Sept. 12
BURMA:
'I am ready to be hanged' for Saffron Revolution Crackdown: Rangoon Chief
Minister
Rangoon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe - known as a hardliner under the
former military regime - has reportedly denied involved in a violent crackdown
on the monk-led "Saffron Revolution" in 2007, saying he was willing to be
investigated and would even submit to the death penalty if found guilty of
involvement.
"If you think I'm responsible, I am ready [to face justice]," Myint Swe
reportedly told business people from the Myanmar Fisheries Federation in a
meeting in Rangoon on Sunday, reports 7 Days News, a local journal. "To be
frank, I am ready to be hanged [if there is a guilty verdict]."
According to 7 Days News, Myint Swe said he was in close contact with the then
Gen Shwe Mann, the current Union Parliament speaker, who was his direct
superior at the time of the pro-democracy uprising.
Myint Swe was a loyal supporter of Snr-Gen Than Shwe, Burma's retired junta
leader, during the days of military rule. He was a powerful commander in
Rangoon Division, where only the regime's most trusted generals were put in
charge of guarding and controlling the former capital.
During the 2007 Saffron Revolution, Myint Swe led security operations in
Rangoon. It is believed that he was directly involved in the subsequent violent
crackdown on the pro-democracy protests, which received worldwide condemnation
after dozens of people were killed by soldiers. His campaign to pacify the
Buddhist monks, who led the demonstrations, by offering them cash donations and
other incentives failed.
Prior to these events, Myint Swe was known for having carefully executed 2
high-profile operations in Rangoon: the arrest of Ne Win's family members in
2002 after an alleged coup conspiracy was uncovered, and the arrest of then
Military Intelligence chief and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and intelligence
units in 2004.
This week, the chief minister reportedly denied that he was involved in
arresting Ne Win's family members. The former dictator staged a coup in 1962
ruled Burma for decades until he died in 2002, while under house arrest in
Rangoon.
"I didn't arrest U Ne Win because I was in Moulmein at that time. I had no
reason to arrest him. Neither did I arrest Gen Khin Nyunt," he was quoted as
saying by 7 Days News.
Myint Swe's remarks coincided with the 6-year anniversary of the Saffron
Revolution which began in September 2007.
Despite his dramatic remarks, the Rangoon Division minister will probably lose
little sleep over possible prosecution for his past actions. The
military-drafted 2008 Constitution provides immunity for the actions of former
junta members during military rule.
The Constitution's Chapter 14, Article 445 provides no legal action can be
taken against the State Peace and Development Council and State Peace and
Development Council members, stating: "No proceeding shall be instituted
against the said Councils or any member thereof or any member of the
Government, in respect of any act done in the execution of their respective
duties."
Myint Swe, an ethnic Mon, was a graduate of the 15th intake of the Defense
Services Academy in 1971. Fellow army officers who personally knew Myint Swe
have told The Irrawaddy that he gained promotions as he was an obedient soldier
and faithful to the armed forces.
He was brought to the War Office in Rangoon and in the late 1990s he began
working directly under Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Vice-Snr-Gen Maung Aye.
Myint Swe was subsequently promoted the Southeast Region commander, before
being called back to become head of Rangoon Division. Later he became head of
the Bureau of Special Operations-5, a department that also oversees security
affairs in Rangoon.
In 2009, Myint Swe was promoted to quartermaster-general of the armed forces
and rumors circulated that he was Than Shwe's choice to become the next
commander-in-chief. Instead he became the chief minister for Rangoon Region
after the 2012 general elections. Since early 2000s, Myint Swe has been taking
care of Rangoon Division through several positions.
(source: The Irrawaddy)
PHILIPPINES:
Jailed OFW Lanuza just one document away from home - Binay
Rodelio "Dondon" Lanuza, the overseas Filipino worker saved from the death
sentence in Saudi Arabia, is only 1 document away from returning home, Vice
President Jejomar Binay said Thursday.
"I was informed by Ambassador (Ezzedin) Tago that all that is needed for Dondon
to leave Saudi Arabia is for the Emir to sign his deportation order," Binay,
who is also presidential adviser on OFW concerns, said in a statement released
by his office.
What the Emir has so far issued, said Binay, is the release order for Lanuza.
However, the Saudi passport office informed jail authorities that a deportation
order from the Emir is needed before Lanuza's exit visa can be processed.
A draft of the revised order was sent to the Emir for signing last week, Binay
said.
"Upon signing by the Emir, an advance copy will be sent to the Dammam
Reformatory Jail. The Jawasat (passport office) will then issue Dondon's exit
visa," Binay said.
