Jan. 26
GERMANY:
Bundesbank Limits China Cooperation on Death Penalty
Germany's Bundesbank said it will exclude Chinese and Vietnamese central bank
officials from anti- counterfeiting seminars over concerns about the countries'
use of the death penalty for serious cases of forgery.
"The Bundesbank wants to make sure it doesn't give advice on the subject of
counterfeiting to countries that impose the death penalty for money forgery," a
spokesman for the Frankfurt-based central bank said today, adding that this is
currently the case "in at least 2 countries, China and Vietnam."
The Bundesbank will stop inviting officials from the 2 countries' central banks
to its seminars on "cash management and combating counterfeit money," it said.
It will continue to cooperate on other subjects, from monetary policy to
banking supervision.
The move comes after German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported earlier today
that the Bundesbank was supporting Chinese officials in combating forgery and
that at least 1 person in the South Chinese province of Hunan has been
sentenced to death for counterfeiting.
The Bundesbank said on Jan. 17 it had shelved an anti-counterfeiting venture
with the Central Bank of Bangladesh over concerns the country planned to impose
the death penalty for serious cases of forgery. Bangladesh's central bank said
the next day it would drop the plans.
The Bundesbank is currently examining if countries other than China and Vietnam
are imposing the death penalty for forgery, the spokesman said. It has not yet
made a decision on whether it will restart the anti-counterfeiting venture with
Bangladesh.
(source: Business Week)
CANADA:
Innocence Lost: A Play About Steven Truscott
"Even though I've written it, it's a story that's way beyond me, with real
people involved," says Beverley Cooper.Photograph by: Allen McInnis , Montreal
GazetteIn 1959, the Canadian justice system nearly killed an innocent
14-year-old boy. The fact that Steven Truscott was wrongly convicted of the
rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper that year, and sentenced to hang,
now seems surreal. All the more so since he's alive and well and living quietly
with his family after 10 years of unjust incarceration - and many more years as
an obscure factory worker, father and grandfather, after suffering the
consequences of a destroyed reputation.
Next week, Innocence Lost, A Play About Steven Truscott, by Beverley Cooper,
opens at Centaur Theatre.
Officially, this drama of injustice was resolved on Aug. 28, 2007, when
Truscott was finally, formally acquitted by a panel of 5 judges. 1 year later,
on July 8, 2008, Truscott was awarded $6.5 million in compensation from the
Ontario government.
But the cautionary tale lives on, as does its judiciary influence. In Canada,
the death penalty was almost entirely abolished in 1976, with the final touches
added in 1998.
In 2001, author and journalist Julian Sher published a non-fiction book on the
case, Until You Are Dead, following his work as a producer on the
groundbreaking CBC fifth estate documentary on the Truscott case, first aired
on March 29, 2000. (Centaur has set up a free Thursday Evening Chat-up talk
with Sher, hosted by Gazette communities editor David Johnston, on Feb. 14 at 7
p.m.)
And Ann-Marie McDonald's bestselling novel inspired by the Truscott story, The
Way the Crow Flies, revived the story internationally in 2003.
But it was the 1966 book, The Trial of Steven Truscott, written by Isabelle
LeBourdais, that really set the wheels in motion on Truscott's path to clear
his name.
LeBourdais, who died in 2003, will appear as a character in Cooper's play,
which premiered at the Blyth Festival in 2008 and was subsequently nominated
for a Governor General's Award. (Noted Canadian actor Fiona Reid plays the
LeBourdais role.)
Cooper, who is based in Toronto, has spent a generous amount of time in
Montreal with the Centaur cast, "because it's such an important story," she
said, in a recent interview. "And it's important that we get the tone of it
right. Even though I've written it, it's a story that's way beyond me, with
real people involved."
Why did Cooper choose to write a play about Truscott? Because she was asked to,
she said, by Eric Coates, artistic director of the Blyth Festival. She had
written 1 play for him, The Eyes of Heaven, which turned out to be a hit at
Blyth in 2007. So, he immediately requested another. Only this time, he
suggested the topic: the Steven Truscott case.
At first, she was hesitant. She consulted Ann-Marie MacDonald, a longtime
friend, and received encouragement, as well as an offer to share research
materials. She and MacDonald had once co-written a play, inspired by the Nancy
Drew detective series, called Clue in the Fast Lane.
When Cooper finally consented to write the Truscott play, she warned Coates it
would take at least a year to complete because of her prior commitments. (She
was producing a CBC Radio drama, Afghanada, at the time.) He told her that he
couldn't wait that long because the acquittal was coming down. He wanted the
play for his 2008 Blyth summer season.
