Aug. 29
SRI LANKA:
Sri Lanka conducting job interviews for hangmen
The country has a problem. Sri Lankan law provides the death penalty for
certain offences but currently has no hangmen. Not to worry. Interviews are
currently being held to fill the two vacant positions.
There are currently 357 convicts awaiting execution is Sri Lanka but none can
be executed until a new hangman is hired. Some of the inmates have been
languishing on death row for more than 15 years.
The country had not 1 but 2 executioners. But alas, 1 was promoted while the
2nd retired. So yesterday, the Bureau of Prisons began holding job interviews
to fill the vacant positions. Interviews began yesterday for the more than 150
men who applied for the job. The job interviews are being held before a
3-member panel from the Department of Prisons at Welikada Prison.
Gamini Kulatinga, the commissioner of operations for the Department of Prisons,
was quoted in the Colombo Page as saying, "About 176 applicants are there and
interviews are going on today [Tuesday] and tomorrow. Only males will be
eligible for the post."
The successful candidates will not have demanding jobs. No one has actually
been executed in Sri Lanka since 1976. The death penalty had been abolished but
then reinstated in 2004 after the murder of a high court judge. The Irish Times
reports that after the war with the Tamil Tigers ended in May 2009, the country
has seen an increase in child abuse, rape, murders, and drug offences. More and
more people are demanding that the death penalty, legally available, be used.
Although the newly hired hangmen will not be overworked, there is a lot of
skill in order to do the job properly. As Discovery states, the length of the
rope must be carefully calculated to achieve the objective of breaking the
condemned person's neck quickly and cleanly. To achieve this, measurements must
be taken of the prisoner's weight, height, and body build. If the rope is too
short, the person may not die or die slowly. Having a rope that is too long can
result in decapitation.
In March, Xinhua reported there has been an increase in 2012 of death sentences
handed down by the High and Supreme Courts. As of late March, 43 people had
been sentenced to death. A prison official is quoted as saying, "This is a
massive increase compared to 40 convicts of death penalty requested during the
first four months of 2011."
Although 357 people are eligible to be executed, the Colombo Page reports there
are 1,164 inmates currently on death row awaiting decisions on whether their
sentences will be commuted.
(source: Digital Journal)
PAKISTAN:
Should Pakistan's blasphemy laws change? Are the country's blasphemy laws being
misused to persecute the country's minorities?
The arrest of Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl in the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, has once again raised the risk of violence committed in the name of
religion.
The girl accused of burning pages of the Quran - according to some reports she
burnt pages of the Noorani Qaida which is the beginner's guide for reciting the
Quran with a correct accent and pronunciation - is being held under Pakistan's
anti-blasphemy laws.
"I think it's a bad law to start off with - it's a man-made law and it has
nothing to do with religion. If you look at our history, the history of Islam
and that of our Holy Prophet - he was exceptionally tolerant to those who were
abusive towards him. He never took any action against anyone who did anything
horrible to him, like throw garbage on him. So for him to put up with all that
and we can't, to me, makes absolutely no sense."
- Ayesha Tammy Haq, a barrister-at-law and civil rights activist
There are conflicting reports about the details of her arrest as well as her
age and mental state. Some reports say she is just 11 and suffers from Down
syndrome.
Christians have reacted by holding protests in Karachi, demanding the release
of the girl and to repeal the anti-blasphemy laws.
Some Christians have fled their homes in fear. In the past, crowds have killed
many of those accused of blasphemy, and even politicians who advocated for
change to the legislation have been targeted.
People are branded blasphemers in Pakistan on a regular basis and some cases
have attracted international attention:
--In May 2010, armed men attacked two mosques and killed more than 90
worshipers of the Ahmadi sect.
--In November 2010, a Christian labourer, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death
after a co-worker accused her of insulting Islam. The sentence is under appeal,
and Bibi is still in jail.
--In 2011, Governor Salman Taseer and Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti were
killed after they publicly called for the blasphemy law to be amended.
--And in July 2012, thousands of people dragged a Pakistani man accused of
desecrating the Quran from a police station in the city of Bahawalpur. They
beat him and killed him.
Pakistan's blasphemy laws apply to all faiths, but a couple of chapters have
been added over the years, referring specifically to Muslims.
Section 295 states that:
"Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or
by imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the
sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad shall be punishable with death, or
imprisonment for life, and shall be liable to fine."
So, should Pakistan's blasphemy laws be repealed? And are Pakistan's blasphemy
laws being misused to persecute the country's minorities?
Inside Story, with presenter Folly Bah Thibault, discusses with guests: Ayesha
Tammy Haq, a barrister-at-law and civil rights activist; Khalid Rahman, the
director general of the Institute for Policy Studies, specialising in domestic
and regional politics; and Aasim Sajjad, a professor of political economy at
Quaid-i-Azam University, and a member of the central committee of the Worker's
Party.
