July 30
BELARUS:
OHCHR concerned by executions in Belarus
Belarus is in violation of international agreements following the execution of
two people under review by the United Nations, a rights committee said.
The U.N. Human Rights Committee said it had information to suggest Oleg
Grishkovtsov and Andrei Burdyko were executed in Belarus as early as July 13.
Both men allegedly were tortured and denied a free trial and their cases were
under consideration by the United Nations.
"The committee deplores the fact that, by proceeding to execute these 2
individuals, Belarus has committed a grave breach of its obligations under the
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,"
committee Chairwoman Zonke Majodina said in a statement.
Majodina said that while the protocol doesn't specifically prohibit the death
penalty, nor is Belarus party to the measure, capital punishment must be
carried out with respect to international benchmarks for justice.
Grishkovtsov and Burdyko were found guilty of murder, assault, arson,
kidnapping and robbery.
The human rights committee said it expressed its concern to Belarus last week
and hasn't received a reply. It's the second time Belarus executed individuals
who were under consideration by the rights committee.
Nearly 400 people were arrested during Independence Day celebrations in Belarus
in early July.
Washington and its European allies hit Minsk with sanctions after President
Alexander Lukashenko rounded up hundreds of his political opponents following
elections earlier this year.
(source: United Press International)
ENGLAND:
We’ll force MP vote on noose
MPs could vote on whether to bring back the death penalty, it emerged
yesterday.
Campaigners plan to use an online petition scheme launched by the Government to
press their case.
They want capital punishment - banned in Britain in 1965 - to be restored for
those who kill kids or police officers.
And any petition which receives more than 100,000 names must be considered for
debate in Westminster.
The bid to bring back hanging is being spearheaded by Right-wing blogger Guido
Fawkes and its supporters hope to launch it next week.
Fawkes wrote on his website: "Even if we don't win the vote on the floor of the
House, we shall see which MPs put the welfare of child killers above the wider
community. Let them be counted." MPs last night said they would welcome a
debate on the controversial issue.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: "It's something where once again the public are a
long way ahead of the politicians.
"I'd go further and restore it for all murderers."
His fellow Conservative MP Priti Patel, who also backs the death penalty,
added: "It's about time the public had a greater say on the issues that we
debate. I'm not surprised that this issue has been raised.
"We need strong deterrents to make people think twice about the crimes they
commit." <> Labour introduced online petitions on the No10 website.
They were often used to embarrass the Government - with one petition calling
for Gordon Brown to quit as PM receiving widespread support.
House of Commons leader George Young said the new e-petition system was "a step
towards a more accessible and transparent" Parliament.
He said: "The public has many opportunities to make their voices heard. This
system could give them a megaphone."
The last two executions in the UK were carried out at two different prisons at
the same time on August 13, 1964.
Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Allen were hanged at Liverpool's Walton jail and
Strangeways in Manchester for the murder of Jack West.
(source: The Sun)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
3 Saudis beheaded for murder
3 Saudis were beheaded on Saturday in the western city of Taef after being
convicted of killing fellow citizens in 2 separate incidents, state news agency
SPA reported.
Mahfoudh bin Ali al-Kenani was beheaded by the sword for stabbing to death Ali
Saeed al-Khazmari because of a feud between them, SPA said.
Meanwhile, 2 brothers, Mohammed and Saud al-Jaeed were also executed for
shooting dead fellow citizen Hilal bin Sayel al-Harthi, SPA said in another
statement.
Saturday's executions bring to 37 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia
this year, according to an AFP tally based on official and human rights group
reports.
On June 10, London-based watchdog Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia
to stop applying the death penalty, saying there had been a significant rise in
the number of executions in the previous 6 weeks.
It said 15 people were executed in May alone.
In 2009, the number of executions reached 67, compared to 102 in 2008.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable
by death under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
(source: Yahoo News)
PAKISTAN:
Drug trafficking, a rising concern in Pakistan
In the silence of pitch dark night, a container carrying match boxes was
creeping slowly at the outskirts of southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.
Its pace was interrupted when Muhammad Khan, a police constable stopped the
driver to examine the luggage and recovered over 100 kg of heroine hidden in
the match boxes.
After investigations police revealed that the drug loaded container was on its
way from Afghanistan to the Karachi port from where it was destined to be
exported to Europe via the Arabian Sea. The anti-narcotics taskforce succeeded
in recovering the concealed drugs on an intelligence tip-off.