Given that the scene of the murder was the town of Clinton, located about 20
minutes away from Blyth, Coates knew that the level of local interest would be
intense. Perhaps even dangerous.
A previous Blyth artistic director who had wanted to do a Truscott play had
received threats and dropped the subject.
Cooper made it clear that she couldn't even begin writing before January 2008.
The amount of research required (reading court transcripts, previous books,
autopsy reports, newspaper accounts) was daunting. Still, she avoided panic -
until the day (in January 2008) when she received a phone call from a Guelph
newspaper reporter.
He inquired about the Truscott play she'd supposedly already written. She
replied that she really didn't like to talk about her projects when she was
still working on them and hung up.
"Then I lay on the floor and just had an absolute panic attack," she recalled.
But she did manage to pull it all together.
One thing that helped her past writer's block was taking an interest in the
young people who had shared classrooms with Truscott and Harper: "I thought how
awful if must have been to have a classmate raped and murdered and the young
man they looked up to so much to be sentenced to be hanged."
Her decision to create a fictional character to represent the other students
freed up her creative process. In much of the play she allows characters based
on real people to speak their own words, in order to stay true to their
intentions.
"A lot is verbatim from transcripts," Cooper said. "And I tried to show all
sides of the story."
One thing she didn't do was interview Truscott himself.
"I didn't want to bother him," she said. "And I also wanted to keep a little
bit of distance."
But she did meet him when he attended the play, along with his wife, Marlene.
"He was incredibly gracious," she said.
Cooper was raised in Toronto and theatre-trained at Studio 58 in Vancouver,
alongside Roy Surette, who has directed Innocence Lost.
She is married to actor John Jarvis. They have two sons, ages 14 and 19. The
fact that her eldest son was 14 at the time she wrote the play helped her
empathize with the teen Truscott, she said. Her constant thought was "What if
it had been him?"
Innocence Lost: A Play About Steven Truscott, by Beverley Cooper, at Centaur
Theatre. Previews begin Tuesday, opens Thursday, continues until Feb. 24. Call
514-288-3161 or visit www.centaurtheatre.com
(source: Montreal Gazette)
EGYPT:
Court orders death penalty for Egypt football fans
An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death Saturday on charges related to
one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence, touching off an
attempted jailbreak and a riot that killed 16 in the Mediterranean port city
that is home to most of the defendants.
The verdict follows deadly clashes between police and demonstrators on Friday,
the 2nd anniversary of the uprising that overthrew longtime leader Hosni
Mubarak. Such cycles of violence, often lasting for weeks and costing dozens of
lives, have occurred regularly over the past 2 years.
Die-hard soccer fans from both teams, known as Ultras, hold the police at least
partially responsible for the Port Said deaths and criticize Egypt's President
Mohammed Morsi for doing little to reform the force.
Al-Ahly Ultras in particular have been at the forefront of protests. But anger
also is boiling in Port Said, where residents say they have been unfairly
scapegoated.
Immediately after the verdict, 2 police were shot dead outside Port Said's main
prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as live rounds, at the crowd
outside the prison, killing 14, security officials said. Hundreds were wounded.
They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Security officials said the military is being deployed to Port Said - the 2nd
such deployment in less than 24 hours. The army was widely used to keep order
by top generals who took over after Mubarak, but the military has kept a much
lower profile since Morsi was elected as president in June.
Morsi cancelled a scheduled trip to Ethiopia Saturday and instead met for the
1st time with top generals as part of the newly-formed National Defense
Council.
The military was also deployed overnight in the city of Suez after 8 people
died in clashes between security forces and protesters opposed to Morsi.
Another protester was killed in Ismailiya, and security officials told the
state news agency MENA that 2 policemen were killed in Friday's protests,
bringing the death toll on the 2nd anniversary of Egypt's uprising to 11.
Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid read out the death sentences related to the Feb. 1
riot in Port Said that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team.
Defendants' lawyers said all those sentenced were fans of the Port Said team,
Al-Masry. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.
The judge Saturday said in his statement read live on state TV that he would
announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.
Among those on trial are 9 security officials, but none were handed sentences
Saturday, lawyers and security officials say.
Fans of al-Ahly, whose stands were attacked by rival club Al-Masry in the Feb.
1 incident in Port Said, had promised more violence if the accused did not
receive death sentences. In the days leading up to the verdict, Al-Ahly fans
warned of bloodshed and "retribution". Hundreds of Al-Ahly fans gathered
outside the Cairo sports club in anticipation of the verdict, chanting against
the police and the government.
