May 21
SURINAME:
Death penalty to be revoked
Suriname, which has announced plans to remove the death penalty from its
criminal books, says it will increase the maximum jail term for life sentences
from 20 to 30 years.
Justice and Police Minister Edward Belfort said in addition to increasing the
jail term for life sentences usually reserved for heinous crimes, the
government is also moving to increase the jail term for criminals convicted of
committing lesser crimes from 15 to 20 years.
Belfort said that the amendments are related to a draft modification of the
Criminal Code that will soon be sent to the National Assembly for
consideration.
The revised code will no longer feature the death penalty that Belfort
described as an outdated piece of legislation that is irreversible once it is
carried out. He also said that in his opinion it is not the government's
prerogative to decide who lives or dies.
The justice minister has been very vocal about scrapping the capital
punishment, saying in March that "countries that apply it would be expected to
be the safest countries in the world, yet still have many murders committed on
a daily basis".
(source: Jamaica Gleaner)
JAPAN:
5 years after their introduction, lay judge trials have grown longer
The Yomiuri Shimbun Wednesday marks the 5th anniversary of the introduction of
Japan's lay judge system.
According to the Supreme Court, as of March 31, 49,434 people had served as lay
judges or supplementary lay judges, and the trials of 6,396 defendants had been
decided by lay judges.
The burden on lay judges over this period is said to have grown heavier. The
average duration of a lay judge trial, including days spent at the court for
deliberations, is about 2.5 times longer now than it was 5 years ago. The
average length of trials with rulings handed down this year was 9.3 days,
compared with just 3.7 days in 2009, when the system was introduced.
The top court compared the trials of 142 defendants tried in 2009 and 336 tried
through March 31 this year.
The comparison shows that the average number of witnesses per trial rose from
1.6 in 2009 to 3.4 this year. One apparent cause of the shift seems to be the
greater weight placed on in-court testimony and remarks rather than on
documents such as confession statement records. The average number of court
sessions per trial also rose from 3.3 to 4.9.
Deliberations among lay judges and professional judges, in which they discuss
sentencing and other issues, grew from an average of 6 hours 37 minutes to 12
hours 23 minutes. In cases where prosecutors sought the death penalty, the
average length of deliberations over the 5-year period was a much-higher 30
hours 45 minutes.
Cases in which sentences stricter than those sought by prosecutors were handed
down accounted for 0.1 % of professional judge trials over the period, while 1
% of lay judge trials were similarly harsh.
In the first 5 years of lay judge trials, 34 defendants have been found not
guilty, and 21 defendants have been sentenced to death, including 4 whose
sentences have been officially finalized.
No one sentenced to death under the lay judge system has yet been executed.
(source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
INDIA:
SC commutes convicts' death sentence to life imprisonment
The Supreme Court Wednesday commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment of
2 convicts who were involved in an attack on American Center Kolkata in 2002.
The attack took place Jan 26, 2002 in which 5 people, including 4 policemen,
were killed.
In this matter seven people were tried, 5 were given varying terms of
imprisonment and two were awarded death sentence by the trial court. The same
was upheld by Calcutta High Court.
The apex court bench of Justice A.K. Patnaik and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim
Kalifulla while commuting the death sentence held that Aftab Ahmed Ansari, one
of the convicts, will undergo life imprisonment till the end of his life.
The other convict Jamaluddin Nasir will undergo life imprisonment of 30 years
without any remission.
Justice Kalifulla, while pronouncing the judgement, said, "Imposition of death
penalty is not warranted."
(source: Business Standard)
IRAN----impending executions
URGENT: 2 Ahwazi Arab Activists Scheduled to be Executed Tomorrow
The 2 Ahwazi Arab activists Ali Chebeishat, Sayed Khaled Mousavi are scheduled
to be executed tomorrow, Thursday, according to the family of the prisoners.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) calls for the international community to react.
