June 18
GLOBAL:
Jordan- Death penalty abolition a universal goal
Legal and human rights experts from around the world convened in Amman on
Sunday to discuss the "universality" of efforts to combat the death penalty.
In deciding whether to practise, abolish or freeze capital punishment, states
have "suffered" throughout history to determine their standing towards the
"oldest punishment in the world", mostly because the public usually favours it,
the experts said at the 10th annual conference for the World Coalition Against
the Death Penalty.
Highlighting the situation in her country, Lin Hsin-yi, executive director of
the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, said one of the challenges that
faced the alliance's work was the fact that authorities only reveal the names
of people who were put to death after executing them.
"We only know about them after applying the sentence," she noted.
Although Taiwan had been moving in the right direction towards abolishing
capital punishment, Hsin-yi said the death penalty was reintroduced in 2010.
"We are working now to lobby politicians against it."
Habib Marsit, head of the Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, said
efforts to abolish the practice in his country now face opposition from
Islamists, although the current president supports abolition.
"Islamists, who constitute 2/3 of the parliament, should understand that
religious texts have different interpretations," he highlighted.
Legal experts from Jordan, France, Britain, Peru, Iran, Uganda, Lebanon, Cote
d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Mauritania, Morocco, Puerto Rico and the US attended the
one-day conference to discuss strategies to combat capital punishment.
Justice Ministry Secretary General Mustafa Assaf noted a moratorium imposed on
executions in Jordan in 2006 was an indicator of a high political will to
abolish the death penalty.
Nevertheless, activists have voiced concern over annulling the punishment in
practice but not in law.
"This means that the country can go back on its decision and apply it," Zeyad
Nabulsi, a Lebanese human right activist, told The Jordan Times, noting that
the penalty has not been applied in his country since 2004.
According to Penal Reform International, which organised the event, 2/3 of all
countries have abolished the death penalty whether by law or in practice, and
81 countries have ratified international conventions against capital
punishment.
China, the US, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia currently execute the most people
each year.
(source: Jordan Times)
IRAN:
MP calls for expulsion of Saudi ambassador
An Iranian MP is calling for the Saudi ambassador's immediate expulsion from
Iran.
Avaz Heydarpour, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy
Commission, told ISNA today: “The Saudi ambassador must be expelled for the
recent inhumane actions of the Saudi Arabian government in hanging a number of
our citizens in violation of international and Islamic standards.”
The parliamentary website Khabar on line reported in April that eight Iranians
had been executed in Saudi Arabia on drug charges. Iran claims that the Saudi
Foreign Minister had made assurances to his Iranian counterpart that the death
sentences would be suspended.
Iran claims that the Iranian nationals were not given access to lawyers,
translators or consular services.
The deputy head of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission told
the Mehr News Agency that Parliament will make a final decision on how to
respond to the actions of Saudi Arabia.
After summoning the Saudi charge d’affaires last week, the Iranian Foreign
Ministry announced that it will send a legal and consular delegation to examine
the condition of Iranian prisoners in Saudi Arabia.
The Tabnak website, which is run by Mohsen Rezai, the secretary of Iran’s
Expediency Council, reported this week that the number of Iranians executed in
Saudi Arabia has reached 18 so far.
Iran, like Saudi Arabia, punishes drug trafficking offences with the death
penalty.
**************
Arrests announced for assassination ring
The Iranian Minister of Intelligence announced on Sunday that 20 people have
been arrested as part of its operation aimed at “identifying and destroying”
the people who targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists for assassination.
The Fars News Agency reports that Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said:
“Since the file is still under investigation, we have to wait a while before
all the charges have been confirmed and documented, but in general the charges
are far more than what was stated in the last announcement by the Intelligence
Ministry.”
On Thursday, the ministry announced the arrest of people responsible for
assassinating two Iranian nuclear scientists, Majid Shahriyari and Mostafa
Ahmadi Roshan, as well as the latter’s driver, Reza Ghashghavi.
Earlier this year, the ministry had also announced the arrest of Ali Jamali
Fashi, who later appeared on state TV claiming responsibility for the death of
Massoud Ali Moahmmadi, another Iranian scientist, who was killed in December
2009 after a bomb exploded in front of his home.
Jamali Fashi gave a step-by-step description of his recruitment by Mossad, the
Israeli intelligence organization. He was executed last month.
The Iranian Intelligence Minister accused Israel of using territory in one of
Iran’s neighbouring countries to launch its alleged terrorist operations. He
stressed, however, that the government of the neighbouring country is not aware
of these operations.
He said that such a situation in a neighbouring country cannot be tolerated and
must be addressed as soon as possible.
3 Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated on the streets of Tehran,
while another escaped an assassination attempt.
Iran has accused the U.S. and Israel of orchestrating the attacks on Iran’s
scientists. While the United States has denied the charge, so far the Israeli
government has not denied the allegations.
(source for both: Radio Zamaneh)
BURMA:
3 men given death sentence for murder that sparked riots
The 3 Muslim men accused of raping and killing Thida Htwe – the Arakanese girl
whose death sparked sectarian violence across Burma’s Arakan state this month –
were sentenced to death by the District Court in Kyaukphyu in western Burma on
Monday, according to lawyers.
