March 4
UNITED KINGDOM/INDIA:
4,000 signature petition to abolish death penalty in India handed to MPs in
Derby
A 4,000 signature petition to ask the British government to force the abolition
of the death penalty has been handed to 2 Derbyshire MPs.
Chris Williamson and Heather Wheeler were handed the petition at the Guru Arjan
Dev Gurdwara, in Stanhope Street, Normanton, earlier today. The petition
follows a larger 120,000 name petition which caused the matter to be debated in
the House of Commons on Thursday February 28. (source: thisisderbyshire.com)
YEMEN:
Juvenile Offenders Face Execution; At Least 22 on Death Row; Dozens More at
Risk of Death Sentence
Yemen's government should stop seeking and carrying out the death penalty for
child offenders, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. President
Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi should immediately reverse execution orders for three
alleged juvenile offenders on death row who have exhausted all appeals and
could face a firing squad at any moment.
The 30-page report, "'Look at Us with a Merciful Eye': Juvenile Offenders
Awaiting Execution on Yemen's Death Row," found that at least 22 individuals
have been sentenced to death despite evidence that they were under age 18 at
the time of their alleged crimes. In the last 5 years, Yemen has executed at
least 15 young men and women who said they were under 18 at the time of their
offense. Most recently, on December 3, 2012, a government firing squad in Sanaa
executed Hind al-Barti, a young woman convicted of murder whose birth
certificate indicated she was 15 at the time of her alleged crime.
"President Hadi should break with Yemen's past of arbitrary justice and
state-sanctioned violence by reversing the execution orders of the three young
men with signed execution decrees," said Priyanka Motaparthy, children's rights
researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Ending executions of juvenile offenders is a
clear and straightforward way for Yemen's government to show it honors its
human rights commitments."
Hadi should order a review of all death sentences where there is doubt that the
individual was at least 18 at the time of the offense, and commute all
sentences when evidence regarding an offender's age remains inconclusive or in
conflict, Human Rights Watch said. Yemen's penal code and international law
prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders.
Human Rights Watch interviewed five young men and a young woman on death row in
the Sanaa Central Prison, and reviewed case files for 19 other alleged juvenile
offenders. Among those interviewed was al-Barti, who told Human Rights Watch in
March 2012 that she had made a false confession after police officers beat her
and threatened her with rape. Government authorities only gave her family a few
hours' notice before her execution.
"There is strong evidence that Hind al-Barti was just a girl when she was
accused of murder, yet she was sentenced - and received - the ultimate
punishment," said Motaparthy. "The Yemeni government should have reduced her
sentence if there was any reason to believe she was under 18 at the time of the
crime."
Like al-Barti, several juvenile offenders told Human Rights Watch that they
faced threats, physical abuse, and torture in police custody, which they said
led them to make false confessions.
"They beat me with their hands, sometimes they would electro-shock me until I
fell down," said Ibrahim al-Omaisy, one of the youths Human Rights Watch
interviewed. "At that point if they had asked me, 'Did you kill 1,000?' I would
have said yes out of fear."
The 3 alleged juvenile offenders who have exhausted all appeals are Mohammed
Taher Sumoom, Walid Hussein Haikal, and Mohammad al-Tawil. Yemen's former
president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, signed their execution decrees before he left
office in February 2012. The president's signature is the final step before
carrying out death penalty sentences.
Haikal told Human Rights Watch that he was accused of murdering a man from his
neighborhood in 2000, when he was in the seventh grade. He said that after his
arrest, he spent two months at the Interior Ministry's Criminal Investigations
Division, and that police beat and tortured him throughout his time there,
leading him to make a false confession.
Since 1994, Yemen's penal code has also banned the execution of juvenile
offenders and stipulates a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for
individuals under 18 who commit capital offenses. However, juvenile offenders
faced serious obstacles when they tried to prove their age in court, Human
Rights Watch found. In some cases, defendants simply lacked the documentation
to prove they were under age 18 at the time of their alleged crime. Yemen has
one of the lowest birth registration rates in the world: among a population of
more than 24 million, the government registers only 22 % of births, and only 5
% of births among poor and rural populations, according to the United Nations
Children's Fund, UNICEF.
