June 17
IRAN:
Iran's death penalty stays off global agenda
At least 320 people are said to have been executed in Iran this year. Drawn
from official and unofficial sources, the figures highlight the dark side of a
state that sees fit to kill an average of 2 people a day.
Over the past 10 years, the number of those executed in Iran the name of the
law has risen exponentially.
Back in 2005, just under 100 people were made to pay for their crimes with
death. Although the figure seemed high at the time, it pales in comparison to
the 687 known to have swung in the gallows last year. The increase did not
happen overnight, but crept up on the society it regulates, changing the rules
as it advanced.
Until last year, between 70 percent and 80 percent of those executed were
sentenced on drug-related charges, such as illegal drug possession and
trafficking. In 2013, however, that number fell to around the 60 percent mark.
Activists attribute the drop to a campaign calling on the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to stop its cooperation on fighting drug crimes in
Iran.
Several countries, including Norway and Ireland, responded by stopping funding
to the law enforcement section of the UNOCD program. Denmark withdrew its Iran
funding entirely.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it has
put the Iranian authorities under pressure, and gone some way to having the
desired effect. "We have noticed a relative decrease in the numbers of people
executed for drug trafficking," he said.
An eye for an eye, a life for a life
But there has been a nasty side-effect. While there has been a reduction in the
number of narcotics-related state-sanctioned hangings, the past 2 years have
seen a spike in those executed after being found guilty of murder. 18 people in
2012 compared with 148 last year.
Amiry-Moghaddam said the upward trend has continued in the first part of 2014,
and is widespread enough to read like a coordinated effort.
"The Iranian authorities are compensating for the relative reduction in one
group with an increased number in another," he said. "It seems as if there is
an order from above to keep executions at a certain level. And that level is
constantly increasing."
Citing a series of directives allegedly issued by the head of the judiciary
from 2007 onwards, co-founder of the Abdorraham Boroumand Foundation, Roya
Boroumand said the rise in executions would appear to be a cold-blooded effort
to address the issue of overcrowding in the country's prisons.
"It is very cynical, but experts had been complaining about the problem for
years," she said. "And these official statements sent by the head of the
judiciary said there should be an effort to clean the prisons and close the
files." Boroumand said she believes that is synonymous with execution.
Despite the figures researchers and activist have collected and independently
verified, she said it is very hard to know the true scale of what is going on
in Iran's prisons.
"What we have heard is only an indication," she said. "The fact that many are
reported by non-official sources shows that something very serious is
happening." And not only in response to drug and murder charges.
On the watch of a moderate president
Since 2013 Amiry-Moghaddam has also recorded a rise in the number of executions
of those he would define as political prisoners, but who are dubbed by the
state as terrorists engaged in waging war against God.
It is a worrying new trend, not least, he said, because with "moderate" Hassan
Rouhani in the president's office, Teheran has managed to create a positive
enough image on the international stage to deflect attention from its liberal
use of the death penalty.
The rise in executions was particularly notable during the first 4 or 5 months
after Rouhani came to power, and it began just days after the elections. "But
when he went to New York, not one journalist asked him about the situation,"
the IHR spokesman said. "They managed to overshadow the reality through him
being on Facebook and Twitter."
Drawing out the Supreme Leader
In a system that gives the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than
the president complete power over the judiciary, Gissou Nia, executive director
of Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, said it is important to knock at the
right door.
"I really feel we need to be drawing the supreme leader out of the shadows,"
she said. "The human rights community should be calling on him, and demanding
some accountability in that regard."
Nonetheless, in failing to refer to the issue, Amiry-Moghaddam said Rouhani
gives the impression that he does not disagree with the widespread use of
capital punishment, which undermines his claim to be a moderate.
It also sends a mixed message to the international community, which despite
potential leverage in terms of lifting sanctions, has kept its distance. As far
as Roya Boroumand is concerned, the West has its eyes too firmly fixed on the
nuclear questions - and now, increasingly, the advance of insurgents in Iraq -
to see the pattern behind the rising numbers of executions.
"Considering this a side issue only makes things worse," she stressed. "The
leadership knows the world is interested in something else, so that is a good
time to do whatever is not going to look good."
