Aust govt inconsistent on death penalty

Imam Samudra, 38, Amrozi, 47, and Mukhlas, 48, have all been executed.

The lawyer for one of the Bali Nine members facing death row says attempts to have his client's life spared will not be taken seriously unless the Federal Government consistently opposes the death penalty.

Solicitor John North represents drug smuggler Scott Rush and he wants the Federal Government to step up diplomatic pressure on Indonesia over capital punishment following the Bali bombers' execution.

Mr North says while he understands why the Government did not campaign for the lives of the bombers, the Government cannot pick and choose.

"Probably can't expect them to do it because they were such monstrous crimes but the thing is they should make it quite clear to the many Indonesians that they value life, all human life," he said.

"They shouldn't try and cherry pick those that should be executed and those that should not."

Quote: All those innocent people killed in East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan (Colateral Damage) never committed any crime and they were killed. Murdered in fact in cold blood by Indonesia and Australia and its complicity in those illegal and degrading wars and crimes against humanity. The fact is our government murder people in cold blood anytime they think that they can get away with it and they do so with impunity.

Related:

Indonesia tells bombers families get ready
The families of the Indonesian Islamists on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings have been told to "get ready" for the executions, a prosecutor says.

Protest Bali bombers' executions - priest
High profile Catholic priest Frank Brennan has called on the Australian Government to speak out against the execution of the three Bali bombers as it draws nearer.

Fool me twice 1-20 -Official release (BALI BOMBINGS/ETimor) Exposing the Australian government's lies about the East Timor massacres, the cover-up of the Bali bombings (including '93 WTC attack) and subsequent anti-terror legislation forced through parliament.

The Truth About Bali Bombings
Part One + Two: Que Bono. Who Benefited? The Bali Bombings were a direct US-Israeli response to the growing Peace marches and Anti War Movement in Australia that was ballooning at an alarming rate after 9-11 and after Bush announced he was waging illegal invasions. It also very quickly secured Indonesia's and Australia's subservience to the US and cemented involvement in the US led War on Terror, and subsequent illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rudd firm on capital punishment stance
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the fact that he backs the death penalty for the Bali bombers in Indonesia does not signal any change in his opposition to capital punishment in Australia.

Push for clear line on death penalty
PRESSURE is mounting on the Rudd Government from the Labor back bench to adopt a tougher stand against the death penalty.

I had no choice, says courier facing death
AN AUSTRALIAN sentenced to death in Vietnam this week for heroin trafficking told officials she was forced into the crime to pay off her husband's gambling debts.

'Bali nine' trio's death sentences overturned
Three 'Bali nine' members still face the death penalty, including the group's ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, as well as Rush, the only drug mule still sentenced to death.

Protest Bali bombers' executions - priest

The attack was a conspiracy between "America, Australia and the Jews" and the three convicted bombers - Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron - had been framed: Abu Bakar Bashir

High profile Catholic priest Frank Brennan has called on the Australian Government to speak out against the execution of the three Bali bombers as it draws nearer.

Father Brennan said Australia needed to maintain a strong stance against capital punishment - including for the Bali bombers - or risk confusing the issue.

"We all feel profound sympathy for the victims and the victims' families," he told a death penalty panel discussion at the Ubud Writers Festival in Bali today.

"It's no denial of our sympathy to say we have a deep sympathy for you and your plight, but we still maintain a constant philosophical approach, namely that the death penalty in all circumstances is wrong."

His comments came as three Islamic militants on death row over the 2002 Bali bombings [scapegoats] were today visited by family members as Indonesia prepares to announce details of their impending executions.

Indonesia's attorney-general today reportedly reiterated the men would be put to death this year, and he would announce the month next week.

"Information is expensive ... later on the 24th, I will not announce everything," Hendarman Supandji said on Indonesia's ElShinta radio.

Indonesia's Constitutional Court is expected to rule on Tuesday on a side challenge by the bombers' lawyers, who have argued the country's use of firing squads to carry out executions amounts to torture.

Defence lawyer Achmad Michdan said Amrozi and Imam Samudra were visited by their wives, mothers and other relatives at their Nusakambangan Island prison, off Central Java, today.

