tutto
James Calvert is dragged into court in 2014.A potential death penalty trial in East Texas is set to resume on Monday after it was put on hold when a judge was said by a TV station to have had a shock belt used on
Leggi Tutto25
Set
2015
Logic, experience and evidence have failed to turn the tide against the death penalty. Perhaps faith, and Pope Francis' concern for humanity, can succeedThere are many substantive policy reasons for opposing the death penalty: the risk of executing innocent people; the unfairness inherent in the24
Set
2015
Pope Francis's bold statement arrived as several US states are preparing to restart the controversial practice after several months of hiatusPope Francis's unequivocal call in his speech before Congress for the death penalty to be abolished in the US comes at a critical moment in the history of24
Set
2015
Richard GlossipAttorneys for an Oklahoma death row inmate say prosecutors have arrested a key witness who has new evidence and filed a request on Wednesday asking the courts to order the state to stop intimidating witnesses.The defense team for 52-year-old Richard Glossip, who was convicted of24
Set
2015
A Yunnan court in south-western China has ordered 3 of its citizens to be prosecuted for killing a female giant Panda in the wild and selling its meat in December 2014. Under Chinese law, killing protected animals such as pandas can result in a jail sentence of up to 10 years, and
Leggi Tutto
September 19, 2015: A division bench of the Lahore High Court has dismissed appeals of two brothers accused of blasphemy and has confirmed their death sentence. The convicts have been behind the bars since March 2006. The bench, headed by Justice Abdul Sami Khan, dismissed their petitions and said23
Set
2015
Neither of the 2 death-row inmates scheduled for execution in October requested clemency before the Monday deadline, said state Parole Board administrator Solomon Graves.Bruce Ward and Don Davis -- who are set to die by lethal injection on Oct. 21 -- had until noon Monday to ask the state Parole
Richard GlossipA federal judge has canceled a hearing this week on an Oklahoma inmate's request to stop his upcoming execution.Richard Glossip is challenging his execution date, now set for Sept. 30, on 2 fronts: a federal case over the execution drugs, and a state case in which he argues he's23
Set
2015
Ali al-NimrFrance called on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday not to execute a Shi'ite Muslim sentenced to death over his role in anti-government protests, saying he was a minor when he was arrested.Ali al-Nimr was given the death penalty in May after taking part in demonstrations three years ago forThis year, a Pew Research Center poll found that support for the death penalty is at its lowest rate in 40 years. Down by more than 20 % from just 2 decades ago, that means a lot of people are changing their minds on capital punishment.It's not just average Americans who are switching their
23
Set
2015
Keith Lamar CondemnedMy name is Keith LaMar (aka Bomani Shakur). I was sentenced to death in 1995 by the State of Ohio for crimes I did not commit, and I have been held in solitary confinement for over 20 years. My case has now reached the final stage of
Leggi Tutto25
Set
2015
Kelly GissendanerThe state of Georgia is set to execute Kelly Gissendaner next week, on Tuesday September 29. In some ways this case is unusual, even exceptional; in other ways, it's business as usual - especially in a state like Georgia.What makes Kelly Gissendaner's case different? For one25
Set
2015
Ali Mohammed al-NimrAli Mohammed al-Nimr has been sentenced to death by crucifixion for his participation in an illegal demonstration during the Arab Spring pro democracy uprising, despite the fact that at the time of the offence, he was a minor. He could be executed at any moment."Saudi Arabia
Kelly GissendanerKelly Gissendaner's lawyers on Wednesday asked a federal judge to stop her execution, set for next week, so there's time for him to reconsider his decision to dismiss a lawsuit she filed accusing state officials of violating her constitutional rights.Lawyers for the state quickly
An Ohio Senate committee has voted to allow limits on the ability of condemned killers to gather post-trial evidence in death penalty cases.New language in the bill before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee allows judges to deny requests for evidence gathering if it would annoy, embarrass or24
Set
2015
Public executions are still going on in Iran and often there are people present with their smart phones, taking photos and videos of the condemned prisoners...Source: Iran Human RightsPublic hanging, Iran, June 28, 2012. Some take pictures, some cry.Children too are brought to
Leggi Tutto
September 22, 2015: An India-based company that appears to have made one of the execution drugs Arkansas purchased says it doesn't want its product used in the state's plans to execute eight inmates. Sun Pharma is the third pharmaceutical company to make such a statement.A spokesman for Sun
