Oct. 27
TIBET/CHINA:
Save Trulku Tenzin Delek from execution
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) today releases
an eight-paged brochure entitled Save Trulku Tenzin Delek from execution.
The brochure contains summarized version of background information on
Trulku Tenzin Delek, his arrest and death sentence, court trial and
imprisonment with recommendations for further actions. The execution
verdict of Trulku Tenzin Delek will be confirmed by 25 January 2005 if his
death sentence with a two-year reprieve is not reversed.
Trulku Tenzin Delek is a popular religious figure from Sichuan Province in
eastern Tibet. On 2 December 2002, Kardze Intermediate Peoples Court
sentenced Trulku Tenzin Delek and his disciple, Lobsang Dhondup, to death
for "causing explosions" and "inciting separatism." Trulku was sentenced
to death with 2 years suspension and deprivation of political rights for
life while Lobsang Dhondup was given immediate death penalty and life long
deprivation of political rights.
The arrest and trial of Trulku Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dhondup
exemplifies Chinas disregard of fundamental human rights of Tibetans and
violation of international law as well as domestic laws - the arbitrary
nature of their arrests, lack of adequate and concrete evidences for
conviction, absence of presumption of innocence, use of coercive
interrogation and torture on the detainees, denial of visitation rights
and right to be informed for the detainees family, denial of adequate and
fair legal defense for detainees, closed and unfair trial, arbitrary
arrest and sentencing of relatives, and swift execution of Lobsang Dhondup
thereby impairing chances of Trulkus fair retrial. The conflicting media
reports of the bomb blast incident only substantiate the contrived nature
of the allegations made by Chinese authorities on the case.
The court trial of Trulku Tenzin Delek and Lobsang Dhondup were closed and
court officials further denied Trulku Tenzin Delek his right to an
attorney to represent him. The trial has prompted an international outcry
regarding Chinas fair trial standard. Chinese authorities have failed to
provide any information of evidences for convictions, the manner in which
such evidence was obtained, and what if any evidentiary link exist between
the explosions and Lobsang Dhondup or Trulku Tenzin Delek and their
so--called conspiracy.
Despite appeals made to Sichuan Higher Peoples Court for reversal of death
sentence, the court upheld the earlier verdict and executed Lobsang
Dhondup on 26 January 2003. This verdict is in breach of Chinas Criminal
Law and Criminal Procedure Law which stipulates that only Supreme Peoples
Court may exercise death penalty review and approval authority. Article 48
of the Criminal Law provides that "Except for judgements made by the
Supreme Peoples Court, according to law, all sentences of death shall be
submitted to Supreme Peoples Court for approval. Sentences of death with a
suspension of two years may be decided or approved by high Peoples Court."
Article 199 of the Criminal Procedure Law guarantees that - the death
sentences are to be approved by Supreme Peoples Court" and its article 202
provides for the review of death sentence cases by Supreme Peoples Court
and review of death sentence cases with a suspension of two years by a
higher peoples court to be conducted by a collegial panel composed of
three judges."
Just as Chinas legal provision and definition of terms such as "state
secrets" and "endangering state security" are ambiguous, so does one find
contradiction within China law on death penalty review and approval. The
stipulation under the Organic Law of the Supreme Peoples Court that the
death penalty review and approval authority may be delegated to Provincial
Higher Court directly contravenes the provisions under Criminal Law and
the Criminal Procedure Law. On the one hand, the Criminal Law and Criminal
Procedure law were passed by the National Peoples Congress and are the
basic laws of the nation. On the other hand, the Organic Law of the
Supreme Peoples Court were passed by the Standing Committee of the
National Peoples Congress and is just an ordinary law of the nation.
According to a Professor from Beijing University, "The force of the latter
law is less than the former. It is without a doubt an unconstitutional
behaviour for an ordinary law to contravene basic law." In a response
given by Chinas Foreign Ministry over an official European Union (EU)
demarche over Trulku Tenzin Deleks case, the German Foreign Ministry was
informed that Trulku is "being held in Chuondong Prison in Dazu district
in eastern Sichuan Province and is in good health." The Chinese Foreign
Ministry further indicated that his suspended death sentence would be
"calculated from the day the judgement became final and could be commuted
to lesser sentence." As the death sentence verdicts were upheld on 26
January 2003, the 2-year suspension period of Trulku Tenzin Delek will
expire by 25 January 2005. Article 51 of Chinas Criminal Law stipulates
that a death sentence could be commuted to life in prison "if no
intentional crime during the period of suspension" is undertaken by the
prisoner and "if major meritorious service is truly performed, punishment
shall be commuted to fixed term imprisonment of not less than 15 years,
but not more than 20 years."