Lanuza's employer has already issued a mukalasa, or "No Objection" letter.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, has already issued a
ticket for Lanuza's flight home, which will be finalized once an exit visa is
issued.
Lanuza, who has been in jail since 2000, was found guilty of killing a Saudi
national and was sentenced to death. The sentence was affirmed by the Saudi
high court.
Howevr, he was spared the death penalty after the victim's family was paid 3
million Saudi riyals (approximately P35 million), with SAR700,000 from the
government and private donors and supporters of Lanuza and Saudi King Abdullah
shouldering the SAR2.3 million balance.
(source: interaksyon)
JAPAN----execution
Japan hangs inmate, 3rd round of executions under Abe gov't
Japan hanged one death row inmate Thursday in the 3rd round of executions since
the launch last December of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, the Justice
Ministry said.
Tokuhisa Kumagai, 73, had been sentenced to death for shooting and killing
77-year-old Chinese restaurant owner Fumio Shimizu with a handgun and stealing
a bag containing 430,000 yen in cash in Yokohama in May 2004.
Kumagai also shot and seriously injured a subway station worker in a failed
robbery attempt at Tokyo's Shibuya station 2 months later.
"What he did was brutal," Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said at a press
conference after the execution. "He deprived the victim of his precious life
for selfish reasons."
The latest execution followed a round in April when two men who conspired to
shoot 2 rival gang leaders were hanged and another round in February when 3
men, including Kaoru Kobayashi, were hanged. Kobayashi kidnapped and killed a
7-year-old elementary school girl in the western Japan prefecture of Nara.
Last year, 7 people were executed under the former administration of the
Democratic Party of Japan.
Japan had 137 inmates with finalized death sentences at the end of last year,
the largest number since 1949, when the government began compiling statistics
of this kind, according to the Justice Ministry.
In April, Tanigaki said many citizens believe capital punishment is needed in
Japan, although Japan is one of only a few developed countries still to have
the death penalty. Inmates are not notified of their execution date beforehand.
"The Abe administration has taken the lives of 6 people since its launch, and
Japan is bucking the world trend to abolish capital punishment," Amnesty
International Japan said Thursday in a statement.
The human rights group added that the government has not given any reasons why
it chose Kumagai and has not explained how it sets each execution date.
(source: Kyodo News International)
**************
Japan hangs death row inmate
A 73-year-old man sentenced to death in the 2004 shooting death of a restaurant
owner in Yokohama was hanged Thursday, Japan's Justice Ministry said.
The hanging of Tokuhisa Kumagai was the 6th such this year since the government
of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power, Kyodo News reported.
Kumagai was convicted in the shooting death of 77-year-old Fumio Shimizu and
taking his money bag. He was also convicted of shooting and seriously injuring
a Tokyo subway station worker in a failed robbery in the same year.
In April, 2 men were executed for killing 2 other men. That followed the
hangings of 3 men in February, Kyodo said.
Last year, 7 people were executed under the former administration of the
Democratic Party of Japan. Currently there are about 130 inmates on the death
row.
Japan is one of a few developed countries to have the death penalty. Kyodo
said. The Justice ministry does not notify inmates of the date their execution
in advance.
(source: Menafn)
IRAN----executions
3 people publicly executed in Iran
3 people have been publicly executed in Dehdasht town of the Iranian Kohgiluyeh
and Boyer-Ahmad Province this morning, Iranian news agency FARS reported today.
According to the information, they were executed for the brutal rape of a
woman.
According to the international media, some 587 people were executed in Iran in
2012. The vast majority of these people were accused of drug trafficking and
rape.
United Nations and Amnesty International have repeatedly urged Iran to abolish
the death penalty.
Human rights activists believe that the actual number of executions in Iran is
more than indicated in the official statistics.
(source: Trend)
*************
At least 6 prisoners have been hanged in Urmia prison
At least 6 prisoners including a woman have been hanged on charge of drug
trafficking in Urmia prison on Tuesday September 10.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least
5 men and 1 woman have been executed on charge of drug trafficking in Urmia
prison on Tuesday morning.
These prisoners are identified as: Behrouz Shir Pour, Manouchehr Davoudi,
Bahman Qeytarani, Ghasem Akbari and Zakaria Nasrollahi. HRANA has not been able
to find the name of the woman who was executed yet.
The official Iranian media has published no report about these executions.
