Death penalty report: China must end secrecy surrounding sentences and executions

Methods of execution in 2009 included hanging, shooting, beheading, stoning, electrocution and lethal injection. Where "+" is indicated after a country it means that the figure Amnesty International has calculated is a minimum figure.

The report, Death Sentences and Executions in 2009, reveals that at least 714 people were executed in 18 countries and at least 2001 people were sentenced to death in 56 countries last year. This excludes the thousands of executions that were likely to have taken place in China, where information on the death penalty remains a state secret. Read through the text and summarize the content of the paragraphs: Amnesty International on Tuesday challenged the Chinese authorities to reveal how many people they execute and sentence to death, as the organization published its world overview of the death penalty for 2009. AI wants China to ............................................................................................................................... In a challenge to China's lack of transparency, Amnesty International has decided not to publish its own minimum figures for Chinese executions and death sentences in 2009. Estimates based on the publicly available information grossly underrepresent the actual number the state killed or sentenced to death. AI didn't publish numbers on death sentences in China, because....................................................... .............................................................................................................................................................. "The death penalty is cruel and degrading, and an affront to human dignity," said Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International's Interim Secretary General. "The Chinese authorities claim that fewer executions are taking place. If this is true, why won't they tell the world how many people the state put to death?"

Amnesty International's research shows that countries that still carry out executions are the exception rather than the rule. In addition to China, the worst offending nations were Iran with at least 388 executions, Iraq at least 120, Saudi Arabia at least 69 and the USA with 52. Most executions take place in ............................................................................................................. Last year the death sentence was used extensively to send political messages, to silence opponents or to promote political agendas in China, Iran and Sudan, according to Amnesty International's report. In Iran, 112 executions were known to have taken place in the eight-week period between the presidential election on 12 June and the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as President on 5 August. Political opponents of governments ................................................................................................... The report addresses the discriminatory way the death penalty was applied in 2009, often after grossly unfair trials, and used much more often against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities. Trials often are unfair, because ........................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................................................. Yet the figures also show that the world continued to move towards abolition in 2009. The number of countries that have removed capital punishment entirely from their laws rose to 95 as Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Fewer countries ....................................................................................................................... For the first year since Amnesty International began keeping records, no executions took place in Europe in 2009. Across the Americas, the USA was the only country to carry out executions. "Fewer countries than ever before are carrying out executions. As it did with slavery and apartheid, the world is rejecting this embarrassment to humanity," said Claudio Cordone. "We are moving closer to a death penalty free world, but until that day every execution must be opposed."

Read through the text and memorize the information. You'll have to tell your colleagues what happened in this region: In Asia, thousands of executions were likely to have taken place in China, where information on the death penalty remains a state secret. Only seven other countries were known to have carried out executions - Bangladesh, Japan, North Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam with 26 executions known to have taken place. Afghanistan, Indonesia, Mongolia and Pakistan did not carry out executions in 2009, the first execution-free year in those countries in recent times.

In the Middle East and North Africa at least 624 executions were known to have been carried out in seven countries: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. Saudi Arabia and Iran executed seven people who were under 18 at the time of the alleged offence, in violation of international law. Several countries - Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco/Western Sahara and Tunisia - maintained longstanding moratoriums on executions.

No executions took place in Europe in 2009. Belarus remains the only nation to use the death penalty in the region. Although no one was executed in the former Soviet country last year, two people were killed by the state in March 2010.

In sub-Saharan Africa only two countries executed prisoners: Botswana and Sudan. The largest mass commutation of death sentences ever known to Amnesty International took place in Kenya as the government announced that more than 4,000 condemned prisoners would have their sentences commuted to imprisonment.

Read carefully through the text, write down 10 keywords and use these keywords to inform your neighbour about the content:

Delara Darabi executed in Iran

30 April 2009 Iranian authorities executed Delara Darabi in Rasht Central Prison on Friday morning. She is the second person to be executed this year after being convicted of a crime she was alleged to have commited while still under 18, Amnesty International has revealed. "Amnesty International is outraged at the execution of Delara Darabi, and particularly at the news that her lawyer was not informed about the execution, despite the legal requirement that he should receive 48 hours' notice," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "This appears to have been a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life." Delara Darabi was executed despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary on 19 April. "This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carry no weight and are disregarded in the provinces," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. Delara Darabi was convicted of murdering a relative in 2003 when she was 17. She initially confessed to the murder, believing she could save her boyfriend from the gallows, but later retracted her confession. She was detained at Rasht Prison in northern Iran since her arrest in 2003, during which time she developed a significant talent as a painter. Amnesty International does not consider her trial to have been fair, as the courts later refused to consider new evidence which the lawyer said would have proved she could not have committed the murder. Amnesty International had campaigned to save her life since her case came to light in 2006, urging the Iranian authorities to commute her death sentence and calling for a her re-trial in proceedings that meet international standards. The execution of Delara Darabi brings the number of executions in Iran this year to 140. She is the second woman known to have been executed. Iran has executed at least forty two juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and one on 21 January 2009, in total disregard of international

law, which unequivocally bans the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18.

