June 27
VIETNAM:
Lethal injection "is still being prepared"
Today, June 27, according to a government decree, the Ministry of Public
Security and the Ministry of Defense will begin the implementation of the death
penalty by poison, at the 5 execution facilities in Hanoi, Son La, Nghe An, Dak
Lak and Ho Chi Minh City.
Death penalty not yet authorized by lethal injection because of lacking
medication
However, Lieutenant General Cao Ngoc Oanh, General Director of the Agency for
Sentence Enforcement and Judicial Assistance of the Ministry Public Security
said on June 26 that the facilities and poison for lethal injection "are still
being prepared."
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong, Chair of the Health Ministry Office, said the
production of poison for lethal injection is assigned to the Drug
Administration. The information related to poison production is a secret.
The country has over 560 prisoners under death penalty and 170 people are
eligible for lethal injection. Firing has been replaced by lethal injection for
two years, since the law on enforcement of criminal sentences took effect but
due to the lack of poison, lethal injection has not been implemented in
Vietnam. Therefore, hundreds of death-row prisoners have had to wait. This
situation has not only caused overload in prisons, but also psychological
stress for prisoners and superintendents.
At the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on crime prevention
in January 2013, Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang said Vietnam would
produce poison itself.
The poison that will be used for lethal injection in Vietnam includes the
sensory paralyzing drug, the drug that paralyzes the musculoskeletal system and
the drug to stop the heart's activity.
In late May 2013, Deputy Minister of Public Security Dang Van Hieu confirmed
that of more than 500 prisoners who were sentenced to death, over 170 people
would be executed by lethal injection from June 27, under the newly-issued
Decree 47 of the Government. Hieu said at that time, 3 out of 5 facilities for
implementing lethal injection were ready. The training of officers was also
completed.
At the National Assembly session on June 14, Minister of Public Security Tran
Dai Quang also announced that the implementation of the death penalty by poison
will start from June 27.
(source: Vietnamnet)
CHINA/PHILIPPINES:
Companion of Pinay death convict in China also meted death sentence but with
reprieve
The Filipino companion of the Filipina who was sentenced to die by China's
Supreme People's Court was meted also the death penalty but with 2-year
reprieve, meaning it can be reduced to life imprisonment if he displays good
behavior while in detention.
The Filipina, 35, who entered China from Dubai through a connecting flight in
Hong Kong was apprehended at the Hangzhou International Airport on January 25,
2011 after authorities found 6.198 in her luggage, Foreign Affairs spokesman
Raul Hernandez said.
She was arrested with a male Filipino companion, 27, who was caught carrying
6.171 of heroin.
The Filipina maintained her innocence throughout the course of the trial,
Hernandez said.
Appeal of President Aquino
The Philippines on Thursday appealed to the Chinese government to spare the
life of a female Filipina drug mule who was sentenced to die for smuggling more
than 6 kilos of heroin to China in January 2011.
President Benigno Aquino III conveyed the request to commute her sentence to
life imprisonment through a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping which was
coursed through the Chinese Embassy in Manila and the Philippines' Embassy in
Beijing.
The death penalty, usually done through lethal injection, will be carried out
anytime within today, June 27, and July 2, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul
Hernandez said.
The Supreme People's Court in Beijing affirmed a lower court decision,
sentencing the Filipino national for drug trafficking, on June 26.
Other drug couriers
If the execution pushes through, she will be the 5th Filipino drug courier to
be punished by death in China since 2011.
Hernandez said Manila respects the China's decision but said the Philippine
government continues to exert efforts to save the life of the Filipino.
"The Philippines respects Chinese law and their verdict of the Supreme People's
Court on the case. The Philippine government itself has a strong anti-illegal
drug policy and is closely cooperating with law enforcement agencies in China
and in other countries on efforts against drug trafficking," Hernandez said.
Hernandez declined to identify the Filipinos as families of the drug convicts
appealed for privacy.
