Pope calls for the removal of the death penalty

Pope Francis calls for world 'free of the death penalty'

ROME- Pope Francis called for a world “free of the death penalty” in a video message supporting the sixth World Congress against capital punishment, currently being held in Oslo, Norway. He said the practice brings no justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance.


“Indeed, nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of the convicted person,” Francis said on the message released on Tuesday.

“It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice,” the pope said.

The pontiff defined growing opposition to the practice as a “sign of hope,” saying that it’s not “consonant with any purpose of punishment.”

“It does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance,” Francis said in Spanish.

The congress is being organized by the French ONG Ensemble contre la peine de mort and the World Coalition Against Death Penalty. It began on Tuesday, and will continue until June 23.


According to the World Coalition’s website, the three-day gathering unites members of civil society, politicians, and legal experts to elaborate abolitionist strategies for the years to come at the national, regional, and international levels

It also aims to send a message to the world: “Universal abolition is essential for a world where progress and justice must prevail.”

The previous congress was held in Madrid in 2013.

In the video, Francis also said that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” applies both for the innocent and to the guilty, adding that the Jubilee of Mercy is an occasion for promoting more evolved forms of respect for the life of each person.

Earlier in the year, he had proposed Catholic government leaders “make a courageous and exemplary gesture by seeking a moratorium on executions during this Holy Year of Mercy.”

As he has done several times before, the Argentine pontiff also called for an improvement of prison conditions so that they respect the dignity of does incarcerated. Rendering justice, he said, “does not mean seeking punishment for its own sake, but ensuring that the basic purpose of all punishment is the rehabilitation of the offender.”

According to Francis, the system of penal justice must allow the guilty party’s reinsertion in society, because “There’s no fitting punishment without hope!”

“Punishment for its own sake, without room for hope, is a form of torture, not of punishment,” he said.

Over 1,300 participants from 80 countries are participating in the congress, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland.


The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the traditional teaching of the Church “does not exclude” recourse to the death penalty when it is “the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.” It adds, however, that today such cases are “very rare, if not practically non-existent.”


In 2015, at least 1,634 prisoners were executed across 25 countries, and 1,998 people were sentenced to death across 61 countries, a record for the past 25 years. In that landscape, the advance of the abolitionist trend still encounters great resistance across Asia and the Arab world.




Statistics show that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran were responsible for 89 percent of the recorded executions last year, but these figures don’t take into account China, where information in this issue is classified as a state secret.




Of the 195 independent states recognized by the United Nations, 103 have abolished capital punishment for all crimes, six retain it for exceptional circumstances, such as crimes committed in wartime, 49 retain it but haven’t applied it in at least ten years, and 37 retain it both in law and practice.




The United States is one of two countries in the Americas where the death penalty is still practiced, with the other being St. Kitts & Nevis, a dual-island nation situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.






Works Cited


Martin, Ines San. "Pope Francis Calls for World Free of Death Penalty." Crux. N.p., 21 June 2016. Web. 21 June 2016.




Response:

At first, this article comes at quite a surprise, because it's another thing that the Pontiff is trying to change in this world. Whether it's about religion, or human rights, and now even politics, Pope Francis is not holding back on trying to reform the world. The argument that the Pope tries to convey makes considerable sense, however I'm not sure to what extent I'd agree that there should be no death penalty. Honestly, if the judge deems that the crime was worthy of punishment, for example death, then it should be carried out. I'm also not sure if I would use the Bible in a debate that involved people who had no faith either. It's an interesting debate topic that would be interesting to see where people stand and to see why they believe what they believe.

Referring to bias, I think that there is some definite bias towards the Pope's views, and against the oppositon.

No ceasefire over Ramadan

Syria civil war: 224 killed in first week of Ramadan

Fast Facts
At least 224 people killed in first week of Ramadan in Syria, says monitor
Syrian and Russian air strikes caused majority of deaths, according to activists and monitor
Recent deaths include 41 killed in Idlib, with women and children among the dead

At least 224 people were killed in the first week of Ramadan in Syria, with the majority of the deaths resulting from bombings by Syrian and Russian warplanes, according to a monitor.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said on Monday that between 6 and 12 June - the first week of the Islamic holy month of fasting - at least 148 civilians, including 50 children and 15 women, were killed as helicopters dropped "explosive barrel" bombs.

It added that at least 12 people were killed in shelling by rebels and fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. At least one man was executed by ISIL in the same period, the Observatory said.

"We ... renew our condemnation of the international community for its continued terrifying silence about the crimes committed against the Syrian people," the monitor said.