(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)
INDIA:
A look at capital punishment in India
4 men convicted Tuesday of gang-raping and murdering a young Indian woman in
December face sentencing Friday. The men, including a part-time bus driver,
were joy-riding through New Delhi on a bus on the night of Dec. 16 when they
lured the 23-year-old woman and a male friend of hers into boarding. They then
beat the friend, took turns raping the woman and violated her savagely with an
iron rod. She died 2 weeks later of internal injuries. They now face the
possibility of execution or life in prison.
The prosecutor asked Judge Yogesh Khanna on Wednesday to sentence the men to
death, calling the crime barbaric. Their lawyers have called for prison
sentences, citing their poverty, poor education and lack of criminal history.
-- India's legal system allows for execution in what the Supreme Court calls
"the rarest of the rare cases." What defines those cases remains highly
debated, but the only executions in recent years have been of convicted
terrorists. The vast majority of the 100-150 death sentences handed down each
year are eventually commuted to life in prison. India is thought to have
carried out about 50 executions since independence in 1947.
-- All execution orders must be confirmed by India's High Court, and cases can
also be appealed to the Supreme Court. Final appeals for clemency are made to
India's president. The office of the current president, Pranab Mukherjee, says
it does not keep track of how many clemency appeals it receives or signs. Media
reports indicate he has rejected the clemency pleas of 17 people, and commuted
one execution. That hardline attitude is widely seen as an effort by the
Congress party, which faces national elections next year, not to look weak on
terrorism. Mukherjee is a long-time Congress leader.
-- For nearly a decade, India had an unofficial moratorium on executions. That
ended in November 2012 with the execution of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone
surviving gunmen in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. 2 months later, Mohammad
Afzal Guru, convicted in a deadly 2001 attack on India's Parliament complex,
was also hanged. Both of the executions were done secretly, without any public
notice. If the 4 men are sentenced to hang, it is unclear when they would be
executed.
-- Executions are done by hanging in India, carried out in prisons across the
country. Many of the ropes used are made by prisoners at a jail in eastern
India.
(source: Associated Press)
*******************
Women's rights activists caution against hanging in India gang rape case
Women's rights activists in India have gone against popular public opinion and
cautioned against handing down the death penalty to 4 men convicted in the
high-profile grisly gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in December.
The 4 men were convicted of gang rape and murder by a special fast-track court
on Tuesday in a case that shocked the country and triggered a wave of angry
protests over rising sexual violence against women in India.
They are expected to be sentenced on Friday and face either life imprisonment
or the death penalty.
But while popular public opinion - reflected on social media sites and
interviews with people on the streets, as well as in comments made by the
victim's family and politicians - is that they should be hanged, some women's
rights activists refuse to support this.
"How will the death sentence in this one case make any big difference? The
argument that it is a deterrent for all other cases simply doesn't cut ice, as
research shows otherwise," says Kavita Krishan, secretary of the All India
Progressive Women's Association and one of the most prominent voices during the
December protests.
"We are focusing on the death penalty as a quick-fix solution, as though if we
hang these 4 men, all the rapes are going to stop - rather than looking at the
root causes of the sexual violence against women."
Statistics showed that 244,270 crimes against women were reported to the police
in 2012, against 228,650 in 2011, according to the National Crimes Records
Bureau (NCRB).
These include rapes, kidnappings, sexual harassment, trafficking, molestation
and cruelty by husbands and relatives. They also include crimes in which a
woman was driven to suicide as a result of demands for a dowry from her husband
or in-laws.
EXTREME DEPRAVITY
Bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Singh, gym instructor Vinay Sharma, fruit seller Pawan
Gupta, and unemployed Mukesh Singh had lured the trainee physiotherapist and
her male friend onto a bus as they returned home after watching a movie at a
shopping mall on the evening of Dec. 16.
As the bus drove through the streets of the capital, the men repeatedly raped
the victim before dumping her and her friend, naked and semi-conscious, on the
road.
Prosecutors, who demanded the death sentence in court on Wednesday, said the
men used a metal rod and their hands to pull the woman's organs from her body
after raping her. Her injuries were so severe that she died in a Singapore
hospital two weeks later.
All 4 men deny the charges, but the prosecution said mobile phone records, CCTV
footage, DNA evidence and bite marks on the woman's body placed the men at the
scene.
"This is an extreme case of depravity," special public prosecutor Dayan
Krishnan told the court, likening the woman's injuries to someone "cutting open
a fruit".
Many in India agree that such a heinous crime can only be punished with the
harshest of punishments, saying that it will send a strong signal to potential
rapists that assaults on women will not be tolerated.
