Q&A: 'Islam and Abolition Are Compatible'
Interview with Mustapha Bouhandi, professor of comparative religion
CASABLANCA - Many in the Arab world find support for the death penalty in the Quran. But this is a false reading of the texts, says Mustapha Bouhandi, professor of comparative religion at Hassan II university in Casablanca.
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JAPAN: Lone Voices in a Land of Hardening Views
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - For years after his brother was killed in January 1982, Masaharu Harada, 57, says he grappled not only with the trauma of personal loss but also with deep anger and hatred for the perpetrator.
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LATIN AMERICA: Broad Support for UN Moratorium
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - Many Latin American governments have not yet adopted a position, or have not communicated one, but the majority trend in the region appears to be to support the resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty proposed by a number of countries to the United Nations General Assembly.
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CENTRAL ASIA: Abolition Close, But Spectre of Death Remains
By Kuban Abdymen
BISHKEK - The hastening end to state executions across Central Asia could turn out to be only a temporary reprieve for many as the new category of 'lifers' face the prospect of decades in jails often plagued with highly-infectious diseases and meagre, unhealthy rations barely sufficient to survive.
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Gov'ts Routinely Dodge U.N. Rights Investigators
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations is disappointed that an increasingly large number of member states are either refusing to respond to charges of extra-judicial killings or have turned down requests for visits by U.N. special envoys mandated to monitor arbitrary and summary executions in these countries.
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CUBA: Sentences Uphold De Facto Moratorium
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA - Military tribunals that have tried serious cases of murder and kidnapping in the last few weeks in Cuba have opted for life sentences or 30-year prison terms instead of the death penalty, which has not been applied in this country in more than four years.
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Q&A: 'A Key Step Towards Abolition'
Interview with Amnesty International's Martin Macpherson
LONDON - Amnesty International has been fighting since its foundation for the universal abolition of the death penalty. In the next weeks, the UN General Assembly will be voting on a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions.
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US: Florida Court Struggles through IQ Labyrinth
By Mark Weisenmiller
TAMPA, Florida - A Florida judge's decision to sentence a convicted killer to death, despite two extremely low IQ scores, has highlighted the possibility that some severely mentally retarded may be missing the lifeline thrown out to them by the U.S. Supreme Court five years ago, some activists say.
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U.N. Faults Iraq for Continued Executions
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - A new United Nations report on human rights criticises the government in Baghdad for its continued executions of prisoners despite appeals by the United Nations and its human rights bodies for a moratorium on capital punishment.
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News from International NGOs:
Amnesty And World Coalition Call For Action - Possible Expansion Of Scope Of Death Penalty In Peru - More Than 7,400 People In Death Row In Pakistan - Indonesia: First Executions Since 2005 - Sharp Rise In Executions In Iraq - The History Of Chinese Law Is An Argument For Abolition - Hands Off Cain To Honour Kagame On Capital Punishment - Radicals Achieve Objective Of Putting Un Moratorium Campaign On Track

WORLD PRESS REVIEW:
Meps Overstep Poland In Campaign Against Death Penalty - Council Of Europe Proclaims Day Against Death Penalty - New South African Party Wants Death Penalty - Rwanda Calls For End To Death Penalty - Overseas Filipino Facing Death Penalty May Be Saved - Why Death Penalty In A Civilised Society? - Beijing Reins In The Death Penalty - Tennessee Governor Says Ruling On Lethal Injection 'Wrong'