Yemen's government should also establish an independent review committee -
separate from the office of the public prosecutor-todevelop clear procedures
and guidelines for determining a defendant's age, Human Rights Watch said. The
committee should have authority to examine both past and future cases, and
should ensure that all juveniles accused of murder and other offenses have
access to an independent impartial age determination process that considers
medical evidence, impartial records, and interviews.
But even when the defendants have proof that they were under 18 at the time of
an alleged crime, judges have blatantly ignored it, Human Rights Watch found.
Bashir Muhammad al-Dihar, sentenced to death by a Sanaa trial court, told Human
Rights Watch that during his sentencing, "the judge said that, 'even if he was
10 years old...the punishment for a murderer is death.'" In February 2013,
al-Dihar was told that an appeals court had reduced his sentence to seven years
in jail based on his age. He told Human Rights Watch that he feared Yemen's
supreme court might reinstate the death sentence in his case.
Yemen has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which specifically
prohibit capital punishment of anyone who was under 18 at the time of the
offense.
When courts cannot establish conclusively that a defendant was 18 or older at
the time of the alleged crime, international law indicates that the courts may
not impose a death sentence. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the
Child, charged with interpreting the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC), has stated that, "If there is no proof of age, the child is entitled to
a reliable medical or social investigation that may establish his/her age and,
in the case of conflict or inconclusive evidence, the child shall have the
right to the rule of the benefit of the doubt."
Yemen is 1 of only 4 countries known to have executed people in the last 5
years for crimes committed as children. The others are Iran, Saudi Arabia, and
Sudan.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment.
"The government has a real opportunity to prove its commitment to protecting
children - the most vulnerable members of its population - by reversing
execution orders in urgent juvenile offender cases, and observing its own
prohibition on the death penalty for juvenile offenders,??? Motaparthy said.
"Sending child offenders before firing squads is hardly the way for Yemen to
show that it respects human rights."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
*******************
Yemen should stop child executions, says Human Rights Watch; Rights group calls
on president to reverse orders for 3 juveniles on death row after at least 15
executed in 5 years
Yemen has executed at least 15 young male and female offenders, all aged under
18 when they committed the offences, in the last 5 years, Human Rights Watch
has said, urging the government to halt such executions.
The New-York-based group also called on the president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi,
to reverse the execution orders of 3 juveniles on death row, whose appeals have
been exhausted.
"Sending child offenders before firing squads is hardly the way for Yemen to
show that it respects human rights," said Priyanka Motaparthy, children's
rights researcher at HRW.
In a 30-page report, HRW cited the case of Hind al-Barti, executed by a
government firing squad in Sana'a on murder charges. The group said the young
woman's birth certificate showed she was 15 at the time of the alleged murder.
Barti told HRW in March 2012 that she had made a false confession after police
officers beat her and threatened her with rape. Government authorities only
gave her family a few hours' notice before her execution.
"There is strong evidence that Hind al-Barti was just a girl when she was
accused of murder, yet she was sentenced - and received - the ultimate
punishment," said Motaparthy.
"The Yemeni government should have reduced her sentence if there was any reason
to believe she was under 18 at the time of the crime."
HRW said several other juvenile offenders it interviewed said they had faced
threats, physical abuse and torture in custody, which they said led them to
make false confessions.
Yemen's human rights minister Hooria Mashhour said Yemeni law prohibited the
execution of offenders under the age of 18, but that people often lacked birth
certificates to prove their age.
"Problems happen during procedures, during trials, where they treat the young
offender as a fully responsible adult," said Mashhour, when asked about the HRW
report.
"When rulings are issued and we, as ministry of human rights, intervene, the
judiciary consider our action as interference by the executive branch in their
work."
