18 September 201217 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Gambia suspends executions of death row inmates

originally by: DW News
published: 15 September 2012

Gambia has placed a moratorium on the execution of death row inmates. President Yahya Jammeh sparked international outrage when he vowed to execute all 47 death row prisoners by mid-September. President Yahya Jammeh succumbed to regional and domestic pressure on Saturday, announcing that he had suspended the pending executions of the remaining 38 inmates on death row.

“It is hereby made clear that it is only a moratorium on executions and what happens next will be dictated by either a declining violent crime rate in which case the moratorium will be indefinite, or an increase in the violent crime rate, in which case the moratorium will be lifted automatically,” the president’s office said in a release.

27 June 201217 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Court tosses death penalty in Arkansas

by: The Columbia Daily Tribune
published: 22 June 2012

The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the state’s execution law today, calling it unconstitutional.

In a split decision, the high court sided with 10 death row inmates who argued that, under Arkansas’ constitution, only the legislature can set execution policy. Legislators in 2009 voted to give that authority to the Department of Correction.

“It is evident to this court that the legislature has abdicated its responsibility and passed to the executive branch, in this case the (Arkansas Department of Correction), the unfettered discretion to determine all protocol and procedures, most notably the chemicals to be used, for a state execution,” Justice Jim Gunter wrote in the majority opinion.

29 May 201217 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Detention centre failures led to death of asylum seeker

originally by: The Guardian
published: 25 May 2012

Neglect by immigration detention centre staff contributed to the death of a Pakistani asylum seeker after he suffered a heart attack, an inquest jury has found.

Staff at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow airport, failed to call 999 soon enough, to administer CPR or have a working defibrillator available, an inquest at West London coroner’s court, found.

Muhammad Shukat, 47, a driver from Islamabad, died following a cardiac arrest last July. His 19-year-old roommate Abdul Khan pressed the emergency buzzer 10 times over a period of almost two hours, trying but failing to get Shukat, a man he called “uncle”, help.