The death toll includes casualties from air strikes on a market in Idlib city, in which at least 40 civilians died on Sunday. Activists say most of those victims were women and children.

Several monitoring groups, as well as Turkish authorities, accused Russia of conducting the air strikes in Idlib, but Russian authorities denied any involvement.

The area is controlled by a coalition of rebel groups called The Army of Conquest, which includes al-Nusra Front. The coalition is not included in a partial ceasefire, which was negotiated in February.

The Observatory report comes as hundreds of civilians are fleeing the ISIL stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria and as fears grow for the thousands who remain trapped in the city, which is besieged by US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces.

The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests in March 2011, has escalated into a multi-sided civil war.

The death toll has risen to more than 280,000 people, while half the country's population have been forced from their homes, according to UN estimates.



Source: Al Jazeera and agencies




Works Cited



"Syria Civil War: 224 Killed in First Week of Ramadan." - News from Al Jazeera. Aljazeera, 13 June 2016. Web. 14 June 2016.




In my opinion, it seems a bit ironic that during the holy month of Ramadan, people continue to be killed in the region where it seems that there should be at least a little peace for this holy holiday. Although it doesn't surprise me that IS continues to strike back and gain ground. I remember watching a movie where there was a ceasefire on Christmas and I don't know why the Muslims don't do that. On another note, after reading this article, it didn't even seem like that Russia was being very productive with the bombings and that they were bombing Idlib. It seems that the Russian involvement in the war doesn't seem to be helping the cause of the war either.



Concerning bias, their might be bias against the Russia forces, but other than that, there doesn't seem to be much else bias.

Is Bernie out for good?

Sanders campaign calls out AP for declaring Clinton win

ROAD TO THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION
The AP count includes superdelegates who will not pledge their votes until the Democrat convention in July
Superdelegates are unelected officials within the Democratic party who can vote at the conference
Excluding superdelegates, Clinton has 1,812 elected delegates and Sanders has 1,521
Superdelegates can and have changed their minds in their past

The Associated Press news agency has been criticised for declaring Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for the 2016 US presidential election.

Clinton has 1,821 pledged delegates but the AP's survey of so-called superdelegates gives her the 2,383 votes needed to secure the nomination.

A spokesman for the Sanders campaign called the move to declare a presumptive nominee a "rush to judgement". Speaking to MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show on Monday evening, Michael Briggs said superdelegates can and had changed their minds in previous contests.

"It counts superdelegates that the Democratic National Committee itself says should not be counted because they haven't voted and won't vote until the summer," Briggs told the show.

The campaign was still seeking to convince senior Democrats that Sanders was the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in the US election in November.

"In poll after poll here in California and across the country, Bernie does far, far better than Secretary Clinton in match-ups with Donald Trump."

US election: AP says Clinton wins Democratic nomination

Supporters of Bernie Sanders argue that the timing of the announcement before a crunch primary in California on Tuesday adversely affects their candidate's chances of winning the state.

Many expressed their anger online that AP's count included superdelegates, who are not directly elected during the primaries and are not pledged to vote until the Democratic convention that starts on July 25.

Reactions to the AP tweet announcing the winner drew condemnations of the news media as a whole and surprise about its timing.

Clinton, who leads Sanders on pledged delegates, has cautioned that she would not "get ahead of herself", but analyst Bill Schneider from the University of California, Los Angeles said it was "impossible" to imagine Sanders winning the race now.

"The only way he could do it is with superdelegates but he's complaining that she's doing it with superdelegates ... she's ahead with elected pledged delegates and that's very democratic," Schneider said.

The winner of the Democratic primaries will likely face off with the Republican party's presumptive nominee Trump, whose populist campaign has seen him defeat party favourites such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

New York: Primaries, politics and the press - The Listening Post

Source: Al Jazeera



Bibliography:

Works Cited

"Sanders Campaign Calls out AP for Declaring Clinton Win." - News from Al Jazeera. Aljazeera, 07 June 2016. Web. 07 June 2016.



Response:

The AP has publicly announced Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee and the Bernie Sanders camp didn't support the supposedly rash actions. This message from the AP has received much criticism as many people believed that it shouldn't have also counted the super delegate vote as well as that not all of the primaries have finished yet. Also the argument says that the super delegates don't actually have a part in the primaries at all. However, there is also the fact that many people believe that Bernie Sanders is separating the party by continuing to run, when it seems almost impossible that he'll win. Personally, I have a slight preference towards Bernie rather than any other candidate in the race, but I still wouldn't want a divided democratic party.

Concerning bias, the source is Aljazeera and I don't think they are inclined or swayed towards any direction, and also they presented both sides pretty well.