(source: Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre)
TAIWAN:
An insistence on keeping the death penalty poses wider risks for Taiwan
Last week's report on Taiwan's use of capital punishment by the UK-based Death
Penalty Project appears to have had a limited impact on both the political and
public views on the issue. Chris Wood, who is the Director of the British Trade
and Cultural Office in Taiwan, openly spoke in support of the report, which
roundly condemned Taiwan for continuing to implement the death penalty despite
it being in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), which was incorporated into Taiwanese law in 2009.
Given Wood's role as de-facto Ambassador of the British Government to Taiwan,
it is unusual for him to attend a public event which is so openly critical of
his host government.
Certainly his comments were hedged in the type of diplomatic language you would
expect from someone in his position.
He did stress that it was for the government and people of Taiwan to make the
final decision on capital punishment. He made the broad points that "the death
penalty undermines human dignity and there is no conclusive evidence that it
deters crime."
But most tellingly, he noted that the British Government had expressed its
"disappointment" at the 5 executions carried out on April 29. Disappointment is
a powerful diplomatic word, whose stronger meaning is clear, and whose use in
this context should not be underestimated.
GLOBAL PRECEDENTS
And this is where the report should be seen as significant to the Taiwanese
officials. The majority of nations have abolished the death penalty; only 20 %
retain it for ordinary crimes. Of these, only the USA, Japan, South Korea and
Taiwan can be considered democracies.
The rest of world is steadfast in its criticism of those still using capital
punishment, and the UK stance should be seen as echoing that of many overseas
allies, in the EU and beyond, with whom Taiwan need to remain on friendly
terms.
diplomatic recognition
The government in Taipei is currently making significant diplomatic efforts for
the country to be recognized by a range of international bodies. But these
efforts are done no favors when Taiwan enshrines international law into its
domestic legislation, and then chooses to ignore it.
risks
Attempts to win back some recognition from the UN are undermined when the
government persists in a policy which is in breach of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, the very cornerstone of the organization.
Persisting in these policies in the current political climate amounts to a
considerable risk.
With Chinese policy towards its neighbors becoming increasingly hostile and the
recent US Department of Defense report on China's military concluding that
their primary aim was still to deal with the Taiwan question, Taiwan may need
its international friends more than ever. It is therefore playing a dangerous
game in persisting with a policy so fundamentally at odds with the global
consensus.
ECONOMIC THREATS
It also runs the risk of undermining economic development. For example,
Taiwan's efforts to secure trade agreements with the EU are impacted by
persisting with a policy which EU Human Rights legislation outlaws. They have
frequently condemned executions in Taiwan, most recently following the April
executions, when the EU High Representative on Foreign Affairs, Catherine
Ashton, made a statement noting her "regret" and calling for an immediate
moratorium. It is naive to think that this viewpoint won't impact trade
negotiations as well.
(source: The Independent)
CHINA:
Death penalty for China plotters
3 people have been sentenced to death by a court in western China for planning
a deadly car ramming attack at Beijing's landmark Tiananmen Gate last year
which was blamed on Muslim separatists.
The 3 were accused of providing funds to carry out the October 28 attack, in
which a car ploughed through tourists and crashed in a fireball in the heart of
the capital, killing 2 bystanders and the 3 attackers.
A court in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi sentenced the 3 to death. 5
other people were given prison sentences, with 4 receiving terms of 5 to 20
years and 1 getting a life sentence.
The court heard they had travelled to Beijing on October 7 to deliver money to
buy a vehicle, petrol, knives and other materials related to the attack.
A Chinese visitor and a tourist from the Philippines were killed in the attack.
(source: Herald Scotland)
LEBANON:
5 Syrians in Lebanon Charged with Terrorism Offenses
Lebanon's Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr on Tuesday charged five Syrians with
working for an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group.
A judicial source told The Daily Star that only one of the suspects was in
custody while the other 4 were at large.
Saqr accused the men of belonging to the Ziad Jarrah Brigades. He also accused
them of carrying out terrorist acts and setting up a factory for manufacturing
weapons and explosives in Rankous in Syria's Qalamoun region.
The suspects could face the death penalty if convicted.
Saqr referred the case to military investigative judge Riad Abu Ghayda.
(source: Fars News Agency)
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