The 2 Ahwazi Arab prisoners Ali Chebeishat, Sayed Khaled Mousavi are at
imminent risk of execution tomorrow, Thursday May 22, reported the human rights
groups.
A family member of Mr. Ali Chebeishat said in an interview today that the
prisoners are scheduled to be executed tomorrow morning according to the
information he has received.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) urges the international community to react before it is
too late. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR, said: "These
prisoners have been subjected to unfair trials, torture and forced televised
confessions by teh Iranian authorities who want to execute them now.
International reactions might the only way to save these prisoners. We ask the
UN, EU and all countries with diplomatic ties with Iran to use all their
channels to save these prisoners".
IHR has previously expressed concern about the situation of Ali Chebeishat,
Sayed Khaled Mousavi, who were two transferred from the Dezful prison to an
unknown location in March 2014.
6 other Ahwazi Arab prisoners have been executed in December 2013 and January
2014, without the families or the lawyers being noticed about the executions in
advance.
Background:
Ali Chebeishat, Sayed Khaled Mousavi, and Salman Chayani were arrested on 10
November 2012 in the village of Khalaf Kaab Imsallam near the city of Shush in
Khuzestan Province. They were held incommunicado for 7 months while denied
access to lawyer and family members at the Ministry of Intelligence Detention
Centre in Ahwaz in South West of Iran. Intelligence officials illegally held
the 3 incommunicado while subjecting each to severe torture with a view to
extract confession in order to implicate them in the October 2012 explosion of
the Chogha Zanbil natural gas pipeline near the village of Khalaf Kaab
Imsallam.
On November 16, 2013, they appeared on the Press TV, "confessing" participation
in the Chogha Zanbil pipeline bombing.Apart from these forced "confessions",
there is no evidence in relation to the explosion of the Chogha Zanbil natural
gas pipeline. Indeed, the authorities initially declared that the explosion was
an accident. Nonetheless, on 9 September 2013, Judge Sayed Mohammed Baqir
Mousavi of the Second Branch of the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court convicted the 3
men of moharebeh and sentenced Mr. Chebeishat and Mr. Mousavi to execution and
Mr. Chayani to 25 years of imprisonment in exile in Yazd in central Iran, a
violation of Iran's national code.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
MALAYSIA:
2 Bulgarians Face Death Penalty in Malaysia
2 Bulgarians, who were sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Malaysia,
will appear in court for the hearing of their appeal, reports the Bulgarian
channel Nova TV.
A year and a half ago Ivan Kostov and Georgi Bakalov were arrested at the
airport and were sentenced to death for allegedly trafficking 5 kg of
amphetamine, found in their luggage.
They said they did not know of the drugs, pleaded not guilty and claimed the
amphetamines were planted by a 3rd party.
(source: novinite.com)
******************
Thai masseuse gets death over drugs
A single mother of 2 broke into tears as the High Court yesterday imposed the
death sentence on her for trafficking 1.1kg of methamphetamine 2 years ago.
Bunyuen Promjeen, 43, from Chiang Rai, Thailand, was seen weeping as the court
interpreter translated the decision of judicial commissioner Datuk Mohd Zaki
Abdul Wahab, who found her guilty of the offence.
Prior to the sentencing, Bunyuen pleaded to the court, through her lawyer Ai
Cha Ran, that she be allowed to see her children, aged 25 and 14, before the
death penalty was carried out.
Zaki replied that the court did not have the jurisdiction to fulfil her wish,
but advised the accused to forward her request to the Prison Department.
During mitigation, Ai appealed to the court to pass a lighter sentence, as she
worked as a masseuse to support her mother and two children and that she had
been tricked by her friend to carry the drugs.
However, Zaki said the court had no option but to pass the mandatory death
penalty.
He said the prosecution had proved a prima facie case against the accused and
her sworn statement had failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution's
case.
"The accused claimed that the bag that contained the drug was borrowed from a
friend, but the court finds that the accused had knowledge of the drug in her
possession."
Bunyuen, 43, committed the offense at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration
Complex's bus stop about noon on Oct 8, 2012.