Arrangements are being by the Filipino woman???s family for them to depart for
China at the soonest possible time, Hernandez said.
Drug smuggling
Drug smuggling by Filipinos to China and other Asian countries continued
unabated, indicating that many of them are unfazed by the death sentences that
have been carried out by Beijing on Filipinos.
Filipino women and lately even men are reportedly being hired by West African
drug syndicates to smuggle drugs mainly in Asia and South America - sometimes
by ingesting it.
In China alone, Hernandez said there are a total of 213 drug-related cases
involving Filipino nationals. Of this figure, 28 resulted in death penalty
convictions with 2 year reprieve, 67 in life imprisonment and 107 termed
imprisonment while 10 are still pending in courts.
A person caught in possession of illegal drugs in the amount of more than 50
grams is meted the death penalty in China if convicted.
Hernandez appealed anew to Filipinos not to allow themselves to be involved in
drug trafficking and to be extremely cautious when dealing with strangers in
airports and other areas of transit.
"We call for personal vigilance and responsibility on the part of Filipinos who
travel abroad," he said.
(source: GMA News)
***********************
President asks China to spare Filipino woman scheduled to be executed for drug
trafficking
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has asked his Chinese counterpart to
spare a Filipino woman facing execution for trafficking 6 kilograms (13 pounds)
of heroin into the country, officials said Thursday.
The 35-year-old woman is scheduled to be executed anytime between Thursday and
July 2, and her family is preparing to travel to China for what could be their
final meeting, said Raul Hernandez, spokesman for the Philippine Department of
Foreign Affairs.
He told reporters that the woman was arrested at the Hangzhou International
Airport in January 2011 along with a Filipino man. She travelled as a tourist
and has been convicted of hiding the heroin in her luggage. Her companion was
sentenced to death with a 2-year reprieve.
Hernandez quoted Chinese authorities as saying that the woman had trafficked
illegal drugs to China 18 times since 2008 and was paid $3,000 to $4,000 per
trip. She pleaded not guilty but the evidence against her was overwhelming,
Hernandez said.
He said Aquino's letter asking for President Xi Jinping to commute her death
sentence to life imprisonment will be delivered later Thursday.
China has previously ignored such appeals and executed 4 Filipino drug convicts
in 2011.
Relations between the Philippines and China have been strained over a
territorial dispute in the South China Sea, but Hernandez said that the
Philippines respects Chinese laws and the verdict of the Supreme People's
court.
"The Philippine government itself has a strong anti-illegal drug policy and is
closely co-operating with law enforcement agencies in China and other countries
in efforts against drug trafficking," he said.
The Philippines does not have the death penalty, while China executes more
people than any other country. It keeps the data strictly secret, and no
reliable estimates on its number of executions are available.
(source: Montreal Gazette)
***************************************************
VIETNAM:
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa16113.pdf
UA: 161/13
Issue Date: 24 June 2013
Country: Vietnam
LETHAL INJECTION LOOMS FOR 117 PRISONERS
Some 117 death row prisoners in Viet Nam have exhausted their appeals and
will face imminent
execution when a change in the law comes into effect on 27 June. There are
more than 530 prisoners
under sentence of death.
The authorities in Viet Nam amended the Law for Enforcement of Criminal
Verdicts in June 2010, to
change the method of execution from firing squad to lethal injection, on
the grounds that it was
more humane. A shortage of drugs for use in lethal injections has meant a
delay in implementation
of the law, and this has resulted in no executions being carried out since
January 2012. However,
the courts have continued to impose death sentences.
The shortage of lethal injection drugs followed changes made in 2011 to
European Union (EU)
regulations on trade in equipment and substances which can be used for
capital punishment, torture
or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, adding
barbiturate anesthetic agents
to the list of articles requiring an export authorization.
The Viet Nam authorities changed the law again in May 2013, so that drugs
sourced from outside the
EU or manufactured in-country could be used in lethal injections. The
amended law comes into effect
on 27 June. The Minister of Public Security has said that 117 death row
prisoners will be executed
immediately, using drugs manufactured in Viet Nam.
