June 13
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan to halt executions in Ramazan
The government on Friday imposed a moratorium on executions during the upcoming
holy month of Ramazan.
A notification was issued by the Federal Interior Ministry and provincial
governments have also been requested to comply with the order.
During the month of Ramazan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, and refrain from
eating and drinking.
The federal government had lifted the moratorium on the death penalty on Dec
17, 2014, in terrorism related cases only, in the wake of a Taliban attack at
the Army Public School in Peshawar, which claimed 150 lives, most of them
children.
Later, the government completely reinstated capital punishment for all offences
that entail the death penalty.
Take a look: Death penalty moratorium lifted completely in Pakistan: Officials
The United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights
Watch have urged the government to re-impose the moratorium on the death
penalty.
Critics say the country's criminal justice system is marred by police torture,
poor legal representation for victims and unfair trials.
In Pakistan, hanging is the only legal method of execution.
(source: Dawn)
******************
Pakistan dismisses EU???s concerns over executions----Islamabad says it is not
violating any international law
The Pakistan government on Friday dismissed European Union (EU) concern over
the death penalty and execution of convicts in the country, saying it is not
violating any international laws.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, talking to reporters, said the
executions were carried out in accordance with the country's law and the
constitution.
The EU on Thursday once again expressed concern over the increasing executions
in Pakistan and urged the government to reimpose a moratorium on death penalty
and fully respect all its international obligations.
Around 150 death prisoners have been executed since the government lifted the
8-year moratorium on death penalty in December last year soon after a deadly
terrorist attack on an army-run public school in northwestern provincial
capital of Peshawar.
The interior minister regretted the EU reaction over the revival of capital
punishment.
Khan said a propaganda campaign had been unleashed against the death penalty
revival and clarified that no juvenile had been sentenced to death.
Pakistan respects the laws of other countries and expects the same from them,
the minister said.
Separately, Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said at a media briefing
that only those convicted of "heinous crimes" were hanged.
The awarding of death sentences comes under international laws and it is
Pakistan's internal affair, the spokesman said.
(source: Gulf News)
*******************
Mass executions serve neither deterrence nor justice: Zeid
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed deep
regret that Pakistan has executed more than 150 individuals, including juvenile
offenders, since it cancelled its moratorium on the death penalty in the
aftermath of the Peshawar school attack in December.
"I share Pakistan's outrage and grief at the senseless killing of 145 people,
including 132 schoolchildren, by the Pakistani Taliban in December last year,
but I am very disturbed that the response of the Pakistani authorities has been
to execute just as many people in the 6 months that have passed since the
massacre," Zeid said.
"Pakistan has gone from zero to 154 executions in just 6 months, making it the
3rd most prolific executioner in the world."
"Yesterday's execution of Aftab Bahadur who was only 15 when he was convicted
of a murder 23 years ago, and whose claims that he was tortured into confessing
were unheeded, suggests a very troubling approach to the use of the death
penalty in the country. Reports indicate that 2 witnesses who testified against
Bahadur recanted their testimony, but were simply ignored," the high
commissioner said.
More than 8,000 people remain on death row in Pakistan, of whom approximately
800 were reportedly juveniles at the time of the offence. The government
initially lifted the moratorium only for terrorism-related crimes but in March
2015, lifted it generally.
"The idea that mass executions would deter the kinds of heinous crimes
committed in Peshawar in December is deeply flawed and misguided, and it risks
compounding injustice," Zeid said. "No justice system in the world is
infallible. And even if it were, experience has clearly shown that the use of
the death penalty cannot and does not debunk violent extremist ideologies. More
often than not, the masterminds and financiers of such attacks remain at large
- and may even use examples of possible miscarriages of justice as tools to
recruit more individuals to their twisted causes."
Zeid acknowledged the massive challenges faced by Pakistan in combating
terrorism but stressed that the country's response must be rooted in
international human rights law.
