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    Utah prisoner Ronnie Lee Gardner chooses firing squad over lethal injection

    Kate Morris on 26 April 2010

    Allowing a prisoner to 'choose' the method of his own execution is a rather twisted application of human rights.

    Yet that’s the choice Ronnie Lee Gardner has recently grappled with. On Friday, having initially opted for lethal injection, Ronnie sent a simple request to the judge in Salt Lake City: "I would like the firing squad, please."

    Since the US Supreme Court temporarily suspended capital punishment in the 1970s, the only other execution by firing squad was that of John Taylor in 1996 – also in Utah. According to the New York Times, Taylor chose this method of execution ‘to ...

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  2. Generic - cell exterior small window 2

    Iran: A hotbed for hangings

    Chloe Strowger on 26 April 2010

    In a country where a senior cleric can boldly assert that women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes, it is saddening, but not surprising, that state executions in Iran are rife.

    However over the last few months Iran has become a hotbed of activity. Since mid- February there have been at least nine hangings as well as floggings, and limb amputations for those accused of crimes ranging from robbery to rape.

    In 2009 Iran carried out a reported 402 executions. Among those executed was a 26 year-old student named Kouhyar who was enrolled at ...

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  3. Death row - cell

    Sixth man executed by Texas since January

    Charlie Burnett on 23 April 2010

    At exactly 5.18pm yesterday, William Berkley became the sixth Texas inmate to die by lethal injection in 2010, after being condemned to death for the slaying of 18 year old Sophia Martinez in March 2000.

    Berkley was convicted of fatally shooting the El Paso high school senior after robbing and sexually assaulting her.  In his brief statement before execution, William thanked his girlfriend, a friend and his spiritual adviser, who were at the execution, for their love and support.  He has always vehemently denied killing Martinez and states he was not given a fair trial.

    Gary James Johnson, Kenneth ...

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  4. Cortney Busch BW 2011

    Another US offer of a home for Ahmed Belbacha?

    Cortney Busch on 21 April 2010

    The town of Leverett, Massachusetts will soon vote on a resolution which, if passed, will offer Ahmed Belbacha a second home in the US.

    No More Guantánamos issued a press release today reminding the US public that the five remaining Uighurs in the Cuban detention centre are not the only individuals unable to return home safely.

    The release also states that the town of Leverett, Massachusetts may mirror previous attempts made by Amherst, Massachusetts in offering Guantánamo Bay detainee, Ahmed Belbacha, a home in the States.

    In November 2009, Amherst passed an unusual resolution affirming they would accept Ahmed as ...

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  5. Tara Murray

    Guantánamo Habeas Week: Exposing torture, misconceptions and government incompetence

    Tara Murray on 21 April 2010

    72% of Guantánamo prisoners whose cases have been reviewed by US courts were found to have been illegally held by the Americans.

    Since June 2008, when the landmark US Supreme Court decision Boumediene finally gave Guantánamo prisoners the right to challenge their detentions in US courts, nearly 3/4ths of the prisoners whose habeas cases have advanced have been successful. 

    This week, Andy Worthington will be hosting “Guantanamo Habeas Week” on his site, where he’ll be examining the 47 cases that have been decided thus far. 

    The rulings reviewed shed light on the utter lack of evidence available to ...

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  6. Marc Callcutt BW

    Marc Callcutt writes about Naheem Hussain and Rehan Zaman: "The gallows are right in the middle of the prison. There are no illusions about what they’re facing.”

    on 20 April 2010

     

    Naheem Hussain was 19 when he was arrested in 2004, his friend Rehan Zaman was 21. Reprieve didn’t know about their case until October 2008, when the Foreign Office contacted us. Naheem and Rehan are from Birmingham. During a visit to Pakistan in 2004 they were arrested after two members of Naheem’s family were killed during a dispute over land. They were beaten and tortured by the police for two weeks, and all of the scant evidence against them was extracted under torture. Six years later, they are still awaiting trial.

    The thing that struck me meeting them ...

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  7. Aimee Griffin

    Voices for Death Row Inmates event

    Aimee Griffin on 20 April 2010

    On the 30th April at 12pm, the organisation Voices for Death Row Inmates has organized a peaceful protest to show the US authorities here in the UK that people do not agree with capital punishment. 

    The London event will have several guest speakers including human rights activist Gilles Denizot and, they hope, an exonerated death row inmate. The organisation is holding this event to show the world that it has not forgotten the inmates who sit awaiting state-sanctioned murder.

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  8. Clare Duffy

    “Not for the faint-hearted”- how do you advertise the position of state executioner?

    Clare Duffy on 15 April 2010

    That’s a question that Chikurubi Prison would dearly love the answer to. The Zimbabwean Maximum Security unit has been searching for a hangman for the last five years without success

    This is perhaps surprising given that the national unemployment rate is 94% and that the job requires no previous experience or qualifications. It must surely be the only unwanted job in Zimbabwe!

    Admittedly, the job description is hardly appealing: “The job of a hangman is reserved only for men. The job demands strength and unwavering focus. It is not of the faint-hearted”. The Daily News of Zimbabwe adds that ...

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  9. David Sellwood by E.Purdon

    The EC project is hiring!

    David Sellwood on 15 April 2010

    The EC project 'Engaging Europe in the fight for US abolition' at Reprieve is accepting applications for an investigator. If interested, please click here for details of the role and how to apply.

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  10. Volunteer Anna Chadwick BW

    Firing squad or lethal injection - which would you choose?

    Anna Chadwick on 13 April 2010

    In a bizarre turn of events Ronnie Lee Gardner may be the first death row inmate to be executed by firing squad in Utah since 1996 – if he so decides.

    'Man executed by Utah firing squad': this is not a headline most Americans would expect to read in in 2010. However, should death row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner choose to be executed by firing squad instead of by lethal injection, people in Utah could be waking up to that very news.

    A loophole in Utah’s 2004 legislation outlawing the use of firing squads as a method of execution gives ...

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