Dec. 15
SRI LANKA:
Sri Lanka Prepares for Return of Execution
The country's 25-year-old executioner has no experience. The hanging
ropes have rotted. The bolts on the gallows have rusted.
This island nation hasn't had an execution in 28 years. But after the
murder of a prominent judge a few weeks ago, the president lifted a
moratorium on capital punishment. Now, prison officials are waiting for
their first hanging order.
It's not just the condemned who are worried.
"I am a sitting duck," the executioner, Suramimala Wijetunge, told The
Island newspaper in an interview, terrified that media attention had
made him a target for reprisal from criminal gangs. After years of
collecting a salary for doing little more than occasionally helping
with prison deliveries, he fears for his life and has asked for police
protection.
The first execution could come any day.
"The pressure on me is tremendous to see that all goes well," said Rumy
Marzook, the prison chief, sitting in his office in the country's main
Welikada Prison.
An outspoken critic of corruption in the prison system, he doesn't eat
or drink anything in the 36 prisons he oversees, fearing poisonings. He
also has an armed bodyguard, changes his travel routes and avoids
visiting prison wards that hold condemned men, fearing he could be
taken hostage.
Capital punishment remains on the books in Sri Lanka, and courts have
continued to issue the death penalty, though no one has been executed
here since 1976.
As many countries around the world began to abolish the death penalty =97
more than 80 have banned it so far =97 Sri Lanka followed the trend by
simply halting executions.
"Sri Lanka did maintain standards with the world," said Radhika
Coomaraswamy, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.
Regionally, South Asia is divided on the issue, with India, Pakistan
and Bangladesh carrying out executions and Nepal and Bhutan abolishing
the death penalty.
Religion, said Rohan Ediresinghe, of the good governance organization
the Centre for Policy Alternatives, played a large role in Sri Lanka's
decision. The nation, he notes, is largely Buddhist, a religion with a
strong strain of non-violence.
"But a time comes when political leaders feel they should revive it to
counter a greater threat," said Ediresinghe, who called the policy
change as a "knee-jerk" reaction to the judge's killing.
The threat today is crime, spawned by a civil war that is now largely
calmed by a 2002 cease-fire. The war has torn at the country since
1983, killed some 65,000 people and resulted in thousands of military
desertions.
"Right now we have 30,000 deserters," said Rienzie Perera, the police
spokesman. "This is one of the main reasons for the crime chart to
rise," he said. Contract killings can be easily arranged, and weapons =97
from the smallest pistol to the largest machine gun =97 are readily
available.
The final straw came Nov. 21, when High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya,
known for tough verdicts against gangsters and drug dealers, was gunned
down with his bodyguard. The next day, President Chandrika Kumaratunga
lifted the death penalty moratorium.
Today, 49 condemned prisoners with rejected clemency appeals await
execution on this island of 19 million people, and 152 others sentenced
to death have pending appeals.
Amnesty International said it is "gravely concerned" over the decision
to bring back the death penalty.
"Given the significant failings within the Sri Lankan justice system,
including frequent reports of torture in custody to extract
confessions, the chances of innocent people being executed are high,"
the rights group said in a report.
But there appears to be little sympathy for the condemned in Sri Lanka,
where the history of capital punishment stretches back to the late 19th
century and British colonial rule.
"To hell with human rights: hang killer," said the headline of one
letter to the editor in The Island newspaper.
Others are more eloquent.
The government "has finally realized that the death penalty should be
given," said defense attorney Hemantha Warnakulasuriya. He was
unconcerned about the prison system's ill-preparedness. "Those matters
can be tackled," he said.
In the prisons, though, the preparations are stumbling along, with
officials now unable to find any hanging rope.
India and China have been approached to sell some of the specially made
cord, but officials have heard nothing back.
And at the two prisons with gallows, there is no one experienced to do
the job.
Wijetunge has the title of executioner in Welikada Prison, but he got
the job in 2000 when his father =97 who never performed an execution
either - retired.
But despite it all, Marzook insists he will be ready.
"When I get the order to go ahead, I will ensure that all systems are
go."
(source: Associated Press)
LEBANON:
From=20death row to the embassy?