Since the change in the method of execution, Viet Nam has built facilities
around the country and
trained staff to administer lethal injections. In 2012, more than 86 death
sentences were imposed,
two of them for embezzlement.
Please write immediately in Vietnamese, English or your own language:
-Demanding that the authorities immediately halt any plans to resume
executions, the ultimate form
of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and a violation of the right to
life, protected in
international human rights law;
-Calling on them to immediately establish a moratorium on executions with
a view to abolition of
the death penalty, in line with four UN General Assembly resolutions
adopted since 2007, including
resolution 67/176 on 20 December 2012;
-Calling on them, in the meantime, to commute all death sentences and
reduce the number of offences
punishable by the death penalty.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 5 AUGUST 2013 TO:
Minister of Public Security
Lt Gen Tran Dai Quang
Ministry of Public Security
44 Yet Kieu Street, Hoan Kiem District
Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Fax: 011 844 3942 0223
Online contact form: http://www.mps.gov.vn/web/guest/contact_english
Salutation: Dear Minister
Chairman of the National Assembly
Nguyen Sinh Hung
Office of the National Assembly
35 Ngo Quyen St, Hoan Kiem District
Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Online contact form: http://www.na.gov.vn/htx/English/C1330/
default.asp?sAction=lienhe#I7QInwBAqPhn
Salutation: Dear National Assembly Chairman
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pham Binh Minh
Minister of Foreign Affairs
1 Ton That Dam Street
Ba Dinh District, Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Fax: 011 44 3823 1872
Email: bc....@mofa.gov.vn
Ambassador H.E. NGUYEN QUOC CUONG
Embassy of Vietnam
1233 20th St NW Suite 400, Washington DC 20036
Tel: 1 202 861 0737 or 1 202 716 8666
Fax: 1 202 861 0917
Email: i...@vietnamembassy.us, vnconsu...@vietnamembassy.us
Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Network Office if sending
appeals after the above date.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Viet Nam’s National Assembly held discussions in November 2012 over how to
resolve the situation of
an increasing number of prisoners awaiting execution. It was claimed that
this was causing
overcrowding in difficult prison conditions, with three prisoners having
committed suicide and
others allegedly requesting that they be executed soon. Some National
Assembly members advocated
returning to using the firing squad.
Viet Nam retains the death penalty for 21 offences, including violent
crimes, national security
offences, drug trafficking and embezzlement. In January 2010, the number
of capital offences was
reduced from 29, but moves towards a further reduction appear to have
stalled.
Statistics on the death penalty have been classified as a “state secret”
since January 2004, and
there is a general lack of transparency over its application. No
information is publicly available
on who is currently awaiting execution and for what crimes.
State-controlled media report on some
death sentences, enabling a minimum level of monitoring of the use of the
death penalty in the
country. However the total and accurate figures are not available.
Government officials publicly
stated that the number of prisoners under sentence of death was higher
than 530 in January 2013,
when discussions were underway on how to resume executions.
Name: Unknown (both)
Issues: Death penalty
---------------------------------
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----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan PM drops death penalty charge against Musharraf
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in his first confrontation with the
country's military, may have blinked.
In an apparent concession to the country's generals, Mr Sharif agreed on
Wednesday not to pursue one of four death penalty cases pending against former
military dictator Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Sharif's attorney-general, Munir Malik, told the Supreme Court that the
government would drop high treason charges against Mr Musharraf for
overthrowing Mr Sharif in 1999, but it would move forward with prosecuting him
for suspending the constitution in November 2007, when he sacked and jailed the
top judges.
Both acts would qualify as high treason under Article 6 of Pakistan's 1973
constitution and carry an automatic death sentence.
Mr Sharif's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who is chief minister of Punjab province,
said in Lahore that the decision not to prosecute Mr Musharraf for the October
1999 coup was made so there would be no perception that the military as an
institution was on trial.
