Death penalties by lethal infection under serious question

Executions in antiquity

Carol Forsloff --The usual and customary death penalty is meted out by lethal injection in most of the
states, and in some cases it has been put on hold because of problems with some of the chemicals used as well as at times the limited supply of them.

Several years ago Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear said he wouldn't be able to proceed to sign death warrants for two inmates because the drug sodium thiopental, a key component of the
lethal injection protocol, was not in sufficient supply.

Just like food, there is an expiration date for the drug, it seems, which that year was to expire on October.  At the time the Department of Corrections announced it did not expect a new supply to come in for several months according to death penalty experts,

The company Hospira was then the only supplier of the drug in the United States..  It's motto was "Advancing Wellness."

When the drug is in short supply, the FDA would have to sign off on another supplier before others can enter the business of providing death penalty drugs.

DreamPharma, a company out of London, then entered the business.  It came under fire when tainted drugs were found.  In addition, the drug was found ineffective in sedating a number of prisoners were found still conscious and not fully sedated.  They were said to have died in excruciating pain before the final two drugs were used.


Oklahoma decided to make a substitution for the drug in order to execute Jeffrey Matthews, also
because of concerns about whether or not the drug in hand was of the right constitution or mixture and didn't have any impurities.  A stay had to be ordered for officials to make a decision. Amnesty International said at the time Oklahoma should just give  up trying to execute Matthews, given the issues about lethal injections anyway and the issues regarding this pending execution.  This was especially true, declared Amnesty International given the questionable evidence in relationship to Matthews' guilt.

The same ingredients for the death cocktail is used by virtually all the states in their executions by lethal injections.

Lethal injections came under fire in 2007 because of botched executions, including needles being improperly placed under the arm of one prisoner and the length of time it had taken to execute others.

These are some of the issues that have led professionals to question the death penalty and to examine other options for punishing those who are found guilty of especially serious crimes.

Musicians use their talents to advocate for human rights

[caption id="attachment_21662" align="alignleft" width="204"] Carly Simon[/caption]

Amnesty International is saluting a number of musicians for their contribution to human rights causes.  Musicians from different parts of the globe are often raising money for important causes with their music, either through recordings or live events.

76 new Bob Dylan songs in a 4 CD album have been contributed to benefit Amnesty International's human rights work.

50 artists have put together a collection of music also to raise money for human rights projects.  These artists include musicians like Carly Simon, Taj Mahal, Kris Kristofferson and Roseanne Cash among others.  The album is entitled Toast to Freedom.

“Amnesty should have their very own song to sing in happy times and in struggling times. To celebrate both small and monumental victories, to comfort loss and overcome pain, " says “Toast To Freedom” co-writer/co-producer Carl Carlton

 

 

Louisiana bad justice revealed in man's solitary confinement of 41 years

 

[caption id="attachment_20523" align="alignleft" width="300"] Inmates in Orleans Parish prison, among the many that house inmates in bad conditions[/caption]

Carol Forsloff----“The case of Herman Wallace is a tragic example of ‘justice’ gone wrong in the USA, and finally a federal court has acknowledged some of the unfairness surrounding this case. However this sadly comes too late for lasting benefit as he is at death’s door with terminal cancer,” said Tessa Murphy, USA Campaigner at Amnesty International, about one of the worst travesties of justice in a Louisiana prison.

A decision has been made to overturn the conviction of a terminally ill man who had been held in a Louisiana jail in isolation for 41 years after a flawed trial.

Murphy further declared, “The state must not now try to block his release.”

Herman Wallace, 71, was placed in solitary confinement in Louisiana State prison following a conviction in 1974 of murdering a prison guard, Brent Miller.

State courts had rejected many of the pleas for justice in the Wallace case, however a technicality of having no women on the jury allowed for the newest decision.

There had been no physical evidence that had linked Wallace to the crime. Furthermore it was learned that the prosecution's key witness received favors that included a pardon for his testimony against Wallace.

Right after the murder conviction, Wallace was placed in a very small cell in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day for more than four decades. During that time he was not allowed access to social interaction, work, education or rehabilitation and was only allowed out of his cell for a total of seven hours weekly.

Only one other person, according to Amnesty International, has been held under such inhumane conditions in the United States. 