"The best deterrents of serious crimes lie in ensuring respect for the rule of
law and due process; ensuring that those suspected of such crimes are promptly
and properly investigated and prosecuted; and in ensuring that the authorities
engage closely with the communities affected by such violence," he said.
"Compromising on human rights may foster a sense of impunity and injustice,
potentially leading to increased radicalisation towards violence and ultimately
undermining the effectiveness of counter-terrorism measures."
The high commissioner urged the government of Pakistan to reintroduce its
moratorium on the death penalty.
(source: Daily Times)
SINGAPORE:
2 arrested, more than 1.4kg of drugs worth $130,000 seized at Woodlands
Checkpoint bust
2 people were arrested on Friday morning after they were caught with more than
1.4kg of drugs at Woodlands Checkpoint, according to a joint media release from
the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Central Narcotics Bureau
(CNB).
A 52-year-old male Singaporean, who was driving a Singapore-registered taxi,
was stopped by ICA officers for a routine check upon arrival. There was a
female Malaysian passenger, 37, in the taxi with him.
The ICA officers found a bag placed under the front passenger seat of the car,
which contained seven bundles wrapped with black tape. Suspecting the bundles
to contain drugs, they contacted the CNB.
The seized bundles were found to contain a total of about 1.4kg of heroin,
about 149g of 'Ice', 140 tablets of Ecstasy and 100 Erimin 5 pills. The total
estimated street value of the drugs is about $129,500.
Investigations on the 2 persons arrested are ongoing. Under the Misuse of Drugs
Act, drug traffickers face the death penalty if the amount of pure heroin
trafficked exceeds 15g.
(source: The Straits Times)
AUSTRALIA/INDONESIA:
Sukumaran and Chan families deserve more help, says wife of death row man ----
Sabine Atlaoui has recalled a terrible three months that began when her husband
Serge was named on a list of convicts to face the firing squad
The families of 8 people executed in Indonesia in April deserve continued
support, as capital punishment means a life-long sentence for them, says the
wife of a man still on death row.
Sabine Atlaoui has recalled a terrible three months that began when her husband
Serge was named on a list of convicts to face the firing squad alongside
Australians Myuran Sukumaran, Andrew Chan and others.
As they were given 72 hours notice of their executions, the Frenchman was
removed from the list and able to pursue legal appeals.
Atlaoui and her family, including a 3-year-old child, had spent the weeks
before in Cilacap along with the Australian families and lawyers, desperately
campaigning to halt the executions.
She told the Asian Regional Congress on the Death Penalty the burden of capital
punishment falls to innocent families, who must endure a lifetime of suffering.
"In this context that???s highly political, at the end of the day you have to
wonder, who is punished?" she said.
"Those on death row who are executed are gone, but what about their families?
"Their parents, their brothers and sisters and cousins, they have to live with
the torture and the pain and they have done nothing."
The conference earlier heard about the questionable investigations and trials
of the 8 people executed, including some who weren't given translators or legal
representation, and the case of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, who was mentally
ill.
Atlaoui said their families must not be forgotten.
"We've been through the same fate, we suffered the same anxiety, the same
fears, the same doubts," she said.
"Today I think of them and I want them to be remembered."
Her husband, 51, has protested his innocence since being arrested in a 2005
raid on a factory that was producing ecstasy.
His appeal in the administrative court continues next week.
Australia's ambassador, Paul Grigson, recalled in protest of the executions of
Chan and Sukumaran, returned to Jakarta this week, after about 40 days absent.
(source: The Guardian)
CHINA:
Sieren's China: The tiger lives on----China's former security chief Zhou
Yongkang has been sentenced to life in prison - not to death, as many observers
had anticipated. There's a reason for that, writes DW columnist Frank Sieren.
The anti-graft campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping has reached a
high point. Yet Zhou Yongkang, once one of the most powerful people in the
Chinese Republic, did not receive the harshest of verdicts, which came as a
surprise. Many observers assumed that the 72-year-old former member of the
powerful Politburo Standing Committee would be tried in public. And most of
them were certain that the outcome would be the death penalty.