Pakistani news outlets, quoting unnamed sources, have reported that Mr Sharif
conferred with the army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, before saying on
Monday that he would bring treason charges against Mr Musharraf. It was unclear
if there had been other meetings between the 2 men since the charges were
announced.
While the unprecedented act of prosecuting an ex-army chief has been difficult
for General Kayani and his subordinates to swallow, they have concluded Mr
Musharraf brought the trouble upon himself by ignoring their persistent advice
not to return to Pakistan from exile in Britain, analysts said.
Mr Musharraf arrived in Pakistan in March, saying he would contest and win the
May parliamentary elections and "save the nation" from the severe problems it
had encountered since he was forced to step down as president in September 2008
after 9 years.
Instead, he was disqualified from running and arrested for illegally confining
the judges. He has lived under house arrest since April.
In addition to the high treason prosecution for the action against the
judiciary, he is charged with ordering the 2006 killing of a politician in
western Baluchistan province, and on Monday he was named the government's
primary suspect in the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister
Benazir Bhutto.
Each of those charges also carries the death penalty.
(source: Bendigo Advertiser)
*******************
Pakistan to start investigation of military ruler
Pakistan's prime minister has ordered the government to begin a treason
investigation into ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Wednesday's order brings the government closer to putting Musharraf on trial
for his actions while in office. He could face life in prison or the death
penalty if convicted of treason.
The government told the Supreme Court Monday that it believes Musharraf
committed treason when he declared a state of emergency and suspended the
constitution in 2007, and should be put on trial.
The Supreme Court ordered the government to notify it by Wednesday about the
steps it would take to try Musharraf.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Wednesday in his written reply to the court
that the government would conduct its investigation and constitute the special
court required to try Musharraf for treason.
(source: Associated Press)
INDONESIA:
Sleman suspects receive high-profile support
12 members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) accused of killing 4
detainees at a Cebongan Penitentiary in Sleman, Yogyakarta, gained the support
of a prominent lawyer.
OC Kaligis, the prominent lawyer, was at the trial on Wednesday.
"I am here because of solidarity. This happened when law enforcers were not
forceful against thugs," Kaligis told The Jakarta Post after greeting the
defendants following Wednesday's trial.
He said other people, including the team of lawyers, would probably do the same
if a friend of theirs had been killed by thugs.
"The law allowed [this to happen]. There are reasons for exempting [the
defendants] from punishment," he said, quoting Article 49 of the Criminal Code
(KUHP) on self defense.
"As a lawyer, I feel that I am in the same boat with them that I want to offer
help way I can," Kaligis said.
Meanwhile, the trial on Wednesday's main agendas was hearing responses from the
military prosecutors to objections presented by the defendant's team of lawyers
on Monday.
The prosecutors said they were confidence that nine of the 12 members of
Kopassus Group 2 Kandang Menjangan, Kartosuro, Central Java, had committed
premeditated murders of the four detainees who were implicated in the murder of
Chief Sgt. Heru Santosa, a former Kopassus member.
"We conclude that the reasons and basis used by the lawyers in their objections
are baseless and wrong, therefore, they must be rejected," said military
prosecutor Lt. Col. Budiharto in response to the lawyers' objections of charges
against defendants Second Sgt. Ucok Tigor Tampubolon, Second Sgt. Sugeng
Sumaryanto and First Corporal Kodik.
Budiharto said, in response to the lawyers' objections regarding premeditated
murder, the matter had been explained in the charge. He also said that this
particular objection should not be mentioned until the examination stage.
The military prosecutors also said that the defendants had committed violations
as stipulated in articles 103 (1) and 3 of the Military Criminal Code because
if they had been honest about why they were leaving the exercise ground they
would not be allowed to do so.
"We ask the panel of judges to accept the prosecutors' charges and to declare
that the trial can continue," Budiharto said.
Similar responses and reasoning were also cited in the trials of the other
defendants.
The trial was adjourned until Friday, when the judges would decide whether the
trials should continue.