Hadi, who took office a year ago after popular protests forced the former
president Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit, is trying to reassert government
authority in a nation that was lawless, chaotic and impoverished even before
the political upheaval.
An official of a Yemeni group, the Seyaj Organisation for Childhood Protection,
said it had managed to get the execution of an alleged child offender halted on
Wednesday at the last minute after contacting Hadi. The juvenile, Mohammed
Abdulkarim Hazaa, was not among the three named by HRW as on death row.
(source: The Guardian)
************************************
Yemen has executed 15 child offenders in 5 years - rights group
Yemen has executed at least 15 young male and female offenders, all aged under
18 when they committed the offences, in the last 5 years, Human Rights Watch
said on Monday, urging the government to halt such executions.
The New York-based group also called on President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to
reverse the execution orders of three juveniles on death row, whose appeals
have been exhausted.
"Sending child offenders before firing squads is hardly the way for Yemen to
show that it respects human rights," said Priyanka Motaparthy, children's
rights researcher at HRW.
In a 30-page report, HRW cited the case of Hind al-Barti, executed by a
government firing squad in Sanaa on murder charges. The group said the young
woman's birth certificate showed she was 15 at the time of the alleged murder.
Barti told HRW in March 2012 that she had made a false confession after police
officers beat her and threatened her with rape. Government authorities only
gave her family a few hours' notice before her execution.
"There is strong evidence that Hind al-Barti was just a girl when she was
accused of murder, yet she was sentenced - and received - the ultimate
punishment," said Motaparthy.
"The Yemeni government should have reduced her sentence if there was any reason
to believe she was under 18 at the time of the crime."
HRW said several other juvenile offenders it interviewed said they had faced
threats, physical abuse and torture in custody, which they said led them to
make false confessions.
Human Rights Minister Hooria Mashhour said Yemeni law prohibited the execution
of offenders under the age of 18, but that people often lacked birth
certificates to prove their age.
"Problems happen during procedures, during trials, where they treat the young
offender as a fully responsible adult," Mashhour told Reuters, when asked about
the HRW report.
"When rulings are issued and we, as Ministry of Human Rights, intervene, the
judiciary consider our action as interference by the executive branch in their
work."
Hadi, who took office a year ago after popular protests forced former President
Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit, is trying to reassert government authority in a
nation that was lawless, chaotic and impoverished even before the political
upheaval.
An official of a Yemeni group, the Seyaj Organisation for Childhood Protection,
said it had managed to get the execution of an alleged child offender halted on
Wednesday at the last minute after contacting Hadi. The juvenile, Mohammed
Abdulkarim Hazaa, was not among the three named by HRW as on death row.
(source: Reuters)
NIGERIA:
Ripples As Uduaghan Refuses Assent On Death Penalty for Kidnappers
Although the menacing issue of kidnapping is not peculiar to DeltaState, there
appears to be confusion especially between the members of the Delta State House
of Assembly, who are constitutionally empowered to make laws for peace and good
governance; and the State executive governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.
Presently, the 2 arms of government are engulfed in cold war on how to address
the issue permanently. While the 29-member State House of Assembly, on one
hand, voted for outright death penalty for anybody caught in the act of
kidnapping to act as deterrent; the governor, a medical doctor by training is
vehemently opposed to it.
It is no longer news that DeltaState had witnessed series of high profile
kidnapping ranging from kidnapping of commissioners, lawmakers, judges, mother
of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and even a 70 year-old
cousin of Governor Uduaghan.
Ironically, the 70 year old cousin of the governor, Pa Sam Uduaghan was
abducted on a fateful Wednesday morning , the 13th day of June last year, the
same time the governor was receiving the Inspector General of Police, IGP,
Mohammed Abubakar who was on a visit to the State to receive some operational
vehicles donated by the state government for improved crime patrol.
Some of the kidnappings are politically motivated - Ogeah
State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chike Ogeah said that some of the
kidnappings are not always tied to demand for ransom. Some, according to him,
are "politically motivated" and they are the ones that go for kidnappings that
will attract the highest media attention.