In the run-up to the verdict, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter
where "delhigangrape" and "ALL 4" have been trending have been abuzz with
comments on the sentencing.
"No mercy! Hang them all! Society will revolt if demons who rip us apart are
not gravely punished!" said one tweet, while another stated, "Possibility of
reform? Reform is only possible for humans. They are NOT humans. Hang them!"
"BAYING FOR BLOOD"
India's home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the death penalty was assured in
the case, while a senior leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), Sushma Swaraj, said it was important to "set an example for the future".
Under Indian law, the death penalty is reserved for the "rarest of rare" cases.
Even when it is imposed, the authorities often do not carry out executions.
There are 477 prisoners on death row in India, according to the interior
ministry. Last year, India carried out its 1st hanging in 8 years when it
executed the lone survivor of a squad of Pakistan-based militants who attacked
Mumbai in 2008, killing 166 people.M
Human rights lawyers, many of whom are prominent feminists in India, say a
"baying for blood culture" came to light after the incident - with many Indians
seeing execution as an easy solution, yet failing to introspect about how they
themselves treat women in this deeply patriarchal society.
An example, they cite, are reports of molestation during the Delhi gang rape
protests in December, where men calling for the death penalty were found to be
harassing women at the demonstrations.
They say that there are no short-term solutions to ending the scourge of rape
in India - where a rape occurs every 21 minutes - and that many measures are
required.
Enforcing and implementing current laws pertaining to crimes against women,
ensuring speedy justice by investing in police and judicial reforms, increasing
public education in schools and creating safer public spaces will all help.
Rather than providing the death sentence, banning parliamentarians who have
rape charges against them and making marital rape a crime will send a stronger
signal, they add.
"The law prescribes death or the life sentence for the act of murder, so
whichever sentence is passed on Friday it will be a legal one," said Rebecca
Mammen John, a supreme court lawyer and women's rights campaigner.
"My personal view on the death sentence is that I oppose it completely. I think
it's barbaric and I don't think the state has the right to take a life away and
I don't think it acts as a deterrent in the least bit."
(source: Trust.org)
*************************
Activists denounce calls for the noose
The conviction of four accused in the gruesome Delhi gang-rape, in which a
physiotherapy intern was sexually assaulted on December 16 last year in a
moving bus, has sparked a debate in the city over the quantum of punishment
that ought to be given to the convicts. While a few voices clamoured for death
penalty, many activists opined that capital punishment would not serve the
purpose.
Stating that the verdict would not lead to immediate change in the mindset of
the people, Sheelu, president of Women's Collective, said, "We, as an
organisation, do not support capital punishment. If law takes its course and
delivers immediate result, it definitely would act as a deterrent. People say
this is a patriarchal society and for change to take effect, society needs to
change its outlook." Using mass media for awareness programmes would help
achieve change, she added. Rehabilitation of the offenders was more important
than punishing them, said social activist Vasantha R. According to her, it was
more important to implement the recommendations made by the Verma Committee
than giving capital punishment to the convicts.
Meanwhile, appreciating the verdict, women's rights activist Beulah Azariah
said the certainty of punishment would send a strong message to people.
However, she said focus should be laid on violence against women, which most of
the times remained unreported.
"Implementing Verma committee's recommendations on police and political reforms
would be a beginning. Even society sanctions certain forms of violence. Once we
start the process of change results would come," Azariah said. The accused
should spend rest of their lives behind the bars as it would act as a deterrent
for other people, opined Suganthi, president of AIDWA. She said, "First, it is
a good development that the verdict came in just 9 months."
(source: New Indian Express)
************************************
SC: Life Imprisonment is the Rule and Death Penalty an Exception
The Supreme Court of India on 10 September 2013 held that life imprisonment is
the rule and death penalty an exception. The apex court advised the courts to
consider socio-economic compulsions such as poverty while awarding the extreme
sentence to a convict.
The observations of the Supreme Court came in a judgement delivered by a bench
of justices S.J.Mukhopadhaya and Kurian Joseph in which it commuted the death
sentence into life imprisonment of a man who was convicted for killing his wife
and 2 sons.
The court noted that the condemned convict had intended to wipe out the whole
family including himself on account of abject poverty and these aspects were
not considered by the courts below while awarding him death sentence. The
appellant suffered from economic and psychic
(source: Jagranjosh.com)
*****************
Can death penalty change mindsets?
