Oct. 2
IRAQ:
Iraq executes 23 people in 2 days: Ministry
Iraq executed 23 people during two days in September, most of them convicted on
terrorism charges, the justice ministry said Tuesday.
20 of the 23 were either Al-Qaeda members or otherwise involved in terrorism,
while three were convicted of unspecified "criminal charges," a ministry
spokesman said.
The executions were carried out on September 22 and 26.
They take to at least 90 the number of people who have been put to death in
Iraq this year, according to an AFP tally based on reports from the ministry
and officials.
Executions in Iraq, which are usually carried out by hanging, have drawn
widespread condemnation from the European Union, the United Nations and rights
watchdogs.
"The Iraqi authorities have chosen to defy repeated calls not to execute
prisoners and to rely on tainted 'confessions' obtained under torture," Hassiba
Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty International said last month.
"That a death sentence could be imposed after obviously grossly unfair trials
beggars belief."
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said this year that Iraq's criminal justice
system was "not functioning adequately".
She highlighted "numerous convictions based on confessions obtained under
torture and ill-treatment, a weak judiciary and trial proceedings that fall
short of international standards."
"The application of the death penalty in these circumstances is unconscionable,
as any miscarriage of justice as a result of capital punishment cannot be
undone," Pillay said.
(source: jacarandafm.com)
ZAMBIA:
Zambian separatists due in court
More than 70 Zambian separatists are due in court on charges of treason on
Wednesday, in one of the country's biggest trials in recent years.
The defendants, mostly from the Lozi tribe, want Barotseland state in the
country's impoverished west to secede from the copper-rich southern African
country.
Police have arrested 83 people in a crackdown on secessionists, some while they
were trying to hoist their own flag or singing songs denouncing the government.
Western provincial police chief Lombe Kamukoshi said only 72 of them will
appear at Mongu High Court on Wednesday.
A treason conviction in Zambia could carry the death penalty.
Barotseland traditional leader and former deputy minister of education, Clement
Sinyinda, is among those facing treason charges, but will go to court on a
later date.
"Sinyinda has been charged with the offence of treason felony and will appear
in court on October 10, others will appear on October 2," Kamukoshi told AFP.
The secessionist bid dates back decades.
Barotseland was originally a protectorate of Britain, but entered into a deal
at the end of colonial rule in 1964 to become a province of Zambia.
Under the agreement signed with independent Zambia's 1st president, Kenneth
Kaunda, the region was supposed to have limited self-rule, but the Lozi say
that agreement was never respected.
The issue had simmered down during the 1990s.
Last year, President Michael Sata ordered the military to clamp down on
secession protests.
In January 2012, 2 people were killed during clashes with police in the town of
Mongu, west of the capital Lusaka.
Human rights activist Brebner Changala blamed Sata for not doing enough to
initiate talks and called on him to pardon those facing charges.
"It's a sad story that people are arrested and charged with treason," he said.
"Dialogue is the only way out... he should take the lead."
He added that the issue was capable of causing mayhem in the country.
"This issue should be handled with care, he (Sata) should not trivialise it,"
said Changala.
"This is a matter that can cause serious problems in this country," he said.
Last year, Sata said allowing the tribe to secede would cause other tribes to
demand the same, in a country with 73 ethnic groups.
(sources: Sapa--AFP)
MALAYSIA:
Dharmenderan's murder trial fixed for Feb 17
The High Court today fixed Feb 17 next year for the trial of police Inspector
S. Hare Krishnan and his 3 subordinates who allegedly murdered detainee N.
Dharmenderan last May.
Judge Kamardin Hashim gave the hearing date after Hare Krishnan, 40, Sgt Jaffri
Jaafar, 44, Cpl Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 45, and Cpl Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari,
32, jointly claimed trial to killing the 32-year-old lorry driver.
The incident allegedly happened at the Special Investigation (D9) office on the
7th floor of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent headquarters, Jalan Hang Tuah,
Dang Wangi here, between 12.20pm and 2.50pm on May 21.
All 4 face the death penalty if convicted of the offence.
Jaffri, Mohd Nahar and Mohd Haswadi were jointly charged at the magistrate's
court on June 5 while Hare Krishnan was charged in the same court on July 30.
No plea was recorded at the time.
In the High Court today, the 4 accused were read a joint charge of committing
the murder at the same place, to which they pleaded not guilty.
The court allowed an application by deputy public prosecutor Jean Sharmila
Jesudason for the cases be heard jointly.
