Oct. 7
FIJI:
EU welcomes Fiji's abolishment of death penalty
Fiji has been praised for being the 99th country in the world to have joined
the ranks to abolish the death penalty of all crimes. The European Union has
welcomed Fiji's decision to abolish the death penalty through the R F M F
Amendment Act of 2015.
EU Ambassador to the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs, says this is a big step forward
for the nation as we prepare to commemorate World Day against the Death Penalty
on Saturday. He adds that it's important to continue to push for the
abolishment of death penalty worldwide - as it represents an inhumane,
degrading treatment.
"There's no proven deterrent factor in having the death penalty and having a
death penalty allows judicial errors which can no longer be corrected after a
death penalty has been carried out."
Jacobs says Fiji's repeal of the death penalty will hopefully trigger similar
positive moves in the region. The EU is calling on the remaining island
countries -Tonga, Nauru and Papua New Guinea to abolish the death penalty as
well.
Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola told the U N
that Fiji's ban of on death penalty stemmed from the growing international
trend to remove capital punishment. Kububola adds that this is consistent with
Fiji's new Constitution which guarantees every person the right to life.
(source: Fiji Broadcasting Corporation)
CHINA:
China reduces the number of crimes punishable by death to 46, but keep drug
trafficking in the list----China removes nine non-violent and rarely used
criminal offenses from capital punishment.
The amended Criminal Law, which will take effect on Nov. 1, removed 9 crimes
punishable by death including: smuggling weapons, ammunition, nuclear materials
or counterfeit currency; counterfeiting currency; raising funds by means of
fraud; arranging for or forcing another person to engage in prostitution;
obstructing a police officer or a person on duty from performing his duties;
and fabricating rumors to mislead others during wartime.
It is the 2nd time China has reduced the number of crimes punishable by death
over the past 5 years. In 2011, the NPC Standing Committee dropped the death
penalty for 13 crimes, reducing the list from 68 to 55.
The death penalty is still used for a wide range of crimes, including
non-violent crimes such as corruption and drug-related offenses. China remains
the country with most executions in the world, estimated at 2,400 in 2014.
(source: worldcoalition.org)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan's top court upholds death sentence for Punjab's former governor
Taseer's killer
Pakistan's highest court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for the killer
of the governor of the country's wealthiest and most populous province after he
had called for reform of the blasphemy law.
Since 1990, at least 65 people have been killed in cases linked to blasphemy,
data collected by Reuters shows.
Wednesday's ruling was seen as a victory for human rights activists who say the
blasphemy law, which mandates the death penalty, is often used in poor rural
areas to settle personal scores.
In 2011, Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was shot dead by a bodyguard,
Mumtaz Qadri, after he had sought a presidential pardon for Asia Bibi, a
Christian woman accused of blasphemy.
Both the trial court and the high court of Islamabad, the capital, sentenced
Qadri to death. He appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision.
"The criminal appeal filed by the convict is dismissed," the Supreme Court said
in its ruling. "The appeal filed by the state is allowed. The conviction and
sentence by the trial court are restored."
Qadri's lawyer could not be reached for comment immediately.
Judges in Pakistan are reluctant to hear blasphemy cases, as the presentation
of evidence in court can itself be considered a new infringement of the law.
But while hearing Qadri's appeals, judges said criticising the blasphemy law
did not amount to blasphemy.
Taseer was an outspoken critic of the harsh law, saying it was being misused.
2 months after Taseer's murder, Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a
Christian, was murdered by the Taliban for demanding changes to the blasphemy
law.
Last year, gunmen posing as clients shot dead a prominent human rights lawyer
defending a professor accused of blasphemy.
The judge who first convicted him was forced to flee the country after death
threats.
An anti-terrorism court handed down a double death sentence for murder and
terrorism in late 2011. Qadri appealed, and in March, the Islamabad High Court
upheld the murder sentence, while striking down the terrorism conviction.
(source: Times of Oman)
******************
Over 6000 condemned prisoners in Pakistan
There are now more than 6000 death row prisoners in Pakistan - more than
anywhere in the world - new government figures have revealed.
According to the Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rahman, 6016 death
row convicts are imprisoned in various jails across the country. He informed
the Senate that the process for execution of the convicts who had availed of
all legal options and whose mercy petitions had also been rejected continue as
per law since Dec 17 last year, the month chosen by the terrorists to attack
Army Public School in Peshawar.
