ASIA-In 14 Asian countries death penalty is imposed after unfair trials or evidence extracted

Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - In 14 Asian countries the death of thousands of people is condemned every year, after unfair trials, or on the basis of evidence extracted under torture. This is what the "Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network" declares in a report titled "When justice is lacking. Thousands are put to death after unfair trials", presented in past days in Hong Kong, of which a copy was sent to Fides. According to the Report, 14 Asian countries carry out, on the whole, more death sentences than the rest of the world. In particular, the Report calls for action in favor of eight people who risk execution in China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Taiwan. In each of these cases, death sentence - it says - was imposed after an unfair trial and in six out of eight cases the charge is based on evidence extracted through torture.
Confessions extracted by force are regularly considered "reliable evidence" in trials in Afghanistan, China, Japan, India and Indonesia, although the laws prohibit this practice. The Document emphasizes "the flaws present in the judicial systems in many of these countries", pointing out that, on the other hand, over half of Asian countries have abolished death penalty or have not carried out executions in the last 10 years.
In Asia - notes the text - the defendants for crimes punishable with a death sentence have limited or even no access to legal defense, both before and during the trial. Among the examples cited: in India, Devender Pal Singh, a prisoner on death row, denounced to the Supreme Court that the police had "taken his hand to get him to sign blank sheets of paper". In Japan, the police are authorized to detain and interrogate a suspect without a lawyer, for 23 days, because the presence of a lawyer could "make it difficult to discover the truth". The Chinese authorities may place obstacles in the talks between lawyers and their clients or obstruct access to files.
Under international law, death penalty may be imposed only for intentional crimes with lethal consequences. Nevertheless, some Asian countries like North Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore, apply it to non-lethal crimes such as theft or drug trafficking. Crimes punishable by death are at least 55 in China, 28 in Pakistan and 57 in Taiwan.
The "Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network" - ADPAN is an independent network that promotes the abolition of capital punishment in Asia. Among its members there are lawyers, NGOs, civil society groups, human rights defenders and activists from 23 countries. These include, among others, Amnesty International and the Community of Sant'Egidio. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 10/12/2011)