He said relatives of Amrozi's brother Mukhlas would visit next week.

The men were convicted of playing key roles [scapegoats] in the October 12, 2002, Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Rush hopeful

Meanwhile, death row Australian drug mule Scott Rush has written a letter read to the Bali writers' festival, hoping for changes to laws which one day might overturn his own death sentence.

"I'm not a writer but I am a convicted criminal," the now 22-year-old Rush wrote.

"I have been through some very rough times and have experienced some very long, slow nights.

"I have had a lot of time to think and I'm very sorry for what I have done and what I have caused.

"I still hope that one day I can show I'm capable of reform."

Bali bombers' executions not fair: judge

The former chief justice of Indonesia's Constitutional Court has questioned the fairness of executing the Bali bombers under convictions which were previously declared to be unconstitutional.

Until very recently Jimly Ashidique was the chief justice of Indonesia's Constitutional Court, where he remains as judge for the next few months.

He said that rulings of the constitutional court effectively change Indonesian law.

In 2004 the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to convict the Bali bombers under an anti-terrorism law enacted after those terrorist attacks.

That decision however was said not to effect sentences which have already been handed down, such as the 2003 death sentences on Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.

However Justice Ashidique said that according to Indonesia's criminal code any change in the law after a crime is committed should be decided in favour of the accused.

"It is not fair," he said, adding that such decisions are up to judge's discretion.

Related:

Rudd firm on capital punishment stance

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the fact that he backs the death penalty for the Bali bombers in Indonesia does not signal any change in his opposition to capital punishment in Australia.

[What a contradiction in terms?]

Mr Rudd says the three men on death row in Indonesia over the bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, are cowards and mass murderers who deserve the justice that will be delivered to them.

[Wrong again: The convicted Bali bombers did not have the means to create such a bomb. There are reports that in one Balinese kampong that provided labour to the clubs in Kuta Beach, seven empty coffins were buried, because there were no identifiable remains of the missing workers. It was as if they had been vaporised. Scores of people, mainly locals, are thought to have disappeared without trace.]

Cleric blames CIA for Bali bombing
An Indonesian Islamic cleric said the 2002 attack which killed more than 200 people, including 88 Australians, was the work of the CIA.

Tears flow for Bali victims :Australia's Terrorism Wake Up Call
The horrific bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar in Bali, on October 12, 2002, considerably strengthened the hand of the Coalition of the Willing (CoW) in pursuing the War on Terror. Here was an opportunity to harden the hearts of the Australian and US public against Islamic fundamentalists. It was also a chance for the Indonesian government to justify harsh measures in the war against terrorists and secessionists, such at those in the province of Aceh.

Death penalty ban 'would help save Bali 9'
A Sydney Federal Labor backbencher says a permanent Commonwealth ban on the death penalty will help the campaign to get Australians off death row in Bali.

Same-sex relationship laws still lagging

High Court Judge Michael Kirby says despite moves to amend discrimination in a number of federal laws, same-sex relationships have been left behind.

Delivering the Rights Australia inaugural John Marsden lecture in Sydney last night, Justice Kirby said denying homosexuals the civil status of marriage was discriminatory.

He said that while many other countries had adopted marriage or civil union laws to protect the civic rights of same-sex couples, Australia lagged behind.

"In Australia, legislation is presently before the Federal Parliament to rectify the discriminatory provisions in a large collection of federal laws," he said in his speech.

"However, relationship measures lag behind."

Justice Kirby said even civil unions seemed a bridge too far.

"The relationships of same-sex couples can only be registered, rather like a dog or busker's licence."

"I hope that fellow citizens of goodwill who think upon this will not be surprised if many homosexual people in loving relationships say politely to this differentiation: 'Thank you, but no thank you'."

Justice Kirby said the debate on recognition for same-sex unions would continue in Australia.

"The direction of history, at least in countries like our own, seems to be in favour of the abiding principle of the equality of citizens of all ages, races, colours, creeds and sexualities," he said.

Marsden

Mr Marsden was president of the NSW Law Society and the NSW Council of Civil Liberties during his career.