Since 1972 the prison appeals board had turned down Wallace's appeals more than 160 times. This was found to have failed due process standards requiring his behavior to be re-evaluated at regular times to determine if he still needed to be in prison.

Louisiana, according to crime and justice statistics, has the highest rate of imprisonment per capita than any other state in the nation.

Update:  Henry Wallace died three days after he was released from prison and 41 years of confinement.

 

 

 

Gypsies get the boot in France, in violation of international law

Gypsies dancing[/caption]

Carol Forsloff---“I woke up at 6 am this morning, the police came and it scared us. I knew we would have to leave, my mother had told me so. I don’t know where my family and I will go now. I don’t know if we will be able to go to school, but we definitely want to go. Today I was supposed to go to a refreshers course because next week I will start secondary school, but now I can’t go,” said David, aged 12.

David faces his fifth eviction with his family that include five brothers and sisters aged 4 to 28.

Amnesty International reports the Romani people being evicted across the country of France, as French authorities continue to defy international law.  Yesterday, August 27, 2013,  150 people were evicted outside Paris.

Those reporting this from Amnesty International tell of Nadka, a 46-year-old Bulgarian woman who has lived in France nearly ten years who was evicted from a camp with her husband 16-year-old daughter, crying and frightened with nowhere to go.

Marion Cadier, Amnesty International researcher in France says, "This morning, I saw entire families being rendered homeless and forced to leave everything behind. People did not know what to do or where to go,” said Marion Cadier, Amnesty International researcher on France.

“It is unacceptable that a year on from the inter-ministerial circular, hundreds of Roma families up and down the country are made to face the same fate over and over again. It's time for France to stop forcibly evicting people, and to respect international human rights law.”

These forced evictions violate international human rights laws that say proper procedures must be taken to make sure residents that are evicted are given compensation as well as help in finding alternative shelter.

These same patterns of mistreatment in some respects occurs in much of Europe.  Even Italy that did not shut its doors to immigrant gypsies have found their citizens very prejudiced against the Roman people.

Gypsies are originally from India and for centuries have been considered social outcasts in most of Europe where they have settled in fairly large numbers.

Angelina Jolie speaks out against problem of rape in conflict areas

[caption id="attachment_15387" align="alignleft" width="244"] Angelina Jolie[/caption]

Carol Forsloff --Two days ago, British media reported Angelina Jolie speaking out against rape in conflict zones at Whitehall. Rape is rampant in Africa, where violence against women is common and often a form of retribution in tribal conflict. It is also used as a weapon in war.   Intrusion into the sanctity of a woman's person is a violent act that occurs every place around the world, and war increases the tension and the problem.

During the centuries of war when conflict occurred, the killings of soldiers was a reality of the violence but so was the rape of women. It remains a part of that manner of one side imposing the greatest form of disgrace on another; and in this case, the victims are women.

In Africa, rape is a serious problem. Not only do women bear the shame of rape but also the diseases that can also occur, such as HIV/AIDS. But women are becoming more and more outspoken and public about the problem.

Amnesty International has an extensive report on the failure of the world to protect indigenous women from the violence of rape. Native American women, for example, suffer high rates of sexual violence in urban areas, especially because they often reside in some of the poor areas and within a male-dominated culture. But for the whole of the world, rape is a widespread problem, often not discussed openly, as it needs to be, according to Amnesty International.

The report of Amnesty International states: "Violence against women is one of the most pervasive human rights abuses. It is also one of the most hidden. It takes place in intimate relationships, within the family, and at the hands of strangers, and it affects women in every country in the world.

Although commonly rape occurs in intimate relationships or where the victim and the perpetrator may be acquainted, the act of the stranger who uses violence to subdue the victim during conflict adds to the fear and tension, and the need for revenge as well. That problem is underlined by Jolie as she enlists the participation of Hollywood celebrities in her crusade against the crime.

It is interesting to learn where rape statistics are highest in the developed countries. France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and Argentina report the highest numbers, in the top five rankings. The United States, on the other hand, is #57 in the rankings, according to the latest statistics reported in 2009. On the other hand, the United Nations reports the United States as higher in the rankings at #1, but the issue is dependent about the culture of the area in terms of how rape is defined and reported. The UN statistics are also reported before the most recent one of 2009. Furthermore, according to this same report, a rapist is 66 times more likely to be prosecuted in the United States than in France. Rankings are low for Middle Eastern countries, but as one woman points out, in some areas of the world, rape is not reported because if a woman does report it, she is often considered to be lying or to be the instigator of any problem that occurs.