A Beirut criminal court has scheduled a retrial of Lebanon's top Fatah
commander, Sultan Abul-Ainayn, for Dec. 22. The move is believed to be
aimed at lifting a charge which carries the death penalty and appointing
him to the future post of Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, local media
reports said Tuesday.
Brigadier General Abul-Ainayn was sentenced to death in absentia by a
Beirut tribunal in 1999 on charges of planning and executing assassination
attacks on activists of the rival Fatah-Revolutionary Council faction,
headed by late Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal.
Recent press reports said Abul-Ainayn, who has long been entrenched in the
sanctuary of the Rashidieh camp near Tyre, may turn himself over to the
authorities or hire a defense attorney of his own for a quick retrial that
would reverse the death penalty.
Media reports had said that Yasser Arafat's political heirs, headed by PLO
chairman Mahmoud Abbas, had worked out the retrial deal with Lebanon's top
officials during their first official visit to Beirut last week.
The reports have said Abbas would name an acquitted Abul-Ainayn as
Palestine's new ambassador to Beirut if and when the Lebanese authorities
agree to the opening of a Palestinian Embassy here.
(source: Daily Star)
IRAN:
Disabled Iranian faces execution
Iran plans to execute a mentally disabled 19-year-old woman for "acts
contrary to chastity," alleged crimes stemming from her having been forced
into prostitution as a child, Amnesty International says.
Amnesty cited reports in the Iranian newspaper Khorasan that said social
workers estimated the woman, identified only as Leyla M, had the mental
capacity of an 8-year-old.
Amnesty said a November 28 story in the newspaper reported that Leyla had
been sentenced to death by a court in the central Iranian city of Arak
when she was 18.
Amnesty said the sentence had been passed to Iran's Supreme Court for
confirmation.
The group said Leyla had been convicted of "acts contrary to chastity,"
including controlling a brothel, having sex with relatives and giving
birth outside marriage.
It said she had confessed to the charges and was to be flogged before her
execution. The group said Khorasan had reported Leyla had exhausted her
appeals.
Amnesty said Leyla's mother had forced her into prostitution when she was
8. It said the girl was raped repeatedly and gave birth to a baby when she
was 9. She was sentenced to flogging at the time.
Her family sold her to an Afghan man when she was 12, and his mother
forced the girl to continue as a prostitute, Amnesty said.
She gave birth to twins at age 14 and was again punished by flogging, the
group said. Her family later sold her again, to a 55-year-old man, Amnesty
said.
Amnesty said that as a party to the International Convention on Civil and
Political Rights, Iran had promised not to execute anyone for crimes
committed while they were under 18.
The group said Iran had executed at least 3 child offenders in 2004.
In addition, it said, a 14-year-old boy died on November 12 after being
flogged for eating in public during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(source: Ninemsn (Australia) )
***********************
The Mullahs' Killing Fields
A former political prisoner and the daughter of 2 slain parents vowed to
make sure the voices of Iranians who have suffered under the Islamic
fundamentalist regime heard. The two women said they stand by other
activists who continue to be arrested, tortured, and executed in Iran for
supporting freedom and democracy.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day (Friday, December 10),
the torture and execution of political prisoners in Iran was the focus of
a briefing in New York hosted by the non-governmental organization Womens
Freedom Forum. The treatment of women, especially women political
activists, was featured.
The walls of the room were lined with documentary posters with names and
photographs of men, women, and children who had been killed by the mullahs
in Iran. A number of the photographs were family groups - mother, father,
and 2, 3, 4, 5, even 6 children - that had been killed by the Iranian
regime for their political activism.
The program included videos and photographs of trials, lashings and
executions over the past 25 years. Some images were from the early days of
the revolution, some from the late 1980s, and one photograph showing the
hanging of a group of 7 men in Zahedan just three days before the event on
December 7, 2004.
The victims are hoisted into the air by a crane in a public place in order
to terrorize the population and suppress further resistance to the regime.
Another Iranian-American pro-democracy non-governmental organization -The
Committee in Support of Referendum in Iran-sends out news clippings on a
regular basis that document the executions of men, women, and sometimes
children, as the Iranian regime executes minors. There are often two or 3
pages of listings of sentences and executions. Their most recent report
for November 2004 listed 15 executions or sentences for execution. A
number of them are punishment for political activity against the regime
inside and outside Iran.