He died in 2006.

Justice Kirby said Mr Marsden was a considerable achiever, although not without flaws.

"He was courageous and fought tenaciously for civic equality in Australia," he said.

"That is why the lecture has been named after him."

Other criticisms

Justice Kirby also used the lecture to criticise sodomy laws, which still exist in more than 30 Commonwealth countries including Zimbabwe.

He said he had been invited to speak on that topic at the 2009 Commonwealth Law Conference in Hong Kong.

"If John Marsden were here, he would be urging us all to lift our voices to tackle this relic of colonialism which, like the death penalty, persists in many Commonwealth countries, supposedly bound together by mutual respect for human rights," he said.

"Whereas in some countries the criminal laws have been repealed and reformed, the root cause for the animosity and hostility to homosexual people remains the teachings of religious leaders.

"The pain that John Marsden felt over the teachings of his church are translated in many countries, including sometimes our own, into violence, blackmail, hatred, stigma and discrimination."

Justice Kirby retires from the High Court next March.

Related:

Senate to mull gay couple law changes
Debate will begin in the Federal Senate today over proposed changes to remove discrimination against same sex couples.

Push for clear line on death penalty

PRESSURE is mounting on the Rudd Government from the Labor back bench to adopt a tougher stand against the death penalty.

With three Australians on death row in Indonesia - including the 22-year-old convicted drug mule Scott Rush - a push is on for the Government to voice more publicly throughout the region its position as an abolitionist country.

The NSW MP Chris Hayes has lodged a notice of motion in Parliament calling on the Government to take a number of steps, including passing laws making it illegal for states and territories to reintroduce the death penalty. The current legal position means states and territories could reintroduce it, should they wish.

This would incorporate Australia's obligations under the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty, into domestic legislation.

Such a move, advocates believe, would send a clearer message internationally on Australia's position, and strengthen its arguments for Australians on death row overseas to be spared.

The notice of motion also calls on the Government to lobby the Indonesian Government "as and whenever appropriate" to grant clemency to the three Australian Bali Nine members on death row.

It also asks Indonesia to "understand Australia's principled position in relation to the imposition of the death penalty".

"Abhorrence of the death penalty is a fundamental value in Australian society and there is bipartisan opposition to the death penalty within the Australian Parliament," it says.

The notice of motion will be debated in Parliament in the next sitting period, in a fortnight.

The Victorian Labor MP Mark Dreyfus, who is a QC, will also argue in support of the motion.

Mr Dreyfus told the Herald yesterday "all my adult life I've been opposed to the death penalty. We have abolished the death penalty in Australia and we need to work for the abolition of the death penalty every where in the world."

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, while opposition leader, dismayed civil libertarians and supporters of Australians on death row when he censured his now-Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, for arguing for a more principled approach to the death penalty, one that opposed executions for citizens regardless of nationality or crime.

It is believed by those backing a stronger approach that it would clarify the position of Australian law enforcement agencies who co-operate in transnational investigations into crimes which attract the death penalty overseas. This follows criticism of the Australian Federal Police who were involved in the arrests of the Bali Nine.

Colin McDonald, the barrister for Rush, said: "It will then become a relevant legal consideration for the AFP in the conveyance of information that might predictably lead to the imposition of the death penalty on Australian citizens."

Two other Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of the Bali Nine, are on death row. The three men can seek a judicial review of their death sentences, and appeal to the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for clemency.

Mr McDonald says Mr Hayes's notice of motion is "historically significant". Mr Hayes is the member for Werriwa. It was under the prime ministership of another member for Werriwa - Gough Whitlam - that Australia abolished the death penalty for federal offences, in 1973.

Related:

I had no choice, says courier facing death
AN AUSTRALIAN sentenced to death in Vietnam this week for heroin trafficking told officials she was forced into the crime to pay off her husband's gambling debts.

'Bali nine' trio's death sentences overturned
Three 'Bali nine' members still face the death penalty, including the group's ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, as well as Rush, the only drug mule still sentenced to death.