Beijing authorities fear a nexus between the Dalai Lama and Tibetan
Buddhism with that of political activism in Tibet. In that context,
Beijing has employed every effort to transform Tibetans hearts and mind
that has been met with stubborn resistance and defiance for decades.
Chinas ploys to exterminate Tibetan Buddhism and later on influence of the
Dalai Lama have ranged from the virtual extinction of Tibets religious
institutions between 1949 and 1979 to the "patriotic re-education"
campaign launched since 1996, the Dalai Lama vilification crusade endorsed
officially since 1994 to targeting influential religious figures within
Tibet such as Trulku Tenzin Delek, late Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, recently
released Geshe Sonam Phuntsok, Chadrel Rinpoche and XIth Panchen Lama
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
In the wake of Chinas fear over the Dalai Lamas alleged influence in
inspiring nationalism amongst Tibetan Buddhists, popular religious figures
inside Tibet have now come under close scrutiny and suspicion over recent
years. Several of Tibets leading lamas have faced insurmountable obstacles
and persecution from the Chinese authorities over their alleged links to
"splittist" activities and their loyalty to the Dalai Lama. The arrest and
sentencing of Trulku Tenzin Delek suggests that charismatic and
influential religious leaders in Tibet are perceived as a threat to the
authorities - due to their ability to gain respect and trust among the
population.
It is widely believed that Trulku Tenzin Delek is framed with false
allegations of involvement in bombing incidents. Trulku is a staunch
activist in the revival and restoration of Tibetan culture and religion
and was actively engaged in social welfare activities. Trulkus rising
popularity for his outspoken allegiance to the Dalai Lama and his numerous
community services - construction of seven monasteries, an old peoples
home, and an orphanage school in Nagchuka County (Ch: Yaijing Xian) in
present day Sichuan - started to trigger Chinas concern over "national
stability." Trulku had also reportedly supported the Dalai Lamas candidate
to be the Panchen Lama.
In light of all the evidences that TCHRD has received, the Centre strongly
believes that Trulku Tenzin Delek is innocent and deserves to be freed
from execution, life imprisonment, and prison term. As a human rights
organization, TCHRD condemns death penalty on the grounds that it
constitutes ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violates
the right to life. Trulku Tenzin Deleks trial is unfair and unjust from
the legal perspective as well as from the point of failure to produce any
evidence to impose such a severe sentence. Therefore TCHRD strongly urges
the Beijing authorities to free Trulku Tenzin Delek from execution and
life imprisonment and to release him unconditionally or else grant him a
fair retrial with proper legal access and defense.
(source: Phayul.com)
SINGAPORE:
Singapore struggles with image as executioner
American science fiction writer William Gibson once described Singapore as
"Disneyland with the death penalty".
Recent developments underscore the point.
Last week a 24-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin lost an appeal
to escape the gallows, rights group Amnesty International challenged the
city-state to disclose its execution rate, and the High Court will soon
decide whether to hang 3 people caught in a high-society drug ring in
Singapore.
"The government is really not softening up when it comes to drug crimes or
on executions," said Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at National
University of Singapore who has written several books on Singapore's
politics.
Though Singapore is loosening social controls -- easing censorship rules,
allowing greater freedom of speech and championing a more open society --
it is maintaining a hard line on crime and executions.
Amnesty, which seeks a worldwide ban on state executions, says Singapore's
death row is shrouded in secrecy. In the country itself, there is little
public debate about the issue and even less information on how the process
is carried out.
In the pre-dawn hours of any Friday, someone could be on their way to the
gallows at Changi prison. No one knows for sure.
Amnesty says about 400 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991,
most for drug trafficking. This adds up to possibly the highest execution
rate in the world relative to the island's 4.2 million population.
"TOUGH BUT TRANSPARENT"
Singapore wants to shatter the secretive image of its death row and
insists there is nothing to hide.
It released a barrage of data in February to counter an Amnesty report,
denying most of those hanged were foreigners from poorer countries and
backing this up with data showing 64 % of those executed from 1993 to 2003
were Singaporeans.
"The Singapore government has in place a tough but transparent law and
order system for the safety and security of its citizens, residents and
those who visit," Freddy Hong, a Home Affairs spokeswoman, told Reuters.
Information on executions is not regularly published, and even Singapore's
former premier Goh Chok Tong said he did not know how many people were
hung when queried in a BBC interview in September last year, putting the
figure for that year at 70-80.
His office later said the actual number at the time was 10.