Counsel M. Athimulan, Datuk Hazman Ahmad, Datuk Baljit Singh, and Ariff Azami
Hussein, acting for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused respectively, did not
object to the application.
Judge Kamardin set trial to begin from Feb 17 till 28, 2014.
After proceedings, the accused were sent back to Sungai Buloh Prison.
(source: New Straits Times)
GLOBAL:
'Death penalty abolition has a way to go'----Recently, Maryland became the 18th
US state to abolish the death penalty. Other states and countries still allow
the practice. China allegedly executes thousands per year, says Amnesty
International's Jan Erik Wetzel.
Maryland is the latest US state to abolish the death penalty - a bill signed
into law earlier this year by Democratic governor Martin O'Malley came into
effect on October 1. The last execution in the southern state was in 2005.
DW: How many countries still enforce the death penalty compared to those which
have abolished it?
Jan Erik Wetzel: 97 countries in the world have abolished the death penalty
completely, in law, for all crimes, 140 in total have abolished it either in
law or in practice. That's 70 % of the world's countries. In contrast to that,
only 21 countries have enforced the death penalty both in 2012 and 2011, and
therefore carried out the death penalty. That is only a very small minority of
10 % of countries in the world - and this minority continues to shrink almost
year-on-year, but certainly in the last decade.
Many countries still do sentence people to death, but then choose to not carry
out the sentence and instead commute it to life without parole - so why not
abolish the practice altogether?
First of all, quite often the death penalty isn't commuted at all, leaving
those people on death row in complete uncertainty whether at some point they
will actually be executed. Because as we've seen over the past 12 months,
countries may actually resume executions at any point.
Death by hanging is one of the execution procedures
But the main point in retaining the death penalty on the books - or even with
death sentences - is that governments either claim there's a popular mandate -
that the popular opinion is in favor of the death penalty - or that it deters
crime. None of which is correct if you look at it closely.
The strongest argument against the death penalty seems to be that innocent
people could end up being convicted - and ultimately killed - for crimes they
didn't commit. For instance, in the case of Maryland, DNA evidence exonerated
former death row inmate Kirk Bloodsworth who then was released from prison
after eight years. Do you know of similar cases?
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, whether
the person is innocent or guilty. If the person is guilty, after a fair trial,
he or she should be given a prison sentence that is commensurate with the crime
conducted. The death penalty is never applicable, because there should never be
an end to hope for that particular prisoner.
We do know that since 1973 over 140 people have been exonerated in the US.
However, only 18 of these have been exonerated due to DNA evidence showing and
proving innocence. So DNA is not really the solution to all of this either.
Quite often faulty witness statements, quite often police brutality [have]
contributed to death sentences and unfair trials. So we think if these various
mistakes want to be avoided, the death penalty needs to be abolished as such.
Bloodsworth in 2003 - he was on death row for rape and murder charges which he
didn't commit
Can you say how many executions were carried out last year?
Amnesty International knows of 682 executions carried out in 2012, which is
pretty much the same number as in 2011 - 680. However, this does not count
China. We do not know precise numbers. Therefore, we have to say that all our
numbers are just minimum numbers that we [were able to] confirm in our
independent research, and without figures from China - where we assume every
year thousands are executed.
Why is China so reluctant to release capital punishment figures?
The use of the death penalty is shrouded in secrecy in China. One of the
problems is there are quite a few crimes that are capital - eligible for the
death penalty. There are about 55 crimes, including drug trafficking and major
corruption.
Also, quite often the person on trial doesn't actually get a fair trial. You
can see that in China almost 100 % of people put on trial will actually be
sentenced. There is an almost 100 % conviction rate, which just shows these
trials in a large number are faulty.
If China wants to be more transparent in the death penalty, it also would have
to be more transparent with regard to all these fair trial issues.
Which countries carry out most of the death penalties?
With the qualifications I just mentioned where we don't have a specific number
- China. Second by a far margin is Iran, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia. And
apart from China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia actually carry out 3/4 of all
known and confirmed executions in the world, according to last year's figures.
In 5th place is the only Western country that still executes on a large scale -
that's the US.
But even in the US - you've mentioned the Maryland example - the death penalty
is being limited, more and more states abolish, fewer executions are carried
out every year. Less death sentences are imposed every year as well.
What's the situation like in Africa? Sudan seems to have sentenced numerous
people to death.
Last year we counted quite a few death sentences and executions in Sudan, which
implies there seems to be a rise. On the other hand, we don't have access -
Amnesty International hasn't been allowed access to Sudan since 2006. And since
South Sudan actually became independent, we don't have an independent
monitoring organization like the United Nations present in Sudan anymore. So
it's quite difficult to say what is realistic - the higher numbers we found for
2012 or the lower numbers we found before that.