Capital punishment is legal in Pakistan. There had been a moratorium on
executions since 2008, but the moratorium was lifted for terrorism related
cases as of 16 December 2014, following the massacre of 132 students and 9
members of staff of the Army Public School Peshawar.
The executions are now part of the National Action Plan, a comprehensive
strategy to deal with the terrorist elements in the country. The last such
prisoner, Mohammad Aslam, was executed in the Bahawalpur jail last month.
According to the interior ministry, a total of 588 people were killed and 1,007
injured in 821 acts of terror in the country in first 8 months of the year
2015. As of September 2015, Pakistan has executed 239 death row prisoners since
2014 Peshawar school massacre.
The European Union (EU) had sharply reacted over lifting of the moratorium on
the death penalty in the country and has demanded its immediate restoration,
which had been in place since 2008. Pakistan along with the United States and
Yemen have raised the minimum age to 18 in law to be eligible for execution.
Pakistan death row cells, often measuring 8ft x 12ft, were originally designed
to hold one or two prisoners but now typically hold more than six condemned
inmates each. Prisoners are confined to these small cells for up to 23 hours
per day. They suffer from inadequate nutrition, sanitation and lack of
exercise. The Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan has recognised the serious
human rights violations suffered by Pakistani condemned prisoners. As a partial
remedy, the court declared that condemned prisoners may only be transferred to
a death row cell after the death sentence is confirmed by a High Court, rather
than directly following a trial court conviction. Unfortunately, this still
means that a prisoner may spend upwards of ten to twelve years on death row
awaiting execution.
(source: The Nation)
OMAN:
Qaboos approves ammendments to Oman drug law----Amendment has harsher penalties
for peddlers and smugglers, including the death penalty
Amid Omani efforts to curb a growing drug menace in the country that affects
mostly the youth, Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed has approved amendments to the
Combating Narcotics and Psychotropic Drugs law.
Qaboos issued on Monday a royal decree (number 34/2015) approving the
amendments in the drug act.
The amendments introduce stiffer penalties, including the death penalty and
life sentence, for drug peddlers and smugglers.
The previous law did include the death penalty but specified it for quantities
over 50kg. The amendment doesn't specify the quantity.
Article 43 of the amended law stipulates the death penalty or life in prison
for drug dealers as well as a fine of more than 25,000 rials (Dh238,519). It
also stipulates the death penalty for anyone who has a connection with
international drug trafficking gangs.
Anyone who produces, imports or exports drugs will face either the death
penalty or a life sentence, according to the article 43.
Law enforcement officers and government employees working in the anti-narcotic
forces found to be involved in drug peddling and smuggling will face a life
sentence.
Those who use minors to smuggle and peddle drugs will face the death penalty.
The amendments were recommended by the elected Consultative Council, the Majlis
Al Shura, and State Council.
Article 56 stipulates that anyone who assaults drug enforcement staff will be
jailed for a minimum of ten years and will be fined no less than 3,000 rials.
It also stipulates the life sentence in cases of assault resulting in permanent
disability. The death penalty will apply in case the assault results in death.
If a suspect refuses to provide the necessary samples for the detection of the
narcotics, he or she will be jailed for 6 months at least and face a fine of
100 rials.
The 1st Omani Narcotic Law was issued by royal decree number 17/99 in 1999.
Observers believe that introducing such punishment will lead to a significant
drop in drug-related crimes in Oman.
Muscat is working hard to tackle the drug menace by conducting intensive
campaigns nationwide targeting the youth, the largest segment of drug users.
The number of drug addicts stood at 5,000 in 2014, compared to 4,000 in 2013,
according to the ministry's figures.
Oman set up more than 12 rehabilitation centres in all governorates due to the
increase in drug abuse in the country.
A source in the Royal Oman Police told Gulf News that the number of drug cases
has been rising by more than 10 % every year. The source added that applying
the death penalty will definitely reduce drug cases in Oman.
An official at the Royal Oman Police (ROP), earlier told Gulf News that Oman's
geography, with its long coastline and proximity to some drug exporting
countries, poses a major challenge in combatting drug trafficking.
He added that most of the drug traffickers who were arrested in Oman are
expatriates. According to ROP figures, heroin is the number one drug seized by
the ROP.
An official at the National Committee for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances
told Gulf News that there were death verdicts against only 5 drug smugglers and
peddlers in the past 15 years.
Implementation of the death penalty was halted in Oman since 2004.
(source: Gulf News)
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