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UN human rights chief urges end to death penalty in Afghanistan
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday urged Afghan President Hamad Karzai [official website; BBC profile] to put a stop to executions and join nations calling for a death penalty moratorium. The call came after five prisoner (More) |
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US and Japan must improve death penalty policies to ensure fairness and accuracy
Stephen Hanlon [Chair, American Bar Association Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Steering Committee]: "While the American Bar Association (ABA) takes no position on the death penalty per se, it has called on U.S. capital jurisdict (More) |
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New Pakistan law sets death penalty for cyberterrorism crimes
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday promulgated the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance which allows certain acts of "cyber terrorism" to be punishable by death. The ordinance covers a variety of cyber crimes, includin (More) |
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Vietnam considers reducing number of capital crimes
Vietnamese Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong on Monday asked the country's National Assembly to consider reducing the number of crimes subject to the death penalty. Cuong’s proposal, which would eliminate the death penalty for crimes like br (More) |
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Osborne case forces Supreme Court to consider use of post-trial evidence
Richard C. Dieter [Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center]: "Almost every state in the country guarantees defendants the right to have DNA evidence tested after their trial. Unfortunately for William Osborne, Alaska is not one of (More) |
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UN human rights committee urges Japan to abolish death penalty
The UN Human Rights Committee on Friday urged Japan to take steps to abolish the death penalty , reiterating its concern that the number of crimes punished by death in Japan has not been reduced and that the number of executions has steadily increa (More) |
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US military judge grants defense lawyer access to resticted Guantanamo camp
US military judge Col. Ralph Kohlmann ruled Monday that defense attorney Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier could gain access to Camp 7 [Miami Herald backgrounder], a special camp for alleged al Qaeda members classified as "high-value detainees" at (More) |
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China legislature removes high court vice president without explanation
Huang Songyou was removed from his position as vice president of China's Supreme People's Court Tuesday in a vote by Chinese legislators. No explanation was given for the action, but earlier this month, Huang was reportedly detained by pa (More) |
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UN investigator urges North Korea to improve rights record
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea Vitit Muntarbhorn on Thursday called on the country to take urgent action to improve its rights record. Muntarbhorn said the country holds public executions, punishes those who have unsuccessful (More) |
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Afghan journalism student death sentence reduced to 20-year prison term
The death sentence of Afghan journalism student Sayad Parwaz Kambaksh was reduced Tuesday to 20 years' imprisonment by an Afghan appeals court. Kambaksh was sentenced to death in January for distributing papers questioning gender roles under I (More) |
WWI gas attack on Canadians led to first chemical weapons ban
On April 24, 1915, the German army used chlorine gas against Canadian troops at Ypres. Gas was later employed by British and French forces against the Germans.
Learn more about early efforts by the Red Cross to ban chemical weapons and review the June 1925 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.