This was his remark when the mother of Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala was
kidnapped.
His words, "I don't agree with you that the political elites have not been
affected by the kidnap. I think they are rather the main target. When their
loved ones are kidnapped as has been the case, the impact on them. We have had
a serving commissioner, law makers and family members of top public office
holders kidnapped in the past.
"The causes are many and varied, but for us in DeltaState, we think
unemployment is a critical factor. That is why Dr. Uduaghan evolved the 3-point
agenda, comprising peace and security; human capital development and
infrastructure
"Security", he went on, "has always been a priority in the administration of
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of DeltaState. Although the police are controlled by
the federal government, DeltaState has always funded the police command in the
state. In fact, a Special Squad on kidnapping and other violent crimes was set
up by Dr. Uduaghan with many operational vehicles and communication equipments
procured for it. A lot of success was recorded through this special squad", he
stated.
..... Day Uduaghan broke silence on why he should not sign the death penalty
On Saturday, 24th February, 2013, at a town hall meeting organised as part of
programme during the visit of the Good Governance tour team to DeltaState, the
governor publicly broke his silence on the matter.
Before the governor publicly declared that there was no need to sign it into
law, some Deltans including the lawmakers who passed the Bill since November
last year were still optimistic that the governor might change his mind later,
but the public utterance has sealed their hope for now.
Investigation by our reporter showed that there are mixed reactions to the
governor's position. While some members of the public interviewed are backing
him, others disagreed, noting that only a capital punishment meted to such
culprits would act as deterrent to others.
..... The governor's bombshell
Said the governor while reacting to a question posed to him during the
interactive session "...there is already a death penalty. Every kidnapper is an
armed robber. So, I don't know why we are talking today of death penalty for
kidnappers. Why do I have to sign another law for kidnappers?
"Once you are a kidnapper, you are also an armed robbery. So, why all these
unnecessary debate about Uduaghan not agreeing to sign death penalty for
kidnappers and all that. The law is already there to sentence kidnappers to
death", he added.
The Speaker's mind before Uduaghan dropped the bombshell
Speaker of the House, Mr. Victor Ochei had told our reporter sometime last year
when the Bill was still being considered in an interview that "by the time we
pass the Bill, it will scale through by the grace of God because, one, we
received memoranda when carried out public hearing. The government through the
chief law officer of the state, the Attorney General had made his submission to
the committee, other organisations and the public have all made their
submissions. So by the time we are coming out, we are coming out with a very
robust bill. That is one bill signed by 28 members of the House.
"There is no way it will not scale through. If by the time the bill is ready
and the governor does not give assent, there is a constitutional provision of
what to do and I am sure he cannot discountenance the opinion of 28 members of
this House . So, I don't want to pre-empt what it will come out as if the bill
is passed into law. There is a process, the next process. If it is not assented
to, you are asking me this question, then I can tell you, yes, we can invoke
section 100 of the Constitution but until that time comes, I think it will be
too hasty to say".
.... And the stalemate
By 8th of this month, March, it will be exactly 4 months the Bill was passed
and sent to the governor for assent.
.... Ex Speaker lambasts House
Former Speaker of the House, Dr. Olisa Imegwu has said that the DeltaState
governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan should not be entirely blamed for not assenting
the Bill prescribing death penalty for kidnappers. He wondered why his former
colleagues were dragging feet in vetoing the bill if it was the general feeling
of the people they represent.
According to him, "Uduaghan is not the fault. Also, the legislators under the
Constitution, after 30 days or so, says that if a Bill is given to you
(governor) was not signed into law, you (legislators) override it by veto. Then
you ask, if Uduaghan refused, let the legislators override it with veto. What I
am telling you now is that the whole system of governance is broken down, it is
disfunctional".
.... Rights group backs Uduaghan
State Chapter of the Committee for the Defence for Human Rights (CDHR) has
called on the state governor, not to assent on the recently passed Bill
prescribing death penalty for kidnappers.