On November 10 a man in Tehran was sentenced to death for allegedly
killing a Tehran district mayor.
On November 21 a political prisoner was sentenced to death for allegedly
bombing a government building in 1998. He is the brother of man known to
belong to an opposition group who was killed earlier. The report
speculated that issuing a death sentence 6 1/2 years after an alleged
crime was retaliation against the opposition group for revealing
information on the regimes clandestine atomic sites.
On November 22 2 men were sentenced to death for allegedly clashing with
security forces.
According to state run media in Iran, 120 people were hanged in public
during a recent 6-month period.
At the briefing, Farangis, a former political prisoner described her
experience and treatment by Revolutionary Guards in 3 different prisons.
She was born in 1959 in the southwestern Iranian city of Masjid Suleiman
in Khuzistan province. She became a political activist after the
revolution when she saw the nature of the regime that Khomeini was
constructing. She now lives in the U.S. with her family.
--
In 1978, I was accepted to the Medical Sciences University in Ahwaz to
study nursing. At the university, the students were pressured by Hezbollah
to join their Islamic political movement. Within a year, the Shah was
overthrown and Hezbollah called for a cultural revolution in support of
the new Khomeini regime, which included a purge of students from the
university who didnt support Khomeini. A number of students were arrested.
They were abused and a few were executed. All the universities were then
closed. I retuned home where I joined a union with other students to
inform people about the activities of the regime.
--
At this time, my brother, who was 17 at the time, became politically
active. He was later arrested in 1982, and within 5 months I was arrested
also for political activity. During questioning, they tortured us to get
information. When we would not answer their questions they said that since
you are Muslims and you are not answering our questions you are subject to
"tazir" -flogging. They lashed us 150 times with cables.
--
When I was whipped, I felt the pain for the first few lashes, then after
the 12th or 13th ones, my body would go numb. Eventually, I would faint or
freeze so that I couldnt move. Then they would throw me back in the cell.
At night, they took us out of the cells and make us stand on one leg in
the hall. When we got so tired we put my legs down, they lashed us. I
fainted from this routine a couple of times.
--
They kept us blindfolded when we were in the hall so we couldnt see what
was happening. Several times, I felt something burning my hands. I didnt
know what it was at the time, but later I learned that they put their
cigarettes out on us. You can still see the scars on my hands. [Farangis
held up her hands to the audience.]
--
They held a kangaroo court for the political prisoners. They placed a
paper in front of me with 40 charges against me listed on it. I was forced
to sign it. I was sentenced to four years in prison.
--
The arrest of my brother and I placed a lot of pressure on my family. My
father became physically and mentally ill. He eventually had a heart
attack and died. In prison, when I heard about my fathers death, I was not
allowed to cry. Later, when they put me in solitary confinement, I could
cry. As a result of the physical treatment and mental stress, I became
paralyzed in parts of my body. I couldnt talk, eat, or take care of
myself. My mother requested that I be taken to a hospital, but they
wouldnt do it. They released me from solitary confinement and put me back
in a cell with other women. The other prisoners helped me to take care of
myself and used physical therapy to help me regain the use of my body.
--
Then some of us were moved to Evin prison in Tehran. The trip took 12
hours, and every few hours they would stop, take us out of the car, and
beat us. When we arrived at Evin prison, we were beaten again. No one
could stand up.
--
In Evin prison we had to wear a blindfold when we were out of the cell. We
were told that if the blindfold came off we would be executed. As result
of not being able to see, I fell on the stairs and broke my arm. I was
taken to the prison clinic and treated by another prisoner. He said my arm
needed surgery, but that was not permitted, so he set it as best he could
and sent me back to my cell. You can see the difference in my two arms.
[Farangis held up both arms for us to compare them. The right arm was
visibly crooked.] To this day, I cant pick up anything that weighs much
with this arm.
--
After two or three months in Evin prison they moved us to Ghezel Hessar
prison in Karaj, where I was placed in a cell with women as old as 60 or
70 and women with children aged one to four. One woman in her 60s couldnt
walk, so we helped her do everything. Babies and children up to the age of
four were in prison with their mothers. They were often malnourished
because the food was so bad. They suffered from the unsanitary conditions
and often had fungus infections.