Htet Htet (also known as Rawshe), Mahmud Rawphi (aka Hla Win) and Khochi (aka
Myint Swe) were found guilty of raping, murdering and robbing Thida Htwe from
Thabyaychaung village in Ramee Township on her way home from a sewing lesson on
28 May 2012.
Lawyers said the court heard testimonies from eight people, including Thida
Htwe’s brother, in a trial that lasted less than 2 weeks. Htet Htet, accused of
masterminding the plot, committed suicide in jail last week, but was handed the
sentence posthumously in accordance with Burmese criminal law.
Thida Htwe’s controversial death unleashed long-simmering religious and ethnic
tensions in Burma’s westernmost Arakan state this month, starting with the
violent murder of ten Muslim pilgrims by an angry mob in the state capital
Sittwe. It culminated in the country’s worst sectarian riots in decades, which
has left at least 50 people dead, thousands of homes destroyed and more than
32,000 people displaced.
The violence has also thrown a spotlight on the plight of the stateless
minority group, the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the Burmese
government and widely despised within Burmese society. Analysts say the riots
represented a “symptom” of festering tensions and a state-sponsored policy of
discrimination.
The verdict has brought mixed reactions in line with the increasingly polarised
debate on the ongoing violence. Ba Shein, People’s Parliament representative in
Kyaukphyu township commended the police force for its quick work.
“It is lucky to have this case solved in such a short period of time otherwise
there would be other unwanted problems. They managed to arrest the culprits,
seize evidence and hear witness accounts within about 10 days after the crime
was committed – I would congratulate the police force their hard work.”
Many social media commentators have again responded to the verdict by lashing
out against the Rohingya.
Meanwhile, human rights groups have expressed concern about both the speed and
the legitimacy of the trial. “We condemn the imposition of the death penalty in
all cases as cruel and inhumane treatment,” Phil Robertson, head of Human
Rights Watch Asia division told DVB. “But we’ve also had no access to
information about this case so there is no way to say whether the three men on
trial are in fact guilty.”
“My concern would be whether there was any kind of proper judicial system,”
added Chris Lewa, Director of the Arakan Project. “This was quite quick, so it
seems like a move to try to calm the Rakhine population.”
She warned that the ruling might spark further unrest in Northern Arakan state,
where reports are surfacing of mass arrests of young Rohingya men by state
authorities since the fighting ebbed off on Friday.
“There is no longer communal violence in Maungdaw, this is state sponsored
violence,” she said. “The situation has gotten really bad. The army and NaSaka
have been conducting mass arrest of young Rohingya males. Some people have seen
them transported in trucks in handcuffs and blindfolded and the worst is that
no one knows why.”
She added that hundreds of young men have been trying to cross the border to
Bangladesh, but most are being turned away. The Bangladeshi government
continues to block refugees from fleeing the violence in Northern Arakan state,
despite growing international pressure to let them in.
The sectarian violence has become a crucial litmus test for President Thein
Sein’s reformist government. Last week, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
underscored the need for “rule of law” to address the violence, but faces
accusations of sidestepping the Rohingya issue.
Robertson said that those involved in the mob attack that left 10 Muslims dead
in early June must also be brought to justice by authorities in order to avoid
accusations of double standards.
The 2 sentenced men have 7 days to appeal the ruling, but the case still needs
to be presented to the Supreme Court for a final decision.
(source: Democratic Voice of Burma)
JORDAN/SAUDI ARABIA:
Dozens of Jordanians face Execution in Saudi Arabia, Families call on Gov't to
intervene
About 25 Jordanians to be executed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in the
next days after they were convicted of Smuggling Drugs charges, Families of
prisoners told Ammon News.
The Families of the convicted citizens expressed their fears of the enforcement
of the verdict against their sons, and they believe in the Innocently of their
sons.
Mohammad Muwali, a brother of a convicted citizen, called on the government to
intervene and to appeal to the Saudi Arabia to cancel the verdict against his
brother.
He asked for including the prisoners, who were sentences to death, in the
Riyadh swap between Jordan and KSA for prisoners who were jailed for political
reasons, which was signed months ago between the 2 sides.
The head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) in Amman, confirmed
to Ammon News that they tried many times to get in touch with the Jordanian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this issue and called them to intervene to
stop the execution, all "what we get no respond" he said.
Abd Al Karim Shraideh, who chairs the Organization's office in Jordan said that
most of the convicted citizens are drivers and they [Organization] believed
that the prisoners did not get justice trails.
He added that there are more than 100 Jordanian prisoners in Saudi Arabia
including 17 of them who were jailed for political reasons.
1293 Jordanians were being held in prisons across the World, including 360 of
the total were jailed for political reasons, while the rest for criminal
charges, Shraideh told Ammon News over the phone.
According to AOHR there is (252) Jordanian prisoners in Syria, (52) in Iraq,
(17) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,(27)in Israeli jails, (5)in USA, and (6) in
Iran, were jailed for political charges.
He said the governments of Jordan were "not serious" in following the file of
prisoners and the organization sent many letters to the Royal Court in behalf
of all the prisoners across the World asking the government to intervene, but
the request had gone unanswered.
"We filed many complaints against the Foreign Ministry and the ministry's way
of handling such cases," he added.
Shraideh expected that the death penalty will be delayed due the Saudi Crown
Prince passing Away.
(source: Ammon News)
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