"We have actually stopped debating this particular policy. The pressure
for more disclosure comes from international organisations. The local
community is quite neutral on this issue," said Ho Khai Leong, a professor
at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
LOW CRIME, ORDERLY LIVING
Singapore, ruled by the People's Action Party for four decades, is often
described as having a theme-park feel because of its tidy streets, orderly
living and low crime rates.
It has had capital punishment for murder since its days as a British
colony.
Those found guilty of kidnapping, treason and certain firearm offences may
also face the gallows, although rights activists say 70 percent of
hangings are for drug offences.
Amnesty data shows that from 1994 to 1999, an average of 13.6 executions
were carried out per million people, 3 times higher than the next country
on the list, Saudi Arabia.
A day after Amnesty challenged Singapore last Tuesday to disclose the
total number of executions this year, the government divulged for the
first time that 6 people had been hanged from January to September and 19
for the whole of 2003.
Requests by Reuters for these statistics had been turned down before
Amnesty's statement.
"This is a step forward, but the government should disclose a lot more
than the bare number of executions," Amnesty's UK-based Southeast Asian
researcher Tim Parritt told Reuters.
>From 1991-2003, an average of 32 people were hanged a year, according to a
combination of Amnesty and government data. Last year's 19 executions
would be the lowest in 6 years.
"We call for a full breakdown -- year by year -- to illuminate to what
extent the death penalty may be falling disproportionately on more
vulnerable sections of society -- whether by reason of the nationality,
educational or professional background, socio-economic status etc,"
Parritt added.
The public generally supports Singapore's tough laws -- including the
death penalty, bans on pornography and curbs on political dissent -- as
part of a social contract that in return has delivered years of economic
prosperity.
(source: Reuters)
IRAQ:
160 Arabs Face Death Penalty in Iraq----Jordanian-born Zarqawi is the most
famous Arab allegedly fighting against foreign troops in Iraq Accused of
carrying out attacks against US forces and other "terrorist crimes",
according to US-backed Iraqi interim government, up to 160 Arab fighters
face the death penalty.
An Iraqi journalist, however, believes those Arabs, even those proved to
be fighters against the occupation forces, should be treated as prisoners
of war and should not face the capital punishment.
"Those fighters, if charges were proved, should be classified as war
prisoners," Iraqi journalist Nasser Al-Naquib told IslamOnline.net
Tuesday, October 26.
Noting Iraq is still suffering under the yoke of the US occupation and its
daily attacks against Iraqi cities, the reporter added that Arabs who
cross into the country to resist the foreign troops must be subjected to a
fair trial.
"Even if they were proved guilty, they should be imprisoned for a maximum
of 8 years. According to Iraq s criminal law, illegal entry into the
country is punishable by up to 8 years in jail, not by the death penalty."
Death Penalty
Iraqi interim Justice Minister Malik Dohan Al-Hassan has sparked the
controversy by declaring that the Arab fighters who illegally entered Iraq
face the death penalty under charges of carrying out what he termed terror
attacks against US forces.
"The Arabs have been referred to Iraqi courts and the verdicts against
these foreigners are due to be pronounced soon for acts of terror they
carried out in Iraq," Agence Prance Presse (AFP) reported.
"The crimes committed in Iraq will be judged according to Iraqi law which
reserves the death sentence for those charged with premeditated murder or
those who carry out a car bombing to kill the biggest number of people,"
he said.
He noted those in trial included fighters from Syria, Jordan, the
Palestinian territories, Iran, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon.
Some observers saw the ministers statements as a mockery of Iraqi courts
as he already issued the verdict in public instead of waiting for justice
to take its course.
Others, however, raised serious concerns over the procedures and process
of charging and building cases against the suspects in light of the chaos
gripping all walks of life in Iraq.
Violations
Allawi is accused of working for US, not Iraqi interests
A case in point, the Iraqi Justice Minister himself admitted that
detentions and arrests in Iraq were not strictly in accordance with the
law and that human rights violations are taking place against detainees in
the war-torn country.
"According to the law, a suspect must appear before a judge within 24
hours after his detention, who must issue an arrest warrant," he said.
"Prisons refuse entrance to anyone who does not have such a warrant." But
if the police do a raid in Najaf, for example, and arrest 500 people on
the same day, how could they all be brought before a judge?" the Iraqi
minister charged.
"In certain cases, violations of the law can take place."
The justice minister stressed, however, his ministry is working to bring
an end to such violations.
"The ministry would resolve these situations, however, by the dispatch of
special judges into the towns were large-scale arrests have occurred."