While music addresses social problems in almost every area, few have ventured to explore it in song, as this video does, done to underline the terror of rape and the importance of recognizing the need for society to take more action, especially in those areas where rape is under-reported and where women without resources are captive to the violence that is part of the crime. One way to help, one citizen writes, is for men to take leadership in supporting women and to advance movements to reduce rape in the culture.

Women's Rights and Honor Killings

[caption id="attachment_15053" align="alignleft" width="300"] National Women's Rights demonstration[/caption]

Editor--While Republicans and Democrats attempt to score points with women following Hilary Rosen's statement that Ann Romney, wife of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, had never worked outside the home, and women's groups continue to champion what they maintain are important rights from hard-fought civil rights battles, around the world women remain the target of violence, including honor killings.

Honor killings rise from deep-rooted prejudices against women. These crimes are not just confined to Muslim countries, but are part of the male culture in some countries that dominates women's rights in general. Women are subjected to horrific torture, beatings and killings for asserting themselves in ways far less than American women asking for equal pay for work outside the home and the freedom to have both a career and family or to simply make the choice of staying at home with their children. The issue of the stay-at-home mom vs the working girl may be the controversy in the United States, but in many countries, women are often forced into a form of slavery from which many are unable to escape.

According to Amnesty International, honor killings are on the rise in many places around the world including Ecuador, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The United Nations reports 5,000 women and girls are killed by their families each year in what is called "honor killings".

In January 2012, a jury found an Afghan family guilty of honor killings in a case that astonished Canadians. Mohammad Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, were each found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13. Their crimes? Dishonoring the family by going against the strict rules regarding dress, dating, socializing, and using computers to access the Internet. Their bodies were found in a submerged car in a Kingston, Ontario canal.

While women in the United States examine their roles of working while raising a family or becoming a stay-at-home mom, other women face terror for the simple act of wanting to express themselves independently. Women's rights, while considered a basic human right in America by most citizens, remain only a daydream by women trapped in family relationships where violence is the answer to the quest for independence.

Amnesty International speaks out against Yemen's treatment of suspectedterrorists

Carol Forsloff -Amnesty International  declares a broad reach in its advocacy of human rights
issues around the world that includes the protection of citizens in all countries, including the United States.


In other words, if you are a
citizen of the U.S.  in a foreign country, and a terrorist
activity takes place and you are imprisoned as a spy and treated cruelly, Amnesty
International says it will speak on your behalf.



It has spoken out against the treatment of Baha'is
in Iran, against journalists captured and held without cause and about
the false imprisonment of people throughout the world that even includesChinese asylum seekers in the United States.



In other words, it declares it is not a
political agenda-driven organization in the sense it belongs to no
particular government, although it is within the umbrella of United
Nations groups.



Presently Amnesty International is exposing tactics used to combat terrorism in Yemen.



Amnesty International states Yemen
is violating human rights in its efforts to combat terrorism, using
questionable means to target people they consider enemies or spies.



Some of the work of Yemen has been
done at the behest of U.S. officials, and this too is exposed in their
press releases, along with the documentation of abuses around the world
relative to human rights.

“An
extremely worrying trend has developed where the Yemeni authorities,
under pressure from the USA and others to fight al-Qa’ida, and Saudi
Arabia to deal with the Huthis, have been citing national security as a
pretext to deal with opposition and stifle all criticism.” said Malcolm
Smart, Amnesty International's Director for the Middle East and North
Africa Program."

“All
measures taken in the name of countering terrorism or other security
challenges in Yemen must have at its heart the protection of human
rights.”

The
number of death sentences passed in trials of people accused of having
links to al-Qa’ida, or to the Huthi armed group has noticeably
increased. In 2009, at least 34 people accused of links to Huthi armed
groups were sentenced to death.

The
security forces have killed at least 113 people since 2009 in
operations the government says target “terrorists”. Attacks have become
more frequent since December 2009 with security forces in some cases
making no attempt to detain suspects before killing them.

Some
of this has occurred with little evidence to support guilt and using
methods of torture to extract "truth" from individuals who are killed,
Amnesty International claims.