Afterwards, a period of uncertainty was to be expected. In China, it's possible
for the court to hand down the sentence of a death penalty with 2 years'
probation, the greatest punitive measure apart from the death sentence
outright. After 2 years, the sentence can be reduced to life in prison.
But Zhou was spared all this. The judges in Beijing's neighboring city,
Tianjin, sentenced the former national security chief - dubbed "the Great
Tiger" by Xi Jinping, to life in prison. Zhou has already pleaded guilty and
accepted the sentence.
Verdict based on compromises?
With this outcome, the Chinese people now probably suspect that the president
sets different standards when it comes to punishing the big and little fish
he's set his sights on. But Xi must be cautious. He can't afford to make too
many enemies with the people responsible for China's national security, as he
needs allies to support his plans for reform. In the long run, fear and terror
will not allow him to rule the nation. That's why compromises were apparently
made in Zhou's trial: it was not public, and he was spared the death penalty.
Not only that, but a life sentence can discreetly become simple house arrest,
with enough time.
In addition, it's quite probable that Zhou's network will continue to operate
from inside prison: Xi must expect that. Two years ago, when Zhou vanished from
the public eye and was expelled from the party, anything seemed possible. But
then, he was arrested last July and about two months ago charged with
corruption, abuse of power and leaking national secrets.
Concerns over exposure
As head of China's national security agency, which has a larger budget than the
Chinese army, Zhou Yongkang is said to have pocketed more than $21 million
(18.6 million euros) in bribes. Jiang Jiemin, his old friend and the former
head of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), allegedly gave him several
hundreds of thousands of dollars. He's also on trial.
In addition, Zhou's wife and son from a previous marriage have allegedly
benefitted from his power, in the form of business contracts. Both of them have
already admitted to having accepted some $20 million in bribes, and have
consequently been arrested. Zhou's family fortune is estimated at around $14
billion, but his private assets have now been confiscated.
It took an astoundingly long time to come to a verdict - a sign that
negotiations and the political balancing act were complex. Zhou's case was
likely resolved by the Politburo Standing Committee, which probably decided to
take care of things in private instead of running the risk of Zhou misbehaving
and shaming the party in public - like former party leader Bo Xilai.
But the images released on Thursday were enough to humiliate Zhou. High-ranking
Chinese politicians traditionally dye their hair black to convey youthfulness
and potency. Yesterday, however, another Zhou stood in the courtroom, one with
white hair and dressed in a wrinkled worker's jacket. The great tiger looked as
if he'd aged decades during his 2-year absence. The message was clear: Pride
comes before a fall.
(source: Deutsche Welle)
IRAN----executions
Ghezelhesar Mass-Executions Continue: 11 Executions----11 prisoners charged
with drug offenses were hanged in Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison (west of Tehran)
on Wednesday 10 June. This is the 2nd group of executions during this week. On
Monday June 8, 11 prisoners were executed in the same prison.
According to sources Iran Human Rights (IHR) has been in contact with, 11
prisoners were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on Wednesday June 10. These
prisoners, who had mainly been transferred to solitary confinement on Saturday
June 6, were convicted of drug related charges.
IHR reported on June 6 about the transfer of 25 prisoners with drug charges for
execution. These prisoners had been transferred from different rooms of Unit 2
of Ghezel Hesar Prison and the "Anti-narcotic headquarters". 11 of the
prisoners were executed on Monday June 8.
According to our sources, 10 of the 11 prisoners who were executed on June 10
were: Reza Mansouri, Mostafa Kouhi, Salar Mahmoudzadeh, Reza Karegari, Behrouz
Sahraei, Ali Taghipour, Yousef Kounani, Masoud Abbasi, Mohammad Jannati, and
Hassan Nourmohammadi.
At the present moment 22 of the 25 prisoners have been executed, while 3 of the
prisoners were reportedly not executed and are still in the quarantine section
of the prison. These prisoners are identified as Jasem Veysi, Ali Afshari and
Gholamreza Soltani.