"In addition, new prisons will be built, one in Nasiriyah, to the south,
which will hold 4,000 detainees and another for 3,000 people in Khan Bani
Saad, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Baghdad."
The death penalty, which was in force under the former Iraqi regime, was
reinstated by the interim government on August 8, after being abolished by
the former US civil Administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer.
The Washington Post had reported October 24, that the CIA invoked a secret
memo by the Justice Department to justify the transfer of up to dozens of
Iraqi and Arab detainees outside Iraq for interrogation.
A Pentagon spokesman admitted that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
personally ordered a secret detention of an Iraqi detainee without giving
him an identification number so that he can escape the eyes of ICRC teams.
The ICRC accused the US of hiding hundreds of suspects captured in its
so-called war on terror in secret locations worldwide.
In a report entitled "Ending Secret Detention", the American Human Rights
First said the United States has more than 24 world detention camps, at
least half of them operate in total secrecy, where the abuse of detainees
is "inevitable".
Also, the Observer reported on Sunday, June 13, that Washington and its
allies are running a wanton global network of detention camps allowing the
US to fly terror suspects to other countries where they are tortured for
information.
In an unprecedented move, 31 United Nations human rights experts pressed
Friday, June 25, for access to so-called terror suspects around the world.
(source: Islam Online)
NIGERIA:
Adultery death penalty appeal
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria will hear an appeal today from an
18-year-old woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for committing
adultery.
Hajara Ibrahim was found guilty on October 5 of adultery after becoming
pregnant in Bauchi state.
Baobab, a human rights group organising her defence, had earlier said the
appeal was scheduled for Monday.
Alhaji Abubakar, an official of the upper shariah court, said that the
case would be heard today, pursuant to a summons issued earlier in the
week.
The sentence is scheduled to be carried out on an unspecified date, after
Ibrahim, now 7 months pregnant, has given birth.
Ibrahim's lawyers are appealing against the sentence on the grounds that
Ibrahim was not technically married and therefore did not commit adultery.
They claim she had been engaged to be married, but the marriage rites were
never concluded.
The man she claimed was responsible for the pregnancy was freed after he
took an oath by the Quran and denied responsibility.
(source: South African Press Agency)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan bill recommends death for honour killings
Pakistan's National Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday that prescribes the
death penalty for those who kill women in the name of family honour.
Under centuries-old tribal customs, hundreds of women are killed in
Pakistan every year for bringing shame to their families by marrying for
love, commiting adultery or earning an inadequate dowry.
The so-called "honour killings" are particularly common in rural Pakistan,
where feudal and tribal laws hold sway.
The bill, passed by the lower house of parliament on a voice vote,
proposed the death sentence for the most extreme cases and prison terms
from seven years to life.
"We have framed a law which should be a source of pride for women,"
Nilofar Bakhtiar, adviser to the prime minister on women's affairs, told
the house after the passage of the bill.
"We must have the confidence and courage to redefine the word honour," she
said.
Human rights activists have long demanded that the government take
stringent measures to curb honour killings. Government officials say there
were more than 1,200 such killings in 2003.
In many cases, the killers go free because some police and prosecutors do
not consider them to be criminals.
Women's rights activist Majida Razvi praised the bill as a step toward
curbing violence against women but said it fell far short of hopes.
"It's a weak law because it does not fully cover the crime. But it is a
positive step," said Razvi, chair of the government-appointed National
Commission on the Status of Women.
"MURDERERS WILL GO FREE"
The private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the bill allowed
murderers the chance to settle their crime out of court by paying off
relatives of the victim.
Under Islamic laws introduced in the late 1970s known as the Hudood
Ordinances, relatives of a murder victim can set free a killer who meets
their compensation demands.
"While the room for out of court settlements remains, women will continue
to be killed and murderers will go free," said Kamila Hyat, a director at
the human rights commission.
Rights activists argue the penal code as a whole discriminates against
women. Under another provision, a woman must have four pious male Muslim
witnesses to prove a rape -- or face adultery charges herself.
The bill on honour killings will now go to the Senate, parliament's upper
house, for approval before it becomes law.
Opposition politicians, who include Islamists in favour of hardline
religious laws, did not vote as they and their allies staged a walk-out
protest from parliament against President Pervez Musharraf's dual role as
army chief.
Musharraf, who tries to project Pakistan as a progressive Muslim nation,
also wants to amend the Hudood Ordinances.
However, he has failed to do so despite a pro-military majority in
parliament because of the country's strong Islamic lobby, which includes
members of the ruling coalition.
(source: Reuters)