--
In 1985, with the promise of my mother to supervise me, they released me
from prison. The first thing I did was go to see my fathers grave. I felt
responsible for his death. I was depressed and wouldnt talk to anyone. I
just sat in the corner of the house. My mother took me to a psychiatrist
to receive treatment.
--
Five months later, I married an acquaintance and we moved to Shiraz. My
husband is here with me today. [She pointed him out in the audience.] I
had to present myself to the Revolutionary Guards office every week. This
was hard for my husband. During this time, I saw that things had become
very difficult for women. I saw women sell themselves on the street to buy
milk for their children. And children dropped out of school to sell things
on the street to earn money for their families.
--
When I left prison, the Revolutionary Guards made me promise never to
reveal anything that I knew, but I became angry at what I saw and became
politically active again. I decided to tell people what I had seen in
prison. I wanted to defend women in society against what was happening to
them. The Guards found out about my activity so they raided our house and
arrested me. I was seven months pregnant.
--
When they took me for questioning, I could hear my husband outside yelling
for them to release me because I was pregnant. The second time I was
imprisoned I received worse treatment. Every time I was questioned, I was
kicked, whipped, and tortured. Because of the blows I received to my back,
I gave birth to my baby early. My son was weak. They kept him in the
hospital and sent me back to prison. I was suffering physically and
mentally. I was still in pain from childbirth and then I was separated
from my baby. Every day they took me to the hospital to feed him, and then
took me back to prison. Finally, as result of efforts from my husband I
was reunited with my son. At that time I was taken for questioning for 15
to 16 hours at a time. My son stayed with the Revolutionary Guards. When I
got him back, his diaper had not been changed and his skin became burned.
He was always crying because he was hungry and not in good condition. As a
result of how I was being treated, I didnt always have milk. I am still
being treated for a condition I developed at that time. I went to the
judge and begged for more food for my son, but he said that my son was a
criminal too, and predicted that when he grew up, he would be against the
regime too, so it was right to treat him as a criminal now.
--
In 1988, my husband got me out of prison by selling our house to raise
enough money to pay the bribes that were needed. When they released me
they told me that I couldnt leave the country for 20 years. If I was
arrested again, they would execute me immediately without a trial. They
said they would make my husband ask for me to be executed.
--
In the summer of 1988, the Iranian regime executed thousands of political
prisoners. [According to some estimates, 30,000 political prisoners were
executed over a few month period.] My younger brother was one of the ones
killed. [She pointed to a picture of him that she brought with her. The
family resemblance was obvious.] In our small city, 30 people were
executed each night. The whole community was in mourning, but they wouldnt
return the bodies to the families. They buried them in a mass grave. We
were not permitted to mourn. No one could visit the families or talk about
what happened. My brother had a four-year-old daughter. Every day, she
asked me where her father was. I told her that he had gone to the sky and
at night she looked into the sky trying to find her father.
--
Im here today to be the voice of all those in Iran who have suffered and
been killed. Im the voice of young people and children who grew up in
prison. I am one of the victims of the regime. I lost my father and my
brother to this regime. Every time I look at the picture of my brother, I
say, "I wont forget you." I wont let people forget what happened to him
and many others.
--
I know there are people who care. I know they care about human rights in
Iran. I know they care about what is happening to people in Iran.
--
The event concluded with Hajar, an 18 year old woman, whose father, a
medical student, was killed by the Iranian regime when she was two years
old and whose mother was killed by the Iranian regime when she was eight
years old, saying that although she was a student with exams next week,
she needed to be at the event to make sure the voices of her parents are
heard. She did not want them to die in vain. She ended by quoting the
lyrics of song by Marzieh, one of the most famous singers from Iran, who
supports the overthrow of the mullahs' regime in Iran.
If I take a stand
And you take a stand
Then everyone will stand with us
But if I sit and you sit
Who will stand?
We have to speak
And we have to speak of the pain
We need the world to know what is going on in Iran
That it is wrong and something needs to be done.
(source: Donna M. Hughes, Professor & Carlson Endowed Chair in Womens
Studies at the University of Rhode Island. She also made a presentation at
this event on the sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and girls
in Iran; FrontPageMagazine)