Although the group led by comrade Oghenejabor Ikimi outrightly condemned the
act of kidnapping, he argued that death penalty was not the solution.
He said, "we members of CDHR, Delta state chapter make bold to say that the
death penalty is not a solution to the menace of kidnapping but good
governance.
"We therefore call on the Delta State Governor, His Excellency Dr. Emmanuel
Uduaghan not to assent to the passage of the Bill prescribing death sentence
for the offence of kidnap in the state.
**************************************
Boko Haram - We Are Fighting an International War - Ex-DSS Director
Recently, the Senate recommended capital punishment for terrorists in the
country. In this interview, Mr. Mike Ejiofor, a former Director of the
Department of Security Services (SSS), commends the parliament for the bold
step, but goes further to recommend same punishment for corrupt government
officials. Excerpts:
The country is facing a lot of security challenges. As a security expert, what
is responsible?
As you are aware, the greatest challenge facing Nigeria for now is the issue of
Boko Haram, a new dimension has just been introduced where this new group
called Ansaru was involved in the kidnapping of French nationals in Cameroon.
In fact, this is an international dimension that the group is actually
affiliated to Al Qaeda since they are operating across border now and that
calls for worry. Security agencies too, I believe, are following events and
monitoring developments, but, generally speaking, apart from this major
challenge, the security situation in the country is quite appreciable.
The Senate recently recommended death penalty for kidnappers, terrorists and
other similar criminal activities.What is your take on that?
I was very excited when the National Assembly, precisely the Senate, passed the
Amended 2011 Terrorism Prevention Act prescribing death sentence for offenders;
that is quite commendable and I must congratulate the Senate for taking this
bold initiative.
Terrorism is a fight that everybody should be involved in, all arms of
government should be involved in the fight. And I think the fight against
terrorism received another boost when the State Security Service paraded some
terror suspects who were affiliated to Iran, that was a major outbreak and I
think, with that, some of the international connections of these terrorists
would --and don't forget that these suspects were not arrested in the North, as
you are aware that the North is the hotbed for terrorism; this cell that was
established in Lagos, the Security Service had been following them for long
and, for the service to come out that they have arrested suspects in respect of
espionage and terrorism involving another national organization is something
that we must commend the SSS for, and I plead with Nigerians to come out and
assist the security agencies.
General insecurity could be linked to political, religious and economic
reasons, they are all interwoven. If you look at when the president came to
power, some people threatened that if he assumed office, they would make the
country ungovernable and, even though nobody has be specifically held
responsible, it does seem that an agenda is being pursued to make his
government unworkable and unpopular.
That is the political angle. One group also said Nigeria should be Islamized.
Nigeria is a secular state and it is definitely not possible to Islamize
Nigeria. On the economic front, the economic downturn in the world is not
peculiar to Nigeria and, with time, I think government has made promises of
transformation and the transformation takes a lot of time for us to get to
where we are now and I think with time we will make a headway.
How can these challenges be handled to ensure that there is peace?
There must be synergy among the security agencies, the people must be committed
in providing information, the government, on its part too, should encourage and
assist the security agencies in getting modern equipment to fight this war
because it is an international war.
It was alleged that the situation is so bad because some security personnel are
working with the terrorists.
I don't see how security agencies should be working with terrorists, but one
thing I can tell you, like Mr. President once said, they have sympathizers in
the security agencies. Nigeria is the most religious country in the world yet
we don't reflect it in our lives; so, you cannot rule out the possibility of
moles in the security agencies. But that is not the position of the agencies
themselves, anybody caught divulging or passing information to criminals, there
are measures, laid down rules on which such persons can be dealt with but I
would not subscribe to the fact that the security agencies are part of the
security problem.
Some of the people who say that, say it out of ignorance because if the
agencies tell you exactly what they do, it will create fear in the people. It
is only when it is obvious that people get to know.