Plea to spare drug traffickers

THE Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, has urged Vietnam to spare two Australians convicted of drug trafficking from execution by firing squad.

Mr Smith said during a visit that he was assured by the Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, that the Government was giving "careful and proper" consideration to appeals for clemency made by the two.

Both are Australian citizens of Vietnamese origin, sentenced to die for drug trafficking.

"I've made the point that Australia supports those bids of clemency," Mr Smith said.

The names of the two Australians were not available.

At least four Vietnamese-Australians convicted of drug trafficking have had their death sentences commuted after the Australian Government asked that they not be executed.

Vietnam has not executed any Australians for drug offences.

Several Australians of Vietnamese origin have been arrested in recent months for suspected drug trafficking, including three accused of trying to smuggle heroin onto planes.

Mr Smith said police forces from the countries could work together to help prevent crimes.

"I've made the point to the Prime Minister that Australia does not condone narcotic offences - on the contrary, we regard these as very serious," Mr Smith said.

He had finished a two-day visit to Vietnam.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws.

Australian state pardons man hanged for murder 86 years ago

An Australian governor gave a posthumous pardon Tuesday to a man hanged 86 years ago for the rape and murder of a young girl, after new research discredited the evidence used for his conviction.

Colin Campbell Ross, hanged in 1922 at the age of 28, was pardoned Tuesday by Victoria state Gov. David de Kretser.

Descendants of Ross and the 12-year-old victim, Alma Tirtschke, petitioned for the pardon.

Prosecutors alleged that Ross, who ran a wine saloon in Melbourne, gave Tirschke alcohol before raping and strangling her on New Year's Eve 1921. The only physical evidence connecting him to the crime were hairs on a blanket; prosecutors said the hairs were Tirtschke's.

While witnesses gave alibis for Ross, he was convicted and hanged four months later, protesting his innocence.

The pardon petition built on research by Kevin Morgan, who wrote a book about the case called "Gun Alley (Murder, Lies and the Failure of Justice)." Morgan arranged for forensic tests on the original hair samples and showed that the ones on Ross' blanket did not match Tirtschke's. He also gave new character evidence about the prosecution's main witness.

Victoria Attorney-General Rob Hulls said in a statement Tuesday that he referred the petition to the Supreme Court of Victoria and received an opinion "that there had been a miscarriage of justice in Mr. Ross' case."

"A pardon is not the same thing as a declaration of innocence," Hulls said. "In the circumstances of the case a retrial is not possible. A pardon is recorded against the conviction in recognition that the State forgives the legal consequences of the crime."

Tirtschke's niece, Bettye Arthur, was pleased with the pardon.

"It is a tragedy for everybody that the actual perpetrator was not caught and an innocent man lost his life," she was quoted as saying Tuesday.

Victoria state abolished the death penalty in 1975.

International Conference on Penal Abolition

Full agenda announced

The full agenda for ICOPA is now online, and pending any further changes, the line-up is looking like we're going to have a fascinating conference. With speakers coming to present papers from Brazil, Trinidad, Canada, Australia, USA, Belgium, Argentina, South Africa plus many more including the UK, we are really looking at a truly international conference.

Topics being discussed will include:

* Deaths in Custody
* Prisoners’ Families and Penal Abolitionism
* Prison gangs, human rights and the need to abolish imprisonment
* Gender and victimisation
* Abolishing prisons: a necessary path to respect fundamental rights and improve democracy

Plus many more (can’t fit them all on here!)

To see the full agenda please click here

We will be adding synopses and biographies of speakers within the next few weeks, so please keep checking back for more information.

