AUCKLAND: Amnesty International New Zealand has called on a group of Asian countries to stop executions and unfair trials, the rights group said on Thursday. In a new report The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) said that a group of 14 Asian countries execute more people than the rest of the world combined. ADPAN is an independent cross-regional network that campaigns for an end to the death penalty across the Asia-Pacific Region. “Only a small number of countries in Asia are still using the death penalty but their actions cast a shadow over the entire region, with high numbers of people being sentenced after unfair trials, causing innocent people to be executed,” said Louise Vischer, Coordinator of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN). The report highlights the cases of eight people facing execution in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Pakistan. “The flawed justice systems in many of these countries creates a situation where people are executed after blatantly unfair trials where they have had little or no access to legal advice and may even have been convicted after being tortured into confessing,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Asia-Pacific. Even though over half of Asian countries have abolished the death penalty or have not carried out executions in the last 10 years, forced confessions are regularly relied upon as evidence during trials in Afghanistan, China, Japan, India and Indonesia despite laws against the practice. There are at least 55 capital offences in China, 28 in Pakistan, and 57 in Taiwan. “All Asian countries must work towards abolition of the death penalty. Only then can they demonstrate their true commitment to fairness and justice,” said Narendra, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), India. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/B8FgP Tags: Amnesty, Death Penalty, Execution Section: Asia, Human Rights, Latest News, Oceana