Since May 6 Iranian authorities have executed 77 people in Ghezel Hesar Prison.
IHR has repeatedly called on the international community to react to these
executions. However, the international community has still maintained its
silence.
IHR recently published a video containing testimonies from 2 of the death row
prisoners of Ghezel Hesar speaking about torture under interrogations.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: "Iranian authorities
claim that these prisoners belong to groups of armed drug smugglers, but many
of the prisoners we have investigated belong to the marginalized parts of the
Iranian society who were arrested in the big Iranian cities. After their
arrest, these prisoners are systematically subjected to torture until they
confess to the charges, then they are sentenced to death behind closed doors at
the Revolutionary Court. These executions are unlawful, even according to the
Iranian constitution. Iranian leaders must be held responsible for these
crimes."
(source: Iran Human Rights)
********
PRISON FOR ANTI-DEATH PENALTY ACTIVIST
Anti-death penalty activist Atena Daemi has been sentenced to 14 years in
prison for her peaceful
activism. She has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison since October 2014, when
she was arrested. She
is a prisoner of conscience.
Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format, including case
information,
addresses and sample messages.
Atena Daemi, a 27-year-old anti-death penalty and civil society activist, was
sentenced to 14 years
in prison on 12 May by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran after a
grossly unfair trial.
The trial apparently lasted no more than 15 minutes and took place at the same
time as the trial of
three others. She was convicted of “gathering and colluding against national
security”, “spreading
propaganda against the system”, “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic
of Iran and the
Supreme Leader” and concealing evidence.
The charges stem from her criticism on Facebook and Twitter of executions and
human rights
violations in Iran, as well as her participation in gatherings outside prison
in solidarity with
families of death row prisoners, distribution of anti-death penalty pamphlets
and her association
with human rights defenders and the families of those killed during the
crackdown that followed the
2009 election.
Atena Daemi had been arrested in October 2014, and spent 58 days in solitary
confinement. She was
then transferred to a cell shared with another person, but had no access to a
lawyer.
Since being detained, Atena Daemi has been experiencing weakness in her hands
and feet, and spells
of blurred vision. The authorities refused her family’s request to grant her
leave to receive
specialized medical care outside prison, linking her medical symptoms to
stress-related heart
palpitations which can be treated in prison with anti-anxiety and sedative
drugs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Atena Daemi was arrested by nine members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on 21
October 2014 and
transferred to Section 2A of Evin Prison. For the first 20 days, Atena Daemi
said she was held in a
cell that was infested with insects and had no toilet facilities. She said her
interrogators offered
to grant her easier access to the toilet in exchange for her “co-operation”.
She was interrogated on
numerous occasions over a period of 58 days, often for several hours at a time.
During these lengthy
interrogations, she had to sit blindfolded, facing a wall.
Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format.
Name: Atena Daemi (f)
Issues: Prisoner of conscience, Unfair trial, Health concern
UA: 127/15
Issue Date: 4 June 2015
Country: Iran
Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!
EITHER send a short email to u...@aiusa.org with "UA 127/15" in the subject
line, and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent,
OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.
Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office
if sending appeals
after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official,
please forward it to us
at u...@aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please write immediately in Persian, English, Spanish, French or your own
language:
* Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Atena Daemi immediately and
unconditionally as she
is a prisoner of conscience held solely for the peaceful exercise of her
rights to freedom of
expression, association and assembly
* Calling on them to ensure that Atena Daemi receives any medical attention
she may require;
* Reminding them that Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political
Rights, to which Iran is a state party, protect the right to freedom of
expression, association,
and assembly.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 16 JULY 2015 TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: (via website http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter)
Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English)
@Khamenei_ar (Arabic)
@Khamenei_es (Spanish)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter:@HassanRouhani (English),
@Rouhani_ir (Persian)
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Also send copies to:
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please
send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990 I Fax: 202 965 1073 I Email: i...@daftar.org
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