(source: Al Jazeera)
IRAQ:
Iraq executes 21, flouting U.N. calls to halt use of death penalty
In a single day, Iraq has executed 21 people for terrorism offenses, officials
told reporters Tuesday, repeating an activity that has outraged the United
Nations and human rights groups in the past.
Iraqi officials told several news outlets that among those executed Monday were
three women and that all the prisoners had been sentenced in connection with
terrorism charges -- although they did not specify the nature of the offenses.
The Iraqi national news agency carried a brief English notice on Tuesday,
saying "Ministry of Justice implements death penalty against 21 convicts."
Last month, U.N. officials urged Iraqi authorities to halt executions after
death sentences for up to 196 prisoners were upheld in Anbar province. The U.N.
officials said Iraq had been troublingly secretive about the cases.
An earlier rash of executions in January was condemned by U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay as "truly shocking" in light of grave
concerns about due process and fairness in Iraqi trials. The U.N. said it is
alarmed that Iraqis can be put to death for crimes that, in some cases, include
damaging public property.
The death penalty was reinstated in Iraq eight years ago after a short hiatus
following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that overthrew longtime leader Saddam
Hussein.
At least 70 people were executed in the 1st half of this year, exceeding the
entire number of Iraqis put to death the previous year, according to Amnesty
International.
Iraq employs the death penalty more than most other countries, Amnesty's March
report found: The country ranked fourth in executions last year, behind China,
Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Iraqi officials have defended the number of executions as a necessary deterrent
to terrorism in a country that continues to suffer deadly insurgent attacks.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
IRAN:
Proposed Penal Code Deeply Flawed ---- Proposed Amendments Would Violate Rights
of Accused
Proposed amendments to Iran's penal code would violate the rights of accused
people and criminal defendants, Human Rights Watch said in a report released
today. Iranian authorities should suspend enactment of the proposed amendments
and undertake a major overhaul of the country's abusive penal laws.
The 48-page report, "Codifying Repression: An Assessment of Iran's New Penal
Code," says that many problematic provisions of the current penal code remain
unaddressed in the proposed amendments. Some of the amendments would weaken
further the rights of criminal defendants and convicts and allow judges wide
discretion to issue punishments that violate the rights of the accused.
Lawmakers and judiciary officials have cited the amendments as a serious
attempt to comply with Iran???s international human rights obligations.
"These amendments do little to address penal code provisions that allow the
government to jail, torture, and execute people who criticize the government,"
said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "If Iran
wants to comply with its human rights obligations, it should completely and
categorically ban deplorable practices like child executions, limb amputations,
and stoning."
In January 2012 the Guardian Council, an unelected body of 12 religious jurists
charged with vetting all legislation to ensure its compatibility with Iran's
constitution and Sharia, or Islamic law, approved the final text of an amended
penal code. Parliament and other supervisory bodies have approved and finalized
the text of the amendments, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not yet
signed the amended code into law. Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, who is the head of
Iran's judiciary, has ordered Iran's courts to apply the old penal code until
Ahmadinejad signs the new amendments into law, which could happen at any time.
Iran's Islamic Penal Code, which went into effect in 1991, reflects the ruling
clerics' interpretation of Sharia law, based on the Jafari or Twelver Shia
school of jurisprudence. It includes discretionary (ta'zir) punishments not
specifically laid out in Sharia law that apply to most of Iran's national
security laws, under which political dissidents are convicted and sentenced in
revolutionary courts.
The latest amendments address changes in 3 types of punishments specified in
Sharia law: hadd - crimes against God, such as adultery and drinking alcohol,
for which Sharia law assigns fixed and specific punishments); qesas -
retributive justice, often reserved for murder; and diyeh - compensation to
victims in the form of "blood money."
The most serious problems with the new provisions include their retention of
the death penalty for child offenders and for crimes that are not considered
serious under international law, Human Rights Watch said. The amendments also
fail to define clearly and set out in the code several crimes that carry
serious punishments, including capital punishment.
They also include broad or vaguely worded national security-related laws
criminalizing the exercise of fundamental rights. And they would permit the
continued use of punishments that amount to torture or cruel and degrading
treatment, such as stoning, flogging, and amputation.
The amendments also reinforce previously discriminatory provisions against
women and religious minorities.
Contrary to official assertions that the amendments will prohibit the execution
of people less than 18 years of age, the new law retains the death penalty for
children in certain circumstances. Children convicted of ta'zir or
discretionary crimes such as drug-related offenses may no longer be sentenced
to death but instead to correctional and rehabilitation programs.