Kelly GissendanerHers is a life measured by the dictates of Pulaski State Prison: when to rise, when to eat, when to go to bed so she can repeat the process the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. This is how Kelly Gissendaner's life will
Leggi Tutto23
Set
2015
The Law Commission's report supporting abolition of death penalty except in terror-related cases has been forwarded to the Home Ministry for a final decision, amid indications that government may not be inclined to support it.The report 'Death Penalty' was submitted to the Law Ministry by the Law23
Set
2015
Kelly GissendanerA woman on Georgia's death row could be executed as early as September 29 and now religious leaders have joined her fight.Kelly Renee Gissendaner is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, September 29 for killing her husband in 1997.Her children have released a video, asking for
Richard GlossipAttorneys for an Oklahoma inmate scheduled to be put to death next week challenged his execution date Tuesday in a motion that claims a court order that set it violates state law.Richard Glossip, 52, was given a Sept. 30 execution date in an order handed down by the Oklahoma Leggi23
Set
2015
(Reuters) - When the last U.S. Supreme Court term ended in June with an unusual showdown over a decision approving Oklahoma's lethal injection process, some court watchers saw it as a sign the court might soon take up the bigger question of the constitutionality of the death penalty itself.But
Many death penalty states have struggled to obtain a lethal injection drug that Texas has consistently been able to procure. In a filing Thursday in Oklahoma, lawyers provided evidence that Texas sold pentobarbital to Virginia in August.The state of Texas is making its own execution drugs and has25
Set
2015
Ali Mohammed al-NimrThe British government has said it will “urgently” raise with Saudi Arabia the case of a juvenile sentenced to ‘crucifixion’– but has given no indication that it will withdraw a controversial bid for a contract with the Saudi justice system, while criticism of the US grows for24
Set
2015
The 23-year saga that is the Scott Panetti death penalty case returned to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday as lawyers argued over whether the 57-year-old is competent enough to be executed, and who should pay to determine that.Panetti's attorney, Greg Wiercioch, argued before a24
Set
2015
Antonin ScaliaIn a speech Tuesday at Rhodes College, the conservative Supreme Court justice said that 4 of his colleagues think that the penalty is unconstitutional, The Commercial Appeal reported.Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told attendees of a speech given Tuesday that four of his24
Set
2015
Public hanging in Iran (file photo)Saeed Zargari, charged with theft, kidnapping and murder, was executed in public in Isfahan on the morning of Wednesday September 16Iran Human Rights, Friday September 18 2015: Saeed Zargari; a prisoner charged with theft, kidnapping and murder; was reportedly24
Set
2015
Mohamed al-NimrThe family of a juvenile sentenced to ‘crucifixion’ in Saudi Arabia have appealed to the Saudi authorities to spare him, as pressure mounts on the US and the UK to intervene.Speaking to AFP, Mohamed al-Nimr said he hoped the King would save his son, student Ali al-Nimr,
Leggi Tutto23
Set
2015
Watching a public hanging in Iran (file photo)Iran's fundamentalist regime has hanged a teenager in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.The unnamed 19-year-old man was hanged in Mashhad's central prison on Sunday.A statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights23
Set
2015
Public hanging in Iran in September 2013"The death penalty has no place in the 21st century." These words were spoken last year by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Many would agree. In fact, more than 140 countries worldwide have abolished capital punishment, including every
Leggi Tutto
Scott PanettiA convicted murderer who tried to subpoena Jesus Christ during his 1995 murder trial will be the subject of a federal appeals hearing in an attempt to overturn a federal ruling denying a stay of execution and funding for a mental health expert.Scott Panetti was convicted of murderingAli Mohammed al-NimrA group of UN experts have called on the government of Saudi Arabia to halt its plans to carry out the ‘crucifixion’ of a protester arrested aged 17.In a statement, the experts – Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Juan
Public execution in Saudi ArabiaTHE United Nations (UN) has been attacked over the “scandalous” appointment of a Saudi Arabia official to a top human rights job – despite the repressive regime having beheaded more people this year than Islamic State.The election of Faisal bin Hassan Trad to