For instance, the kidnapping of the French nationals, the security agencies
can't begin to tell people what they are doing because it will definitely
compromise the outcome of investigations, it is only when investigations are
concluded, they are many ongoing investigations that get to know what is going
on. Our asecurity agencies based on my knowledge are doing their utmost and,
just to think of it, why is it that when Nigerian troops or security forces go
outside Nigeria, the are adjudged the best?
So what are the challenges facing the security agencies in the country?
Inadequate funding, lack of training, rivalry among the agencies because as
things are now, every agency is under pressure; so everybody wants to take
credit, and this leads to haphazard coordination in terms of operation. I must
advise them to work together in the best interest of the country.
Before the advent of the Yar'Adua/Jonathan administration, no government has
taken security seriously as this administration, but it can never be enough
because of a lot of damage had been done; remember we witnessed over 40 years
or about that of military regime that was interested in protecting itself,
instead of seeing to peoples welfare as it is in Section 14 of the Constitution
that says that the primary responsibility of government is security and welfare
of the people. It is only in this democracy that government started taking the
issue of security seriously so there is a quantum link in terms of funding but
we still need the government to put more money into security.
The present administration has faced more security challenges than any other
administration. Take the issues of Boko Haram and kidnapping, these are the
aftermath of the long neglect of the peoples welfare by previous governments.
Government has been accused in some quarters of lacking the political will to
fight corruption. Do you agree?
Government is very prepared. Everybody is equal before the law but the poor
people don't have the means, the economic means to hire senior advocates for
legal representation. But the 'big men' have the means, the money to manipulate
the legal process, influence through technicalities.
Our judicial process is very cumbersome, there is a lot of technicalities. If
you have a SAN as your counsel, the tendency for them is there to raise
technicalities and to warrant series of adjournments and not pursuing the mean
issue.
That is the problem, so we need to set up a special tribunal to try cases of
terrorism now that the National Assembly has come up with this punishment of
death they should go ahead to set a timeline on which these cases like the
electoral cases could be decided so that they just concentrate and finish up
the cases instead of the unnecessary technicalities and diversion.
(source for both: The Vanguard)
BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh moves Supreme Court for death penalty to Abdul Quader Mollah
Bangladesh government today moved the Supreme Court seeking death penalty for
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah, who escaped with life imprisonment
from a court here for committing "crimes against humanity" during the country's
independence war in 1971.
The attorney general's office submitted the 484-page appeal to the section
concerned of the apex court in this morning.
Attorney general Mahbubey Alam said his office will now file an application in
the chamber judge of the Appellate Division for fixing a date for hearing the
appeal at a regular bench.
In its petition, the government asked the Supreme Court to award Mollah, Jamaat
assistant secretary general, capital punishment considering the gravity of his
crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
The verdict delivered on February 5 by a war crime tribunal convicted
65-year-old Mollah for five wartime criminal offences out of the six he was
charged with, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
In 2 of the 5 acts of crimes against humanity, at least 350 people were killed
and a girl was raped.
Mollah was also sentenced to 15-year imprisonment for his complicity in 3 other
criminal offences in which 6 people were killed. He was acquitted of the charge
of killing hundreds of people at Keraniganj in Dhaka as the charge was not
proved in the tribunal.
The life imprisonment for Mollah angered thousands of secular protesters,
mostly youths, who have been demonstrating at Shahbagh Square here since
February 5 to press enhancing his punishment to death sentence.
Mollah's party colleague and Jamaat vice-president Delwar Hossain Sayedee was
last week sentenced to death for setting ablaze 25 houses in a Hindu village
and aiding the killing of two persons.
The court found him guilty of helping a pro-Pakistani armed group which
abducted three Hindu girls and raped them and forced 100 Hindus to convert.
In January, former Jamaat leader Abul Kalam Azad was sentenced to death on
similar charges.
The government's moving the apex court to seek death for Mollah came on a day
when Jamaat and its student wing Islamic Chhatra Shibir attacked civilians and
clashed with police across Bangladesh, leaving 14 people dead.
(source: The Times of India)
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