In Geneva, 24-26 February
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Money will help people off the hook in capital punishment cases, according to a round table discussion at the fourth World Congress against the Death Penalty, held in Geneva 24-26 February. That, and the victim being a foreigner makes it unlikely that he or she will be put to death. Panelists from Bahrein, Pakistan and the United States argued that “money can buy you immunity” from prosecution. “Torture and the death penalty are for the poor,” says Kamran Arif, a lawyer from Pakistan, which hands down one-third of the world’s death sentences.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Police in Geneva have now made available dozens of photos of recovered stolen jewelry to help victims find their missing possessions. The jewelry can be viewed by going to the police jewelry division, opening the pdfs and noting the reference number if you find something of yours there. Contact the police and make an appointment to see them in order to claim it:
Service des bijoux de la police judiciaire, Vieil Hôtel de Police, 17-19 boulevard Carl-Vogt, Geneva.
Tel: +41 22 427 8281 (08h00-11h30)
E-mail : cid.bijoux@police.ge.ch
Update 7 September / More than 100 Irish IRA victims’ families in the UK have been told by Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s office in London that the government will not put formal pressure on Libya to compensate them, thus following the example of the US. Lawyers for three families in the US have obtained what the BBC describes as a multi-million pound out of court settlement with Libya, which the victims’ lawyers say supplied the IRA with explosives from Libya. Monday 7 September Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi’s son Saif al-Islam told Sky News that if victims’ families requested compensation the answer in the first instance would be “no” and they could take the matter to court – a reply seen by the families as positive because it is the first sign of engagement on the part of Libya.
Thirteen bodies have washed up on the Tanzanian island of Mafia (map), along with debris, and they are thought to be those of victims of the Comoros archipelago crash of a Yemeni airliner in 1 July. Officials say DNA tests will be needed to identify them. The island is south of Dar es Salaam, not far from the mainland. BBC
The explanation for what precisely happened to flight AF447 over the Atlantic is still missing, but Air France Thursday 4 June told the families of victims that enough information is now available to know there is no hope of anyone surviving the crash. Yahoo/AP
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Names of those who died in the Air France crash in the Atlantic Monday 1 June are gradually making it into media around the world. In Switzerland, police in Vaud say that a man from the area was on the plane, but they will not make details public. The Tribune de Geneve and its sister newspaper 24 Heures published news of the death of Christophe Paus, 32, a neurosurgeon at the Chuv (University Hospitals) in Lausanne but it is not clear if he is the Vaud resident known to police. A total of six Swiss were reported to be on the plane.
Among those from other countries, known to have been on the flight:
Italy on Good Friday before Easter, an important day in the Catholic Church which plays a significant part in Italian life, is mourning the nearly 300 victims of the earthquake that rocked the town of Aquila 6 April. At least 150 people are being buried Friday, with dignitaries and officials from throughout Italy attending, reports the BBC.
French officials denied claims of a relationship between nuclear weapons tests and health problems among the testers for decades. Defense Minister Hervé Morin told Le Figaro, Tuesday 23 March, that they will compensate those suffering from illnesses linked to radiation exposure from the test. French authorities carried out more than 200 nuclear tests between 1960 and 1996 that theoretically affected approximately 150,000 civilian and military personnel, according to Morin. International Herald Tribune
Tens of thousands of people, according to Al Jazeera wire service, marched in Naples 21 March to demand an end to organized crime and violence attributed to the Mafia, as well as to commemorate some 900 Mafia victims.
NPR, National Public Radio in the US, carries a long feature on one family’s efforts to build new lives several months after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan 12 May that left 88,000 people dead and 5 million homeless.
