URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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29 September 2006
UA 260/06 Imminent Execution
INDIA Mohammad Afzal (m)
Mohammad Afzal is due to be hanged on 20 October 2006 in
Tihar jail, Delhi. He was sentenced to death in December
2002 after being convicted of conspiracy to attack the
Parliament of India, waging war against India and murder. A
charge of being a member of a terrorist organization was
dropped by the Supreme Court for lack of evidence.
The date for his execution was confirmed by a sessions
court, a city court that handles criminal cases inside city
limits, on 26 September 2006. The order issued by the court,
known as a black warrant, stated that Mohammad Afzal ''hang
by neck till death on 0600 hours on October 20, 2006.'' A
mercy petition is due to be filed on Tuesday, 3 October.
The sentence, initially awarded on 18 December 2002, was
confirmed by the Supreme Court on 4 August 2005. The Supreme
Court judge when confirming the death sentence asserted
that, ''The collective conscience of the society will be
satisfied only if death penalty is awarded to Mohammad Afzal.''
On 13 December 2001 five men carried out an armed attack on
the Parliament complex building as the Parliament was in
session. In the ensuing gun battle between the attackers and
police, which lasted for approximately an hour, all of the
armed attackers, eight police personnel and a gardener
working in the complex were killed and 16 others, including
a press photographer, were injured.
In the following days four Kashmiris, Mohammad Afzal, Syed
Abdur Rahman Geelani, an Arabic lecturer in a New Delhi
college, Shaukat Hussain Guru and his wife, Afsan Guru, were
arrested. They were charged with conspiring, planning and
abetting the attack under the Prevention of Terrorism
Ordinance (POTO), which was later replaced by the Prevention
of Terrorism Act (POTA).
On 18 December 2002 Syed Abdur Rahman Geelani, Mohammad
Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru received death sentences.
Afsan Guru was sentenced to five years' rigorous
imprisonment. All were sentenced by a special court
designated under the POTA. The POTA, which was repealed by
the Government of India in September 2004 on the grounds
that it had been misused, falls considerably short of
international fair trial standards. On 19 December 2002,
Amnesty International condemned the death sentences and said
that justice is never served by judicial murder (see AI
Index: ASA 20/024/2002).
In October 2003 the Delhi High Court heard the appeal
against the convictions and acquitted Syed Geelani and Afsan
Guru of all charges for lack of evidence, while confirming
the other death sentences. On 4 August 2005 the Supreme
Court upheld the verdict of the Delhi High Court, acquitting
both Afsan Guru and Syed Geelani and modifying the death
sentence imposed on Shaukat Hussain Guru to ten years of
rigorous imprisonment. They confirmed the death sentence on
Mohammad Afzal under the Indian Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
More than half the countries of the world have now abolished
the death penalty in law and many others have abolished it
in practice. This worldwide trend is reflected in the
statutes of the International Criminal Court, the Yugoslavia
and the Rwanda Criminal Tribunals, which completely reject
the death penalty including for crimes against humanity and
genocide. The right to life is an inalienable human right -
accorded equally to every individual regardless of their
identity or actions.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
* Expressing sympathy for the relatives of those killed in
the attack on the Indian Parliament complex in December 2001
and explaining that you are not looking to downplay the
seriousness of the crimes or the suffering caused to the
victims;
* Urging the President to commute the death sentence to a
more humane alternative;
* Expressing unconditional opposition to the death penalty
as a violation of the right to life and the right not to be
subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment, and emphasizing that the death penalty has never
been shown to be a more effective deterrent than other (more
humane) forms of punishment;
* Highlighting to the Government of India that Amnesty
International acknowledges that the Indian government has
the right and the obligation to ensure law and order and to
protect citizens from violent crime. However, in the attempt
to curb ''terrorism'', governments must not relegate human
rights protection to second place;
* Urging the President of India to ensure that security
concerns do not override respect for human rights.
APPEALS TO:
President:
His Excellency A P J Abdul Kalam
Office of the President
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi 110 004 India
Fax: 011 91 11 2301 7290
Email: presidentofindia at rb.nic.in
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Shivraj V. Patil
Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Room no. 104
North Block
New Delhi 110 001 India
Fax: 011 91 11 2309 4221
Justice Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House
Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001 India
Fax: 011 91 11 2338 4863
Ambassador Ranendra Sen
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 483 3972
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA Urgent
Action office if sending appeals after 20 October 2006.
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Tip of the Month:
Be factual in your appeal. Relay the details of the case as
you know them. Do not discuss ideology or politics. Your
message must be for the benefit of the individual(s) at risk
and not a vehicle for political opinions.
** POSTAGE RATES **
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide----Urgent Action for man at risk of imminent execution - APPEALS BY OCTOBER 20 (UA 260/06)
Rick Halperin Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:35:21 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