Key themes and plenary sessions for the conference include:

* Creating a scandal - prison abolition and the policy agenda
* Prison and the politics of poverty
* The role of privatisation and capitalism in penal policy
* Penal abolition, the media and the public

Confirmed speakers so far include:

* Professor Thomas Mathieson, University of Oslo
* Professor Joe Sim, Liverpool John Moores University, trustee INQUEST
* Julia Sudbury, Mills College, co-founder Critical Resistance, board member Justice Now
* Stephen Nathan, Editor, Prison Privatisation Report International
* Moazzam Begg, Former Guantanamo detainee and spokesperson for Cageprisoners
* Raphael Rowe, ex-prisoner, Journalist, BBC
* Professor David Wilson, Birmingham City University and vice-chair, The Howard League for Penal Reform
* Professor Barry Goldson, The University of Liverpool
* Professor Phil Scraton PhD, Queen's University, Belfast
* Clive Stafford Smith, Director, Reprieve
* Imran Khan, leading human rights lawyer
* Caroline Newman, solicitor and campaigner
* Pauline Campbell, mother of Sarah Campbell who died 'in care' of Styal Prison

To book a place at this stimulating and thought provoking conference, please click here.
For more information on ICOPA XII, including the chance to book place at our evening Thames River Cruise, please visit the website or email hannah.mcfaull@howardleague.org

Thousands flock to Canberra ahead of torch relay

Thousands of people have been streaming into Canberra ahead of the Olympic torch relay this morning.

Scores of buses have been arriving from interstate, and the city centre and parliamentary triangle areas are already packed.

International legs of the relay has been marred by clashes between pro-Tibet and pro-China supporters over human rights abuses in Tibet.

Police have been working with protest organisers to ensure the Canberra leg is peaceful and the two groups are kept separate.

Sam Wong from the ACT Chinese Australian Association says both sides have given assurances their protest action will not turn violent.

"Australian people in general are peaceful, harmonious, loving people," he said.

"Among all the communities, including the Chinese and Tibetan, those who live in Australia, I personally have had to deal with them in many, many years, they are strongly supportive of peace and harmony, because we are a great multicultural nation here."

Overnight a small crowd held a candlelit prayer vigil outside the Chinese embassy, just a few blocks from the route of the torch relay.

Tight security

Security will be tight today as the Olympic torch relay swings into action.

Barricades line the entire route and road blocks will ensure the public is kept at a distance from the runners.

A one-kilometre convoy will follow the runner incorporating 18 vehicles and 6 motorcycles.

ACT chief police officer Michael Phelan says he is hopeful protesters make for a peaceful day.

"Both our intelligence and our liaison with all of those groups has been very good," he said.

"They've assured us that they're looking for a peaceful event to try and showcase not only the message they want to get across but also showcase Australia and Canberra."

Related:

Four arrested in Kings Cross Tibet protest
Three Sydney men and a woman will face court next month after flying a pro-Tibet protest flag from a building in Kings Cross. The four have been charged with trespassing, after they gained access to a building and draped the flag over a well-known sign in Darlinghurst Road yesterday afternoon. The four will go before court in mid-May.

Tension builds as Canberra prepares for torch relay
The demonstrators have lit several hundred candles, some spelling out the phrase 'Free Tibet'.

Sydney Harbour Olympic protesters arrested
Two protesters were arrested on the Sydney Harbour bridge as the Olympic torch flew into Canberra this morning to a red carpet welcome.

Olympic torch touches down in Canberra
The flame flew in from Jakarta, where it was paraded through a heavily-guarded stadium last night after police stopped about 100 pro-Tibet protesters from disrupting the Indonesian relay leg.

Police get extra powers for torch relay
Amnesty International has published their annual death penalty count and China remains the top executioner in the world. April 16 2008

Tension builds as Canberra prepares for torch relay

The demonstrators have lit several hundred candles, some spelling out the phrase 'Free Tibet'.

Pro-Tibet activists held a candlelight prayer vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra last night as the city prepares to host the troubled Olympic torch relay.

A small crowd has gathered outside the embassy, just a few blocks from the route of the torch relay, and a low security presence is keeping protesters behind a fenced off area.

The demonstrators lit several hundred candles, some spelling out the phrase 'Free Tibet'.

The Tibetan community is planning more action today as the flame is carried through the streets of the national capital.

The protesters outside the embassy have been joined by a group of peace marchers from Sydney's Tibetan community, who have walked into Canberra.

The 17 pro-Tibet activists arrived at the embassy as fireworks were going off around the city to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic flame.

They had walked from Bungendore, 42 kilometres from Canberra, going without food for the past three days.

