March 17
INDIA:
UK MPs call for the death penalty to be abolished in India
John McDonnell MP and Fabian Hamilton MP the co-sponsors of the debate in the
UK Parliament on 28 February in their speeches provided background to the death
penalty in India and how India had ended its unofficial eight year moratorium
on 21 November 2012.
John McDonnell admitted:
‘The eight-year moratorium lulled us into a false sense of security. Naively,
many of us thought that although India retained the death penalty on the
statute book the continuation of the moratorium was an indication that it would
eventually be abolished once and for all. Unfortunately, that was a naive
judgment.’ - John McDonnell MP (Lab) – Hayes and Harlington
Fabian Hamilton MP (Lab) – Leeds North East
Fabian Hamilton stated: ‘Pranab Mukherjee, India’s President, has now ordered
the death penalty for seven convicts in the past seven months, which is more
than any other Indian President in the past 15 years. India is currently
reporting one death penalty sentence every third day, according to The Times of
India this month.’
‘Human rights activists in India are worried that this precedent could affect
the 500 or so people now on death row in India, including political prisoners
such as Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar and Balwant Singh Rajoana. As of 11
February 2013, 476 convicts were on death row in India.’ - Fabian Hamilton MP
(Lab) – Leeds North East
Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar:
As expected the case that received the most attention during the debate was
that of Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar. The person that spoke with the
greatest passion, especially about the Professor was Fabian Hamilton. Using the
Sikh Federation (UK) briefing he gave a detailed account of the Professor’s
case and said: ‘his case is a real cause célèbre; he has been tortured and
treated inhumanely in prison.’
He set out why he had to flee India for Germany in December 1994 and how he was
deported in January 1995. The fact the Indian authorities gave specific
assurances to the German authorities that Professor Bhullar had nothing to fear
if he was returned to India and that he would not be tortured. Fabian Hamilton
stated: ‘By deporting someone to a death penalty-prone country, Germany
violated the European convention on human rights and remains morally obliged to
do all it can now to seek the professor’s immediate release.’
He continued: ‘Professor Bhullar was examined by a police-assigned medical
doctor. Although the professor is a highly educated man, his medical
examination document is co-signed by him with a thumbprint. We know that the
case against Professor Bhullar is highly dubious; it is based on information
that has not been properly corroborated, with the prosecution having offered no
corroboration at all. None of its 133 witnesses identified Professor Bhullar.
Many witnesses actually claimed he was not the man they had seen. One
prosecution witness, a rickshaw worker in Delhi, informed the court that he had
no knowledge of the case but had been threatened and forced by the police to
provide a false statement. Almost every legal system in the world is based on
the idea of proof beyond reasonable doubt and respects procedures in order to
obtain safe evidence. The Supreme Court of India seems to have departed from
those things in the most important of all cases—that of the death penalty—thus
setting an unfortunate new precedent for Indian law.’
Balwant Singh Rajoana
The other prominent case that received numerous mentions in the debate was that
of Balwant Singh Rajoana. John McDonnell pointed out his case has immense
significance around the world and is important for its historical context as it
symbolises the suffering of the Sikhs at the hands of the former Chief Minister
Beant Singh in that period.
John McDonnell stated: ‘We now know that Beant Singh personally commanded the
police and security forces in the killing and disappearance of possibly more
than 20,000 Sikhs—men, women and children. Faced with the failure of the Indian
authorities to take action against the former Chief Minister for his crimes
against humanity, Balwant Singh . . . took the law into . . . (his) own hands.’
In the debate MPs one after the other called for India to abolish the death
penalty, including Hugo Swire MP, the Minister representing the Government.
Some of the statements made are reproduced below:
‘Let me state clearly from the outset that the Government strongly supports the
worldwide abolition of the death penalty. We believe that the death penalty
undermines human dignity, that there is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent
value, and that any miscarriage of justice leading to its imposition is both
irreversible and irreparable.’
Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
‘It remains the British Government’s long-standing policy to oppose the death
penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle, and I hope the Indian
Government will re-establish a moratorium on executions in line with the global
trend towards the abolition of capital punishment. When I was in Delhi last
week, I reiterated the British Government’s position on the death penalty to
India’s Foreign Secretary, Ranjan Mathai. We will also raise our concerns about
the death penalty at the EU-India human rights dialogue, which we hope will
take place soon.’ - Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
‘I call upon the UK Government to use every forum and every mechanism of
communication established with India, formal and informal, to press the Indian
Government to halt the executions now and sign up to the UN convention opposing
the death penalty. I urge the Indian Government to join now that community of
nations that have renounced the use of the death penalty and have abolished it
once and for all’ - John McDonnell MP (Lab) – Hayes and Harlington
‘It is very important that we in this Chamber make clear our views on the death
penalty still being in use in India and around the world. We should stand up
and show that we totally disapprove of that, and say that all nations should
abolish the death penalty. It is tragic that India . . . still uses the death
penalty. Our purpose today is to represent the views of the many Sikh . . .
citizens in our constituencies . . . to show that we want to see India . . .
abolish the death penalty for good.’
‘India should honour articles 3 and 5 of the universal declaration of human
rights: the right to life and not to be tortured or subject to any cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishment. We want India to be there with us in the group
of nations that say that the inhumanity of the death penalty should be
abolished. There should not be a moratorium; there should be a complete
abolition. I hope that India will see the sense of abolishing, once and for
all, this inhuman and evil act of execution.’ - Fabian Hamilton MP (Lab) –
Leeds North East
‘Although a moratorium is desirable, the intent should really be outright
abolition, because history teaches us that moratoriums are not always an
effective long-term solution. As has already been mentioned, India has had a
moratorium, and it has ended—the consequences of that remain to be seen.’