Read carefully through the text, write down 10 keywords and use these keywords to inform your neighbour about the content:

Exonerations and pardons

Kirk Bloodsworth was the first American to be freed from death row as a result of exoneration by DNA fingerprinting. Ray Krone is the 100th American to have been sentenced to death and later exonerated. In the U.K., reviews prompted by the Criminal Cases Review Commission have resulted in one pardon and three exonerations for people executed between 1950 and 1953 (when the execution rate in England and Wales averaged 17 per year), with compensation being paid. Timothy Evans was granted a posthumous free pardon in 1966. Mahmood Hussein Mattan was convicted in 1952 and was the last person to be hanged in Cardiff, Wales, but had his conviction quashed in 1998. George Kelly was hanged at Liverpool in 1950, but had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in June 2003.[18] Derek Bentley had his conviction quashed in 1998 with the appeal trial judge, Lord Bingham, noting that the original trial judge, Lord Goddard, had denied the defendant "the fair trial which is the birthright of every British citizen." Colin Campbell Ross (1892 1922) was an Australian wine-bar owner executed for the rape and murder of a child which became known as The Gun Alley Murder, despite there being evidence that he was innocent. Following his execution, efforts were made to clear his name, and in the 1990s old evidence was re-examined with modern forensic techniques which supported the view that Ross was innocent. In 2006 an appeal for mercy was made to Victoria's Chief Justice and on 27 May 2008, the Victorian government pardoned Ross in what is believed to be an Australian legal first.[19]

Here are some last sentences of people who were executed in the U.S. You can hand out cards with the pictures and sentences to the students, who turn them into reported speech and then inform their colleagues. Further activities could be discussions about who of these people claim to be innocent, i-net research about what their crimes were, etc.

"First of all I would like to tell my Uncle Kyle that I am sorry. I have been sorry for the last 10 years for what I did. I wish you could accept my apology. I know you can't accept my apology, I know you can't give your forgiveness; it's okay and I understand. I have done what I could to heal the rest of the family. I wish that someday you could come to terms and understand. I know I was wrong; I accept responsibility as a man. I take this penalty as a man. This doesn't solve anything, 'cause it hurts others that love me. I am sorry. I love you Kjersti. I love you too Roland. I love you too Uncle Kyle; I am still your nephew, no matter what you believe." Carlton Akee Turner, executed in Texas on July 10 , 2008

"I said I was going to tell a joke. Death has set me free. That's the biggest joke. I deserve this." Patrick Bryan Knight, executed in Texas on June 26, 2007

"Yes, for all of those that want this to happen, I hope that you get what you want and it makes you feel better and that it gives you some kind of relief. I don't know what else to say. For those that I have hurt, I hope after a while it gets better. I love you, I love you. I am sorry. That's it, goodbye. I love you Irene, I love you sis." Newton Anderson, executed in Texas on Feb. 22, 2007

"It was done out of fear, stupidity and immaturity. It wasn't until I got locked up and saw the newspaper; I saw his face and smile and I realized I had killed a good man." Johnathan Moore, executed in Texas on Jan. 17, 2007

"There is no way words can express how sorry I am for taking the lives of my babies. Now I can be with my babies, as I always intended." Christina Marie Riggs, executed in Arkansas on May 3, 2000

"We all know what really happened, but there are some things you just can't fight. Little people always seem to get squashed. It happens. ... There is no man that is free from all evil, nor any man that is so evil to be worth nothing." David Castillo, executed in Texas on Aug. 23, 1998

"I want you to know that I did not kill your sister. If you want to know the truth, and you deserve to know the truth, hire your own investigators." Pedro Muniz, executed in Texas on May 19, 1998

"I would like to say to the world, I have always been a nice person. I have never been meanhearted or cruel. I wish everybody well." Granville Riddle, executed in Texas on Jan. 30, 2003

"Now that I'm dying, there is nothing left to worry about. I know it was a mistake. ... Everybody has problems, and I won't be part of the problem anymore. I can quit worrying now. It was all a mistake. That's all I want to say." James Colburn, executed in Texas on March 26, 2003

"I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law, that before they did, that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously." William George Bonin, executed in California on Feb. 23, 1996

"For 17 years the Attorney General has been pursuing the wrong man. In time he will come to know this. I don't want anyone to avenge my death. Instead I want you to stop killing people. God bless." Thomas Martin Thompson, executed in California on July 14, 1998

"An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope Americans will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have." Roger Keith Coleman, executed in Virginia on May 20, 1992

"Like I've said from day one, I did not go in there and kill them but I am no better than those that did. Jesus is Lord." Edward Lagrone, executed in Texas on Feb. 11, 2004

"I'm sorry I killed Wayne Shinn. I hope North Carolina will one day be sorry that they killed me." David Lawson, executed in North Carolina on June 15, 1994

"Well, first I want to say. They may execute me but they can't punish me because they can't execute an innocent man. I am not mad. I am disappointed by the courts. I feel like I was upset and let down by them. But that's O.K. I just played the hand that life dealt me. Look at my life and learn from it. I am very remorseful about what I did. I apologize. To my kids, Daddy loves you. Irene Wilcox, Thank you. It's been a long journey. Thank you for being there. Tell Jack hello. I know I am wrong but I am asking ya'll to forgive me." Willie Pondexter, executed in Texas on March 3, 2009

"I was once asked by somebody, I don't remember who, if there was any way sex offenders could be stopped. I said no. I was wrong." Westley Allan Dodd, executed in Washington on Jan. 5, 1993

"I can't really pinpoint where it started, what happened, but really believe that's just the bottom line, what happened to me was in California. I was in their reformatory schools and penitentiary, but ah, they create monsters in there." David Long, executed in Texas on Dec. 8, 1999

"We will keep marching. Keep marching black people, black power. ... Keep marching black people. Keep marching black people. They are killing me tonight. They are murdering me tonight." Gary Graham, executed in Texas on June 22, 2000