Southern and southwestern Pakistan is the most common route used by drug
traffickers to transport drugs from land-locked Afghanistan to the outside
world. The route from Afghanistan into Pakistan and then into eastern Iran is
called "The Golden Route" and it is the trail that takes Afghanistan's abundant
opium, and its derivative heroin, to Western markets, where it finds willing
buyers.
According to an official of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC),
Afghanistan produces 355 metric tons of heroine every year, about 90 % of the
whole world's production. And 42 % of the heroine production of Afghanistan
passes through different routes from Pakistan.
Talking to Xinhua, National Research Development Program Officer at the UNODC
Sher Ali Arbab said that 150 metric tons of heroine come to Pakistan every year
out of which 80 metric tons are consumed in Pakistan and 70 metric tons are
smuggled outside. He said it is impossible to seal the 2,500km-long porous
boarder that Pakistan shares with Afghanistan, to curb drug trafficking and
other smuggling.
"The drug traffickers have also succeeded in forming a mini market of heroine
in Pakistan due to lawlessness in the tribal area which provides them an easy
opportunity to transport drugs due to less influence of law enforcement
agencies in the semi- autonomous tribal area," he said.
Opium and its derivatives are transported to European and American markets via
land, sea and air routes. The southwestern province of Balochistan provides
land and sea exit routes to international drug traffickers, and the Karachi
port in the southern province of Sindh also acts as a drug trafficking exit
point.
According to statistics of the UNODC, the total seizure of drugs in the world
is 4.9 % out of which 0.4 % is seized by the Anti-Narcotics Force in Pakistan
which is quite a good performance as compared to other countries.
Director General of the Planning and Monitoring Unit in the Ministry of
Narcotics Control Muhammad Shahid indicated involvement of a complete mafia of
drug-lords in drug trafficking from Pakistan to the outside world. He said that
apart from local smugglers, some foreigners particularly Africans are involved
in transporting drugs to European and American drug barons.
"We have arrested some Nigerian nationals and other Africans for their
involvement in drug trafficking," Shahid told Xinhua, adding that poverty is
the main reason behind the involvement of African people in the smuggling of
drugs.
Shahid said that heroine is the most commonly used drug in the world, its per
gram price in the local market is 4 dollars, but 100 dollars in European
markets and it makes 200 dollars per gram in American markets.
Due to involvement of many factors and various techniques used by drug
traffickers it is quite hard for anti-narcotics task force to seize drugs from
them. There isn't any technology to indicate the drugs concealed in containers
and most of the times drugs are seized on intelligence sharing.
In Pakistani law there are hard and fast rules for the drug traffickers. Courts
decree death penalty if more than one kg of drugs is seized from a convict.
According to statistics by the Anti-Narcotics Force, 103 convicts have been
sentenced to death so far in Pakistan, 1,331 met life imprisonment, 348 people
have been put behind bars for more than 10 years and 7,067 other convicts got
imprisonment of less than 10 years.
Previously, opium was not cultivated in Pakistan due to stringent measures
taken by the authorities. Pakistan attained the status of poppy free country in
the year 2001. But now due to deteriorating law and order situation, opium is
being cultivated on 1,500 hectares in the northwestern tribal belt of the
country.
Narcotics control officers said the main factors that push farmers in the area
towards the cultivation of poppy is the scarcity of water in this parched
region. It is not suitable to grow grains and vegetables which need water
regularly and thoroughly. Such dry climate is most suitable for the cultivation
of poppy which is also the most profitable crop.
"We are motivating the farmers of the tribal area to cultivate vegetables, we
are also providing them free seeds, fertilizers and other things related to
forestry and live stock to divert their attention from poppy cultivation," an
officer said.
Due to the availability of heroine in Pakistan, drug addiction is penetrating
deeply within every fragment of the country resulting in social, health and
economic consequences for the people.
It is estimated that the total number of drug abusers in Pakistan is about four
million. But a survey conducted by the United Nations in 2006 shows the total
number of addicts in the country is 624,000. Among them, 400,000 are hard core
heroin addicts while 120,000 are injecting drug users.
The number of heroin addicts has been stabilized over the last 5 years.
However, injecting drug use has emerged as a serious health and safety issue.
Presently there are three government-run and about 200 private rehabilitation
centers for the treatment of willing patients who want to get back to normal
life. However, the number of recovered patients is far less than the number of
druggies which is constantly rising in the country.
(source: Xinhuanet.com)
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