‘There are real concerns that the existence of the death penalty in India will
exacerbate the tensions within Indian society rather than achieving a better
long-term solution.’
‘The human aspect for those under threat of the death penalty must also be a
considerable concern to us. It is inhumane treatment to leave a human being on
death row for many years. No one should have to go through the psychological
trauma of not knowing if or when their appeal may be heard and they may be
executed. That is not a mark of a decent society. If India became a more active
proponent of the death penalty, that would have significant implications for .
. . the UK.’
‘On the issue of the (abolition of the) death penalty it is often the
politicians who have to lead public opinion, not the other way around. They
should have the courage to halt executions immediately, and to step forward not
just to reinstate a moratorium but to effect outright abolition.’ – Richard
Fuller MP (Con) – Bedford
‘I . . . impress upon the Indian Government: the need for the abolition of the
death penalty in India. The death penalty is abhorrent to the vast majority of
Members . . . We want to make the call for its abolition loud and clear.’ -
Geoffrey Robinson MP (Lab) – Coventry North West
Fiona McTaggart MP (Lab) – Slough
‘We expect you (India) . . . to promote the standards of democracy and human
rights that we expect, and to recognise that if the death penalty is used in
this way, there is a risk that you will deepen the divisions between ethnic and
religious communities in the country. There is a risk that you will make your
country less safe and less peaceful for all who live in it.’ - Fiona McTaggart
MP (Lab) – Slough
Seema Malhotra MP (Lab) – Feltham and Heston
‘We participate in many debates in this House, but this one is literally about
life and death. I have had a long-standing personal opposition to the death
penalty in all circumstances and I am proud to live in a country where it has
been abolished. This is a matter of humanity and, as someone once said, it is
not for the state to kill people who kill people to show that killing is
wrong’.
(source: sikhsiyasat.net)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistani man stoned to death on orders of jirga
A Pakistani man was allegedly stoned to death on the orders of a 'jirga' or
tribal council for attempting to elope with a girl in the Kurram tribal region
in the country's restive northwest, according to a media report on Wednesday.
More than 300 men hurled stones at Noorduddin, a government employee, till he
died.
The incident occurred near a graveyard in Parachinar, the headquarters of
Kurram Agency, on Tuesday, The Express Tribune reported.
An official of the political administration and three tribesmen, including an
elder, confirmed the incident on condition of anonymity.
The tribal elder said Nooruddin was blindfolded and brought to a ground where
he was stoned to death.
Nooruddin, a resident of Mianwali district of Punjab, started a love affair
with a local girl while working in Parachinar.
He was subsequently transferred to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but continued the
relationship.
On Monday evening, Nooruddin came to Parachinar to elope with the girl but her
family found out and locked him up in a room after assaulting him.
A jirga was convened to decide his fate.
Sources told the daily that the jirga decided that, according to the tribal
code, both Nooruddin and the girl would be killed.
The girl's fate remained unclear, the report said.
(source: The Hindustan Times)
IRAN:
More prisoners sentenced to death
The Iranian regime’s Supreme Court last week confirmed the death sentences of 2
prisoners in Shiraz, southern Iran.
The 2 prisoners were identified as Mohammad Hadi and Bahram and they are
accused of 'waging war on God'.
According to the reports from prisons, the Iranian regime also issued death
sentences for five prisoners on Sunday, March 10 in Ahwaz, southwest Iran.
The prisoners are identified as: Farzad Hossein, Ibrahim Mokhtari, Fakher
Kaabi, Adnan Holafi and Ahmad Kanani.
Regime's Judiciary issued death penalty for seven prisoners in Yazd, central
Iran and told them that they will be executed soon.
The Iranian regime had previously hanged 12 other prisoners in the city’s
central prison on March 16.
Six of those executed were of Afghan origin, one was from Yasouj Province and
two others were from the Kurdish minority.
The Iranian regime’s judiciary also verified the death sentences of six
prisoners in the southeastern city of Zahedan’s prison,.
The prisoners were identified as Shir Mohammad Rakhshani, Mohammad Naroui,
Elyas Zehoukachi, Khodabakhsh Raili, Ali Rigi and Nour Mohammad Mobaraki.
(source: NCR-Iran)
INDONESIA:
Execution of Malawi national in Indonesia under scrutiny
The execution of a Malawi national in Indonesia, was “a shocking and regressive
step,” Amnesty International said yesterday.
Adami Wilson, 48, was executed by firing squad on Thursday in Jakarta for a
2004 drug trafficking conviction, the first death sentence carried out in
Indonesia since November 2008.
At least 9 other death row inmates will face execution this year, the
organisation said.
“This is really outrageous news. We oppose the death penalty in all
circumstances, but Indonesia’s long period without executions and the pledge to
put even more people to death makes this even more shocking,” said Papang
Hidayat, Amnesty International’s Indonesia researcher.
“What makes this so disappointing is that we have really seen the Indonesian
government sending progressive signals on moving away from the death penalty in
recent years,” he said.
Indonesia had abstained from voting against a resolution calling for a global
moratorium on the death penalty at the UN General Assembly in December.
(source: Gulf News)
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