The 12 Kopassus members are accused of storming into a prison in Sleman on
March 23 and executing four individuals; who had been incarcerated for their
alleged role in the murder of killing First Sgt. Heru Santoso, at a cafe in the
Sleman on March 9. It is further speculated that the attack was in response to
an incident involving First Sgt. Sriyono, a former member of Kopassus.
Ucok has been fingered as the group's head honcho. Nine of the suspects were
charged with premeditated murder as they had violated Article 340 of the KUHP,
which carries either the death penalty, lifetime imprisonment or a minimum of
20 years' in prison.
(source: Jakarta Post)
BELARUS:
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa15713.pdf
UA: 157/13
Issue Date: 19 June 2013
Country: Belarus
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BELARUS
A 25-year-old man was sentenced to death in eastern Belarus on 14 June for the
murder of a student
on 20 September 2012.
Alyaksandr Haryunou was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Homel on
14 June for the
murder of a student on 20 September 2012. According to the police, he stabbed
her 102 times and she
died at the scene. In court Alyaksandr Haryunou explained that the student,
Nataliya
Emyalyanchykava, had insulted him in front of his friends, and refused to
apologize. Alyaksandr
Haryunou had previously been sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for fatally
wounding his
mother’s partner.
His mother told journalists on 12 June that she hoped he would be sentenced to
25 years in prison:
“He hasn’t seen anything good in his life and now this, they are asking for his
death. His father
was killed when he was a child and they never found the killers. Yes he killed
my partner, but he
was defending his girlfriend who had a conflict with my partner.”
According to local press, Alyaksandr Haryunou had been diagnosed with a
personality disorder. He
made no effort to defend himself and remained silent after the verdict was
pronounced. A
psychiatric examination concluded that he was competent to stand trial. During
a court hearing on
12 June he admitted his guilt and asked forgiveness from the victim’s mother.
He has appealed the
sentence to the Supreme Court.
Belarus is the last country in Europe which still carries out executions: in
2012 it executed three
men. Three death sentences have been pronounced so far in 2013: Rygor Yuzepchuk
was sentenced on 24
April, and a further death sentence was pronounced recently in Hrodna.
Please write immediately in Belarusian, Russian, English or your own language:
-Urging President Lukashenka to commute immediately the death sentence of
Alyaksandr Haryunou
-Urging him to commute immediately all the death sentences in Belarus;
-Calling on him to establish an immediate moratorium on the use of the death
penalty.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 31 JULY 2013 TO:
President
Alyaksandr Lukashenka
ul. Karla Marxa 38
220016 Minsk
Belarus
Fax: 011 375 17 226 0610
011 375 17 222 3872
Email: cont...@president.gov.by
Salutation: Dear President Lukashenka
Chair of the Supreme Court of Belarus
Valentin Sukalo
Lenina 28
220030 Minsk
Belarus
Fax: 011 375 17 3271225
Email: scjus...@pmrb.gov.by
Ambassador Oleg Kravchenko
Embassy of the Republic of Belarus
1619 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC 20009
Tel: 1 202 986 1604
Fax: 1 202 986 1805
Email: u...@mfa.gov.by -OR- polit...@belarusembassy.org
Please check with the Urgent Action Network office sending appeals after the
above date.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
In Belarus, death sentences are often imposed after unfair trials which include
forced confessions;
they are implemented in strict secrecy and without giving adequate notice to
the inmates
themselves, their families or legal representatives. The authorities refuse to
return the bodies of
those executed to their relatives or even tell them where they are buried; and
executions are
carried out despite requests from the UN Human Rights Committee to the
government not to carry out
the executions. The Human Rights Committee and others have found that the
application of the death
penalty in Belarus violates the human rights of those convicted and their
families.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception.
It violates the
right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It
is the ultimate
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
Name: Alyaksandr Haryunou (m)
Issues: Death penalty
-------------------------------
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and
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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact
information and stop action
date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: u...@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/uan
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
VIETNAM:
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