Oct. 28
AUSTRALIA/SINGAPORE:
Lib MP urges death penalty
Renegade Government backbencher Wilson Tuckey says an Australian drug
smuggler on death row should not be spared execution.
Nguyen Tuong Van is due to be executed by the Singaporean Government
within weeks.
He was caught with 396 grams of heroin strapped to his body and in his
hand luggage at Singapore's Changi Airport in 2002.
Hopes Nguyen could escape the death penalty faded yesterday as Singapore's
high commissioner to Australia said his fate was sealed.
Amid a bipartisan push to lobby the Singaporean Government to reconsider
the execution, Mr Tuckey stood alone yesterday in saying Nguyen should
face his hanging without Australian Government intervention.
"From a practical point of view, I can't see that people in the
Singaporean Government can have a situation where Aussies get off because
of our close relationships with that government," Mr Tuckey said.
"Every drug baron in the world would say, 'as long as we use an Aussie to
go through Singapore we'll be OK'.
"If the Singaporean Government was to respect our request it would set a
precedent."
He said people in his electorate were unable to get into nursing homes
because places were being taken up by 50-year-olds with drug-induced
dementia.
(source: Herald Sun)
SAUDI ARABIA:
14-Year-Old Boy Faces Execution
A 14-year-old Egyptian boy faces execution in Saudi Arabia after a flawed
trial in which he was convicted for the murder of another child, Human
Rights Watch said today. Saudi King Abdullah should uphold the country's
obligations to protect children and due process by commuting the death
sentence. Neither the Saudi nor Egyptian government has responded to
letters on the case that Human Rights Watch sent several weeks ago and
made public today before the Eid holiday.
Following a seriously flawed trial, Ahmad al-D. was sentenced to death in
July for the murder of 3-year old Wala' 'Adil 'Abd al-Badi' in Dammam in
April 2004. The families of both children are Egyptian nationals living in
Saudi Arabia. Wala's parents have refused to accept blood money (diya)
from Ahmad's family, and Ahmad remains on death row in a juvenile
detention facility in Dammam.
"Executing 1 child for the killing of another would only compound the
tragedy," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights
Watch. "King Abdullah should uphold Saudi Arabia's international legal
obligations by commuting this death sentence."
Saudi Arabia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which
prohibits the capital punishment for offenses committed by individuals
under 18 at the time of the crime and protects the rights of all children
accused or convicted of crimes.
Saudi Arabia stated in its 2004 report to the United Nations Committee on
the Rights of the Child that the "Islamic Shariah in force in the Kingdom
never imposes capital punishment on persons who have not attained their
majority" and that "a juvenile is defined under the Detention Regulation
and the Juvenile Homes' Regulation of A.H. 1395 (1975) as every human
being below the age of 18".
At every stage of the investigation, detention, trial and sentencing, the
Saudi authorities violated Ahmad's due process rights and well as
international legal protections for children. He had no legal assistance
or representation during interrogation, detention and trial. Press and
police accounts also throw into question his psychological stability
during this period and his ability to participate in his own defense. He
told the Saudi online newspaper al-Yaum al-Elektroni that he confessed
only after police questioned him for the 3rd time because "my strength
dwindled and I lacked the capacity to refuse." He said that while in
pre-trial solitary confinement for 3 months he "cried from fear and
loneliness."
Although he was only 13 at the time of the murder, the court tried and
sentenced Ahmad as an adult, based on its assessment of the coarseness of
his voice and the appearance of pubic hair. Children can benefit from
adult provisions, such as the right to work where it is not hazardous or
does not interfere with their right to education, but they may not used to
deny individuals under 18 rights guaranteed to them in the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. The court also reportedly refused his family's
request for a psychological exam that could have helped to establish
diminished legal culpability, despite press accounts and statements by
Saudi officials that point to a deeply troubled child in need of care and
rehabilitation rather than an adult who is fully responsible for his
actions.
"Sentencing Ahmad as an adult is an injustice, however serious the crime,
because he lacks the maturity and judgment of an adult." Whitson said.
"King Abdullah should reverse that judgment".
On September 22, Human Rights Watch wrote to King Abdullah urging him to
commute Ahmad's sentence to a punishment consistent with his age and
culpability and to state publicly that Saudi Arabia does not impose the
death penalty for offenses committed by persons under 18 at the time of
the crime.
"King Abdullah needs to do what Saudi courts did not: provide a measure of
justice for both of these children," Whitson said. "Ahmad's treatment in
detention, trial and sentencing are contrary to international law, and
this death sentence must not stand."
The Egyptian consulate reportedly has made little effort to protect
Ahmad's due process rights or to intercede with Wala's family in Saudi
Arabia, although both families are Egyptian. In a letter to the Egyptian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Human Rights Watch on September 22 urged the
foreign minister to make a formal request that King Abdullah commute the
death sentence. The letter also urged Egyptian consular officials to visit
Ahmad regularly during his detention to monitor his well-being and ensure
that his rights are protected. Consular officials should also assist
settlement talks between the families and, should and facilitate a diya or
other settlement.
Background: At least 4 other persons are known to be facing death for
crimes committed when they were children: a Mrs. S. from Khamis Mushayyit,
Sadiq A. in Qatif, Mr. A. in Jazan, and an unnamed person in Jeddah
reportedly convicted of murdering his rapists. The last confirmed
execution of a child in Saudi Arabia occurred in 1992.
Saudi Arabia ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in
1996. The treaty prohibits capital punishment and sentences of life
imprisonment without possibility of release for persons under the age of
18 at the time of the crime. It also guarantees children accused of a
crime the right to legal or other assistance in the preparation and
presentation of their defense, and the right not to be compelled to give
testimony or to confess guilt. In addition, U.N. guidelines on juvenile
justice (known as the "Beijing Rules") prohibit the use of solitary
confinement, and call on states to make determinations of adult competence
based on "emotional, mental and intellectual maturity," not the physical
maturity, of the child.
The Saudi Law on Criminal Procedure in article 4 guarantees every
defendant the right to a lawyer.
(source: Reuters)