The US uses lethal injections to execute death row inmates
Overall, the African situation is quite good. Last year, Ghana and Benin and
Sierra Leone all either didn't impose death sentences - certainly no executions
- and made very strong moves to actually abolish the death penalty, which could
happen this year or maybe next year. 6 African countries voted in favor of a UN
resolution for a moratorium of executions, 6 more African countries than in the
past.
On the other hand, we have negative information not only from Sudan but also
from Gambia and Nigeria, which actually resumed executions respectively in
August 2012 and most recently in June 2013. So this year we will probably have
more executions in Africa than in previous years.
When you've been denied access to the country, as in the case of Sudan, where
do you get the numbers from?
We try to confirm information that we receive from various NGOs that are on the
ground, we are in contact with lawyers who work on relevant cases. Every year,
we do write to every government that still retains the death penalty and ask
them: 'How exactly have you used the death penalty in the past year?' In the
case of Sudan, sometimes we are getting an answer, sometimes we don't - as with
many other countries. But we do try to use many varying sources to confirm the
information.
(source: Jan Erik Wetzel is Amnesty International's Death Penalty Advisor;
Deutsche Welle)
QATAR:
US couple remain in Qatar jail over child murder charge
A US couple living in Qatar have been ordered to remain in jail on charges of
murdering their 8-year old adopted daughter.
Matthew and Grace Huang, from California, are accused of starving their
Ghanaian-born daughter Gloria to death, although the couple claim that she died
after suffering from various medical problems and erratic eating habits,
including bingeing and self starvation, Associated Press said.
Prosecutors allege that they denied food to the girl and locked her in her room
at night.
A medical examiner from Hamad Hospital testified in June that the girl died of
cachexia, a rare disease that causes the body to waste away.
Judge Abdullah Al-Emady ordered the pair to remain in prison until at least
November 6, when their next hearing takes place. If found guilty, they could
face the death penalty.
A report by Qatari police also raised questions about why the Asian-American
Huangs would adopt a child that did not share their "hereditary traits", and
theorised that the children had been "bought" for organ harvesting.
The Huangs moved to the gas-rich Gulf state in 2012, where Matthew Huang was
working on water engineering projects as part of new infrastructure for Qatar's
hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
(source: Arabian Business)
INDIA:
Nirbhaya case: HC defers hearing on death penalty
The day-to-day hearing in the Nirbhaya case could not begin before the Delhi
high court on Tuesday, which deferred the death penalty reference to October 8.
A bench of Justices Reva Khetrapal and Pratibha Rani deferred the hearing after
the counsel for the convicts told the bench that they would file the appeal
soon. HC is hearing the death penalty reference against 4 convicts in the
December 16 gang-rape and murder case of a 23-year-old paramedic.
Lawyers representing the convicts Mukesh (26), Akshay Thakur (28), Pawan Gupta
(19) and Vinay Sharma (20), also informed the bench that they have received the
necessary set of documents from the police.
However, they said they are yet to receive the translation of the victim's
dying declaration from Hindi to English language and also the relevant
statements of witnesses under section 161 and 164 of CrPC. Taking note of the
submissions made by the counsel, the bench fixed the matter for October 8.
The high court on September 25 had directed the police to supply to offenders
the necessary set of documents. The bench had asked the high court registry to
furnish a translation.
On September 13, while awarding capital punishment to the four accused, the
trial court had referred the case to the high court for confirmation of the
sentence. The trial court had said it fell in the rarest of rare category as
the crime was committed in a "beastly" and "hair-raising" manner.
(source: Times of India)
IRAN----execution
A prisoner has been hanged in Shiraz
A prisoner has been hanged in Shiraz on Tuesday October 3rd.
According to the report of IRIB, Khodaiyan, the head of Fars province
judiciary, has published the news of execution of a 45 years old prisoner in
Shiraz prison on charge of drug trafficking.
He has told: "This prisoner was charged with having 294 kg Hashish and 1 1/2 kg
complex Heroin and had been arrested on the way from Shiraz to Sepidan. After
being tried in the 4th branch of revolutionary court of Shiraz he was sentenced
to Life imprisonment, 360 million Rials surcharge, 50 lashes and death."
"He asked for forgiveness but it was rejected and the death verdict was
confirmed by the attorney general and the head of Iran's judiciary," he added.
(source: HRANA News Agency)
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