Before the judge could read out the names of the 21, families erupted in
screams of "Allahu Akbar!" Arabic for God is great, with their hands in the air
and waving pictures of the deceased. 1 man fainted while others hugged one
another. The judge smacked the bench several times to try and contain reaction
in the courtroom.
"This was necessary," said Nour al-Sabah, whose 17 year-old son Ahmed Zakaria
died in the melee. "Now I want to see the guys when they are executed with my
own eyes, just as they saw the murder of my son."
The verdict is not expected to calm tensions between the two rival teams. The
judge is expected to make public his reasons for the death sentences March 9,
when the remaining 52 defendants receive their sentences.
A Port Said resident and lawyer of 1 of the defendants given a death sentence
said the verdict was nothing more than "a political decision to calm the
public."
"There is nothing to say these people did anything and we don't understand what
this verdict is based on," Mohammed al-Daw told The Associated Press by
telephone.
"Our situation in Port Said is very grave because kids were taken from their
homes for wearing green T-shirts," he said, referring to the Al-Masry team
color.
The violence began after the Port Said's home team won the match, 3-1. Al-Masry
fans stormed the pitch after the game ended, attacking Cairo's Al-Ahly fans.
Authorities shut off the stadium lights, plunging it into darkness. In the exit
corridor, the fleeing crowd pressed against a chained gate until it broke open.
Many were crushed under the crowd of people trying to flee.
Survivors of the riot described a nightmarish scene in the stadium. Police
stood by doing nothing, they said, as fans of Al-Masry attacked supporters of
the top Cairo club stabbing them and throwing them off bleachers.
Al-Ahly survivors said supporters of Al-Masry carved the words "Port Said" into
their bodies and undressed them while beating them with iron bars.
While there has long been bad blood between the 2 rival teams, many blamed
police for failing to perform usual searches for weapons at the stadium.
Both Al-Ahly Ultras and Al-Masry Ultras widely believe that ex-members of the
ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak helped instigate the attack, and that the police
at the very least were responsible for gross negligence. It is not clear what
kind of evidence, if any, was presented to the court to back up claims that the
attack had been orchestrated by regime officials.
"The police are thugs!" yelled relatives of the deceased inside the courtroom
before the judge took the bench.
As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to the nation's top
religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval, though the court has final
say on the matter.
All of the defendants - who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for
security reasons - have the right to appeal the verdict.
The melee was the world's deadliest soccer violence in 15 years.
The Ultras are proud of their hatred for the police, who were the backbone of
Mubarak's authoritarian rule. They then then directed their chants against the
military rulers who took over after Mubarak's ouster.
Ultras from several Egyptian sports clubs were engaged in deadly clashes with
police near the Interior Ministry headquarters in Cairo that killed 42 people
less than 3 months before the soccer melee in Port Said.
(source: France24.com)
********************
Egypt Riot After Soccer Violence Verdict Kills 16
Egyptian security officials say 22 people have been killed in riots sparked by
death sentences given to nearly 2 dozen soccer fans convicted of violence after
a game in Port Said last year.
The security officials say most were killed in assaults on the governor's
office, courthouse and prison after the sentence was handed down during a trial
outside Cairo. They say two policemen also were shot to death outside the
city's main prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility.
The military has been deployed to try and restore security.
The judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with the Feb. 1, 2012,
soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team.
The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with
regulations.
(source: Huffington Post)
IRAN:
UN Rights Experts Urge Iran to Halt Executions of 5 Ahvazi Activists
Today 5 independent experts from the United Nations called on the Iranian
government to halt the executions of 5 Ahvazi Arab activists. The UN experts
include the UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of
association, on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and on torture,
as well as the UN Independent Expert on minority issues.
Today 5 independent experts from the United Nations called on the Iranian
government to halt the executions of 5 Ahvazi Arab activists. The UN experts
include the UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of
association, on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and on torture,
as well as the UN Independent Expert on minority issues.
The 5 Ahvazi Arab men are said to be founders of the Alhavar (Dialogue) Science
and Culture Institute and have been charged with "enmity against God" and other
charges. Their death sentences have been upheld without due process, and the
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has called for an independent
investigation into the judicial process of the case and allegations of torture,
in addition to a halt to the executions.
The full text of the UN experts' press release is below.
Iran: UN rights experts urge Government to halt the execution of 5 Ahwazi
activists
GENEVA (25 January 2013) - A group of United Nations independent experts on
Iran, peaceful assembly and of association, extrajudicial executions, torture
and minorities today urged the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of 5
Ahwazi activists, who are at imminent risk after their death sentences were
recently upheld by the Supreme Court.
