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Afghan president rejects death penalty moratorium
Afghan President Hamid Karzai [official website; BBC profile] rejected calls for the reinstatement of a moratorium on the death penalty Monday, saying that while he prefers life sentences, he will abide by Islamic law's sanctioning of the death (More) |
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Despite Kentucky death penalty ruling, Supreme Court justices offer hope
Sarah Tofte [researcher, Human Rights Watch]: "On April 16, in Baze v. Rees, the US Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated ruling on the constitutionality of Kentucky's use of lethal injection as a method of execution. Although on the s (More) |
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Baze decision masks division over capital punishment
Laura Porter [Director of Organizing, Equal Justice USA]: "The Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Baze v Rees this week, upholding the constitutionality of Kentucky's lethal injection protocols. Texas has already taken the Cou (More) |
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Afghan president urged to reinstate death penalty moratorium
Afghan President Hamid Karzai [official website; BBC profile] should reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty and should not sign execution orders for 100 prisoners, approved by the Supreme Court this week, advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) (More) |
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Some US states to resume executions after high court lethal injection ruling
Several US states announced Wednesday that they would resume executions by lethal injection after the Supreme Court's decision upholding Kentucky's lethal injection protocol earlier in the day. Virginia lifted its death penalty moratorium (More) |
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Supreme Court hears child rape death penalty case
The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] heard oral arguments Wednesday in Kennedy v. Louisiana [Duke Law case backgrounder, merit briefs], 07-343, where the Supreme Court considered whether the death penalty constitutes cruel a (More) |
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Supreme Court upholds Kentucky lethal injection protocol
The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] ruled Wednesday that lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling came in Baze v. Rees [Duke Law case backgrounder; (More) |
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Over 1200 people executed worldwide in 2007: Amnesty International
At least 1200 people were executed worldwide in 2007, and 88 percent of those executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA, according to a report [PDF text; press release] released Tuesday by human rights (More) |
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China chief justice urges death penalty for violent crimes
China's chief justice has instructed judges to impose harsh sentences, including the death penalty, for violent crimes, China's Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. Touring the Guangdong province last week, president of the Supreme People&# (More) |
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China court finds former Communist Party official guilty of corruption
A former top Chinese Communist Party official was convicted Friday of corruption and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Chen Liangyu [People's Daily profile] was found guilty of accepting bribes and abuse of power, making Chen the highest rank (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.