She was travelling by bus from Hat Yai in Thailand to Kuala Lumpur when Customs
officers found the drugs upon inspecting her luggage.
(source: New Straits Times)
SUDAN:
Sudan woman faces harsh prison conditions because of religious belief
A group of UN human rights experts* Monday expressed alarm after Meriam
Ibrahim, a Christian woman pregnant with her second child, was sentenced to
death and 100 lashes for marrying a Christian man and refusing to renounce her
faith. Her trial did not comply with basic fair trial and due process
guarantees, said the experts.
"This outrageous conviction must be overturned and Ms. Ibrahim must be
immediately released," urged the UN experts. They also called upon the
Government of Sudan to repeal all legislation that discriminates on the grounds
of gender or religion, to protect the religious identity of minority groups and
to embark on a comprehensive reform of the justice system in compliance with
international standards.
Ms. Ibrahim, 27, born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother, was arrested
in 2013 on the grounds of adultery by the Sudanese authorities for being viewed
as a Muslim woman cohabitating with a Christian man, whom she married in 2012.
The UN human rights experts pointed out that the right to marry and have a
family is a fundamental human right of both women and men. Furthermore,
prosecution for adultery is contrary to international law as "the
criminalization of sexual relations between consenting adults is a violation of
their right to privacy under international human rights law," said the experts.
In February 2014, an additional charge was brought against her for the crime of
apostasy, or publicly renouncing Islam - a faith she never professed. Ms.
Ibrahim was given until her next hearing to convert to Islam. On 15 May 2014,
the Public Order Court in El Haj Yousif Khartoum confirmed her death sentence
for apostasy after she refused to renounce her faith.
Ms. Ibrahim is currently detained at Omdurman's Women Prison near Khartoum in
harsh conditions with her 20 month-old son and will give birth to her 2nd child
in the coming month.
The UN experts expressed serious concern that "Ms. Ibrahim was convicted for
exercising her right to freedom of religion and belief." They stated that
"according to international law the death penalty may only be imposed for "the
most serious crimes", if at all. Choosing and/or changing one's religion is not
a crime at all; on the contrary, it is a basic human right."
They further emphasized the right of every person to "adopt, change or retain a
religion of one's choice, and to manifest their religion in practice,
observance and worship, as well as the right not to be subject to
discrimination or coercion on religious grounds."
Sudan's population is predominantly Muslim, but there are Christian minority
communities particularly in the southern region.
The experts also expressed serious concern that the capital punishment sentence
did not comply with the most stringent due process and fair trial guarantees.
They stressed that "the imposition and enforcement of the death penalty on
pregnant women or recent mothers is inherently cruel and leads to a violation
of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment."
The UN experts noted that capital or corporal punishment can never be justified
in the name of religion and condemned "all forms of violence that would impair
the right to have or adopt a religion, including the use of threat of physical
force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to renounce their
religion or to convert."
Given the ongoing discrimination and inequalities faced by women, including
inferior roles attributed to them by patriarchal and traditional attitudes, and
power imbalances in their relations with men, maintaining flogging as a form of
punishment, even when it applies to both women and men, means in practice that
women disproportionally face this cruel punishment, in violation of their human
rights to dignity, privacy and equality.
"There is a pressing need to address the pattern of discrimination, abuse and
torture as well as the subjugation and denigration of women in the country,"
said the UN experts.
"We urge the Government of Sudan to put an end to these grave violations of
women's human rights," they said.
----
(*) The UN experts include: Ms. Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on
violence against women, its causes and consequences; Mr. Mashood Baderin, UN
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan; Mr. Christof
Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;
Ms. Gabriela Knaul, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers; Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or
belief; Mr. Juan M???ndez, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Ms. Frances Raday,
Chairperson-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination
against women in law and in practice; Ms. Rita Izsak, UN Special Rapporteur on
minority issues; and Mr. Mads Andenas, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention.
(source: womennewsnetwork.net)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