Protesters have been urged to demonstrate peacefully during today's torch relay and not to respond to any provocation by Chinese supporters.

Related:

Sydney Harbour Olympic protesters arrested
Two protesters were arrested on the Sydney Harbour bridge as the Olympic torch flew into Canberra this morning to a red carpet welcome.

Olympic torch touches down in Canberra
The flame flew in from Jakarta, where it was paraded through a heavily-guarded stadium last night after police stopped about 100 pro-Tibet protesters from disrupting the Indonesian relay leg.

Police get extra powers for torch relay
Amnesty International has published their annual death penalty count and China remains the top executioner in the world. April 16 2008

Sydney Harbour Olympic protesters arrested

Two protesters were arrested on the Sydney Harbour bridge as the Olympic torch flew into Canberra this morning to a red carpet welcome.

There were no incidents at the tightly guarded airfield, but police said a man and a woman were arrested in Sydney while trying to display a banner on the Harbour Bridge.

The flame has become the focus of international demonstrations against China's role in Tibet and the Olympic host's human rights record.

"Two people, a man and a woman, were detained by security officers as they tried to unfurl a banner on the bridge," a police spokeswoman said.

There were reports the pair had planned to unveil a Tibetan flag, but the spokeswoman said she could not confirm that.

Overnight, a laser light display was used to project the slogans "Don't torch Tibet" and "One Dream: Peace in Tibet" onto one of the bridge's pylons.

Paul Bourke from the Australia Tibet Council said the display was designed to protest a plan to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet, saying it had nothing to do with sport.

"It is a blatant political manoeuvre by the Chinese leadership to symbolically cement and legitimise their control over the region," he said.

Related:

Olympic torch touches down in Canberra
The flame flew in from Jakarta, where it was paraded through a heavily-guarded stadium last night after police stopped about 100 pro-Tibet protesters from disrupting the Indonesian relay leg.

Police get extra powers for torch relay
Amnesty International has published their annual death penalty count and China remains the top executioner in the world. April 16 2008

Olympic torch touches down in Canberra

The Olympic torch has landed amid tight security at the Canberra airport RAAF base.

The flame flew in from Jakarta, where it was paraded through a heavily-guarded stadium last night after police stopped about 100 pro-Tibet protesters from disrupting the Indonesian relay leg.

The international symbol of the Olympic Games will be given a red carpet welcome when it is carried off the aircraft.

Indigenous Australians will perform a welcome ceremony, before the flame is handed over to the ACT's Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.

It is the only Australian stop-off for the Olympic torch before it embarks on a massive tour of China.

Related:

Police get extra powers for torch relay
Amnesty International has published their annual death penalty count and China remains the top executioner in the world. April 16 2008

Police get extra powers for torch relay

Police in Canberra have been given extra powers to search people and seize items during the Olympic torch relay next week.

The ACT Government has made declarations under major events security laws, designed to prevent dangerous items from being brought into the torch relay area.

Police will have greater authority to search people and to seize items, including eggs, paint bombs, fire extinguishers and flares.

Meanwhile the head of the Canberra Torch Relay Committee, Ted Quinlan, says Chinese torch attendants could be arrested if they lay a hand on people during the relay.

"The Chinese authorities, from my negotiations with them ... [are] fairly clear on that," he said.

"The final question will be are the people who arrive here with the flame clear also, and we'll be making sure they are."

Yesterday the head of security for the Canberra leg of the Olympic torch relay moved to clear up confusion over the role Chinese military officials will play.

Deputy president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kevan Gosper said the Chinese will accompany the torch but will only be called on in an emergency.

But ACT deputy chief police officer Shane Connolly said Chinese authorities will not be used for security under any circumstances.

Related:

Amnesty International has published their annual death penalty count and China remains the top executioner in the world. April 16 2008

China 470+
Iran 317+
Saudi Arabia 143+
Pakistan 135+
USA 42
Iraq 33+
Vietnam 25+
Yemen 16 +
Afghanistan 15
Libya 9+
Japan 9
Syria 7+
Sudan 7+
Bangladesh 6
Somalia 5+
Equatorial Guinea 3
Singapore 2