The judgment in the December 16 Delhi gang rape case has been deferred for
another 2 days amid a lot of clamour for death penalty for the guilty 4. The
"collective conscience" of the nation, we are told, will only be satisfied if
the men who perpetrated the heinous crime are sent to the gallows. But, a lot
of ordinary women negotiating urban spaces feel a death penalty will not go far
in making cities safer for women.
There's no debating the fact that only the harshest punishment can provide some
solace to the family of the 23-year-old paramedical student. But the real
question is whether a death penalty will send out a strong signal. Will it make
men think twice before they sexually assault a woman? "I doubt if men who rape
think whether they will get a life term or death before committing the crime.
Most men don't even see anything wrong with it and feel they will get away with
it," says Pallavi Singh, a 22-year-old who works in the publishing industry.
The enemy, it seems, is the deep-seated patriarchy and a sense of sexual
entitlement among men. Indeed, one in four men across Asia has admitted to
committing rape, according to a recent United Nations study that surveyed
10,000 men. Over 73% of these admissions cite a feeling of "sexual-entitlement"
as the main reason behind them committing the crime. How far can a death
sentence go in fighting such notions?
"Death penalty for a few is not going to change mindsets. Finding recourse in
death penalty merely indicates that as a society we have decided not to make
any further effort towards changing sexist attitudes and mindsets towards
women... we will just hang all of them!" says Rimple Mehta, assistant professor
at the School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University.
Most agree that gender sensitisation right from the school and social reforms
seem more important in the long run. And, of course, the police have to do its
bit in creating a culture of zero tolerance when it comes to crimes against
women.
"Dhananjoy was hanged too. But that didn't stop crimes against women. Rape is
not a crime that only hardened criminals commit. There are incidences where
close relatives, neighbours and fathers are involved. It is important to send a
strong signal but it won???t be enough," says Ranjana Kumari, director of
Centre for Social Research, a Delhi-based organisation that works for women and
girls.
Kumari feels it is the collective responsibility of communities and the
criminal justice system to change things for women on ground.
But if recent incidents of rape in cities and towns are anything to go by then
things are not going to change anytime soon. "There has to be a sustained
effort to change societal attitudes towards women. Otherwise, safety for women
will remain a chimera," says Shikha Dimri, a 26-year-old communications
professional. Dimri, however, feels that the brutal events of December 16 make
it imperative for the courts to hand over a death sentence and hopes it will
strike some fear. This time in the hearts of men who rape.
(source: Column, Manisha Pande, Daily News & Analysis)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
PNG machete attackers should 'face death penalty'
Papua New Guinea's prime minister has called for attackers who ambushed a
trekking group, killing 2 people, to face the death penalty.
The group of Australian and New Zealand hikers and their local porters were
attacked by machete-wielding robbers on PNG's Black Cat Track on Tuesday.
Several members of the group were injured, and 2 local guides were hacked to
death in the attack.
The Black Cat Track is known as one of the toughest hiking trails in PNG.
One of the survivors, Nick Bennett, told Australian media about the attack.
"I thought I'd been shot and what I realised after was that I had been clubbed
with a rifle barrel and it had opened my head up," he said.
"I could just see one of the guys actually just attacking the porters with a
bush knife."
Another trekker, Peter Stevens, told reporters that the tourists were forced to
lie on the ground as the robbers stole their belongings.
"They then laid into us with bush knifes, hitting us with the flats of the
knives... some people were cut," he said.
'Terrible thing'
PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the attackers would face the death
penalty.
"These are appalling crimes, and they attract the death penalty under laws
passed by the national parliament," he said.
He added that the incident was an "obvious setback" to PNG's tourism industry.
No arrests have been made in relation to the attack, and the precise motive
remains unclear.
Some reports suggest that local rivalries, or resentment at the beneficiaries
of the trekking industry, were the cause.
In May, Papua New Guinea passed legislation expanding its use of the death
penalty, following a number of high-profile and violent crimes.
Mr Bennett said the impact of the incident on the local industry was "a
terrible, terrible thing".
"We're not the story to be honest, it's what's going to happen to those
villagers... and those porters who have now basically been deprived of work,
who've been horrifically injured," he said.
The Black Cat Track in northern PNG joins the towns of Wau and Salamaua. It was
one of the sites of fighting between Australian and Japanese troops in WWII.
Australia has updated its travel advice, recommending that visitors avoid the
Black Cat Track until the incident has been investigated.
(source: BBC News)
INDONESIA:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/383/312/042/no-death-sentence-for-
grandmother-involved-in-cocaine-smuggling/?z00m=20627420
(source: The Petition Site)
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