But the new code explicitly pegs the age of criminal responsibility to the age
of maturity or puberty under Sharia law, which in Iranian jurisprudence is 9
years for girls and 15 years for boys. A judge may, therefore, still sentence
to death a girl as young as 9 or a boy as young as 15 convicted of a "crime
against God" or qesas crime such as sodomy or murder if he determines that the
child understood the nature and consequences of the crime.
Iran remains the world leader in executing people convicted of committing an
offense while under the age of 18. The government maintains that Iran does not
execute children because authorities wait for child offenders to reach 18
before executing them. In 2011 at least 143 child offenders were on death row
in Iranian prisons, the vast majority for alleged crimes such as rape and
murder. Death sentences for those crimes would not be affected by the
amendments.
"The absolute prohibition on the execution of child offenders convicted of
discretionary crimes such as drug trafficking is long overdue," Stork said.
"But it is of little consolation to the dozens of child offenders currently on
death row for other crimes, and their families."
The new amendments continue to allow the death penalty for activities that
should not constitute crimes at all - certain types of consensual sexual
relations outside of marriage - or that are not among the "most serious" crimes
(typically those that cause the death of a victim) under international law.
Other crimes that carry the death penalty under the new provisions include
insulting the Prophet Mohammad and possessing or selling illicit drugs.
The revised penal code allows judges to rely on religious sources, including
Sharia law and fatwas issued by high-ranking Shia clerics, to convict a person
of apostasy or sentence a defendant convicted of adultery to stoning. This
remains the case even though there is no crime of apostasy under the penal
code, and stoning as a form of punishment for adultery has been removed from
the new provisions.
The new provisions also expand upon broad or vaguely defined national security
crimes that punish people for exercising their right to freedom of expression,
association, or assembly. One troubling amendment concerns article 287, which
defines the crime of efsad-e fel arz, or "sowing corruption on earth."
Legislators have expanded the definition of efsad-e fel arz, a previously
ill-defined hadd crime closely related to moharebeh (enmity against God) that
had been used to sentence to death political dissidents who allegedly engaged
in armed activities or affiliated with "terrorist organizations." The new
definition also includes clearly nonviolent activities such as "publish[ing]
lies," "operat[ing] or manag[ing] centers of corruption or prostitution," or
"damage[ing] the economy of the country" if these actions "seriously disturb
the public order and security of the nation."
Under the current penal code, authorities have executed at least 30 people
since January 2010 on the charge of "enmity against God" or "sowing corruption
on earth" for their alleged ties to armed or terrorist groups. At least 28
Kurdish prisoners are known to be awaiting execution on national security
charges, including "enmity against God." Human Rights Watch has documented that
in a number of these cases, the evidence suggests that Iran's judicial
authorities convicted, sentenced, and executed people simply because they were
political dissidents, and not because they had committed terrorist acts.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because it is
unique in its cruelty and finality, and is plagued with arbitrariness,
prejudice, and error. In addition, Iranian trials involving capital crimes have
been replete with serious violations of due process rights and international
fair trial standards.
The Iranian authorities should abolish punishments retained or permitted under
the new penal code that amount to torture or cruel and inhuman treatment, such
as flogging, amputation, and stoning, Human Rights Watch said.
"These penal code amendments are nothing but a continuation of Iran's
reprehensible track record when it comes to administering justice in the
courts," Stork said. "Real criminal reform in Iran requires a wholesale
suspension and overhaul of the Iranian penal code that has been a tool of
systematic repression in the hands of the authorities, including the
judiciary."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
*****************************
see:
http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/legal-commentary/1000000183-crimes-against-children-in-iran.html#.UD2C3qB1Nac
(source: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center)
INDONESIA:
Gang leader John Kei charged with premeditated murder
A team of prosecutors on Tuesday charged notorious gang leader John Kei with
premeditated murder under the Criminal Code at John's 1st hearing at the
Central Jakarta District Court.
John was arrested at a hotel in Pulo Mas, East Jakarta, on Feb. 17, for his
alleged involvement in the murder of businessman Tan Harry Tantono, aka Ayung,
on Jan. 26.
"We charge the defendant with Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated
murder and Article 338 of the Criminal Code on murder," prosecutor Herli
Siregar stated during the hearing.
Article 340 carries death penalty, while Article 338 carries a maximum of 15
years' imprisonment.
The prosecutors argued that the articles were used based on the police's
dossier stipulating that the defendant had previously threatened to kill the
victim before murdering him, kompas.com reported.
John had allegedly ordered his gang members Ancola Kei; Tuce Kei; Dani Res;
Kupra and Chandra Kei-who also stood trial at the same court-to kill Ayung,
because the businessman was reluctant to pay John's fees for his
debt-collecting services, which amounted to Rp 200 million (S$26,325).
Ayung was found dead from dozens of stab wounds in a hotel room in Central
Jakarta on Jan. 26.
(source: Asia One)
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