According to reports, Mr Mohammad Ali Amouri, Mr Sayed Jaber Alboshoka, Mr
Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, Mr Hashem Shabain Amouri and Mr Hadi Rashidi, all
founding members of Al-Hiwar, a scientific and cultural institute, were
sentenced to death on charges including Moharebeh ("enmity against God"),
Mufsid-fil-Arz ("corruption on earth") and spreading propaganda against the
system in 2012.
"It is absolutely unacceptable for individuals to be imprisoned and condemned
to death for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly,
association, opinion and expression, and affiliation to minority groups and to
cultural institutions," stressed the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed.
On his part, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful
assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, reminded the Iranian authorities of
their international obligations, recalling that "Iran is party to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights*, which guarantees the
rights to free expression, free association and peaceful assembly."
The 5 activists were arrested in their homes in Ahwaz in 2011, ahead of the 6th
anniversary of widespread protests by the Ahwazi community, and were reportedly
convicted following unfair trials.
"Under international law, the death penalty can only be employed when very
strict conditions are met, for example only in respect of the most serious
crimes and only after a trial and appeal proceedings that scrupulously respect
all the principles of due process," noted the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, expressing
serious concerns about the way these trials were conducted.
"Also of grave concern, are allegations that the 5 individuals were subjected
to torture and other ill-treatment in detention and were forced to sign
confessions," added the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Mendez. "This is
not only in breach of Iran's international obligations under the international
covenant, which imposes an outright prohibition on torture, it is also in
breach of Iran's Constitution that explicitly forbids the use of all forms of
torture for the purpose of extracting confessions or acquiring information."
"The number of cases of individuals belonging to minorities being sentenced for
their activities related to their minority rights is a cause for serious
concern," said the UN Independent Expert on minority issues, Rita Izsak. "I
urge the Government of Iran to halt these executions and to review the
decisions of the courts to ensure that all human rights, including minority
rights, are fully upheld and respected in practice."
(*) Check the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm
***********************
1 Prisoner Was Hanged Publicly In South-Eastern Iran Today
According to the official Iranian media a man was hanged in the public early
this morning in Kerman (southeastern Iran).
According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars the man was identified as
"Yaser K." (age not mentioned) and convicted of rape. The execution was carried
out at the Khajou Square of Kerman this morning Saturday January 26.
There have been 8 public hangings, 1 public amputation and 4 public lashings
during the last 10 days in Iran.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
**********************************
see: http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/
1000000225-ihrdc-chart-of-executions-by-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-2013.html#.UQPmaPJiZRo
(source: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center)
INDIA:
Delhi vow to pursue Headley
India today expressed disappointment over David Coleman Headley not getting a
sentence "harsher" than the 35 years over the Mumbai attacks but vowed to keep
pursuing his extradition.
Foreign minister Salman Khurshid said he was "disappointed" at the Chicago
court's verdict yesterday and said the Pakistani-American Lashkar operative who
scouted the 26/11 targets would have got the "severest sentence" in India.
"If the trial would have been held here, the punishment would have been
tougher... but we will still try and get him tried in India." He termed the
sentence a "beginning" while declaring "full faith" in the US legal system.
"There are legal procedures in the US but nevertheless the position we have,
the request (extradition) we have made remains intact."
Union home secretary R.K. Singh echoed the views on the punishment, saying
Headley and all those who were involved in the 2008 strike in which 166 people
were killed should get the death penalty. "We want the death sentence for
Headley."
But the US justified the decision against seeking death penalty for Headley,
citing his willingness to co-operate with the authorities to help bring the
perpetrators to justice and help prevent other terror strikes.
The US embassy here issued a statement saying "the sentence reflects both
severe punishment for Headley's role in the heinous 26/11 crimes and a decision
by the US department of justice not to seek the death penalty."
Headley provided information of substantial value in the US's efforts to combat
international terror and save lives, apart from testifying against
co-conspirator Tahawwur Rana, now serving a 14-year sentence, the embassy said.
Others felt the US verdict could be used to step up pressure on Pakistan to
nail its 26/11 suspects.
Ujjwal Nikam, special public prosecutor in the 26/11 case, urged Pakistan to
make Headley an approver in the trial of the suspects. "Pakistan has been
saying it does not have evidence. Therefore, it should make Headley an accused
in their case and turn him an approver so he can provide the evidence they
need."
(source: The Telegraph)
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