Oct. 9
BANGLADESH:
Mojaheed hopes 'justice' in verdict review: Family
Condemned war criminal Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed hoped that he will get
"justice" after he seeks review of the Supreme Court ruling that upheld his
death penalty.
Tamanna-e-Jahan, wife of Mojaheed, told this to reporters after she, her son
Mabrur Ahmed and three other family members met the death row convict at Dhaka
Central Jail around 11:00am.
Mojaheed is now mentally and physically well, said Tamanna.
Mojaheed, secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, said the allegations brought
against him were false and baseless, according to his family members.
On October 3, Mojaheed told his lawyers that he will file a petition with the
Supreme Court seeking review of its judgement that had upheld his death penalty
for killing intellectuals during the Liberation War in 1971.
The family members of Mojaheed met him for the 1st time after the Supreme Court
released its full verdict.
The International Crimes Tribunal, which held the trial of the Jamaat leader
for his crimes against humanities in 1971, issued execution warrant on October
1, a day after the apex court released the full verdict.
(source: The Daily Star)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan upholds death penalty for blasphemy vigilante
A senior judge has spoken out on the misuse of blasphemy laws during an appeal
hearing for a former Elite Force guard who assassinated a Pakistani governor
for his support of a Catholic woman on death row on blasphemy charges.
Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, had visited Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman
on death row on a blasphemy charge she denied, days before his murder in an
Islamabad market in January 2011.
A 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday rejected the
appeal of Mumtaz Qadri, who was sentenced to death in October 2011 for the
assassination. Qadri was working as Taseer's bodyguard at the time of the
assassination.
Qadri's legal counsel had argued that punishing a blasphemer is a God-given
religious duty enjoined on everyone, and a responsibility his client was duly
carrying out.
The Supreme Court also dismissed the argument by Qadri's legal team that the
act of critiquing the blasphemy law was in itself committing the act of
blasphemy.
"If everyone starts punishing others, who have in their opinion committed
blasphemy, then this society will disintegrate," Justice Asif Saeed Khosa told
the court.
"Can the accused be given the right to judge on his own cause and commit murder
in uniform of a person who was under his protection, especially when there is
no evidence of him having committed blasphemy," Justice Khosa added.
In any democratic government, people have the right to criticise any law made
by parliament, he added.
Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri rally behind a banner stating that the sentence is
unacceptableSupporters of Mumtaz Qadri rally behind a banner stating that they
believe that his sentence is unacceptable (PA)
Father Emmanuel Yousuf, national director of the National Commission for
Justice and Peace, a rights body of the Catholic Church in Pakistan, said it
was good to see sense prevail: "The law has taken its course and justice has
been served. One who commits murder for whatever reason should be held
accountable for his actions.
"Governor Taseer always stood for what he thought was right. He was convinced
Asia Bibi was innocent," he told UCANews.com.
"The ruling has set a good precedent, but a notable change regarding the misuse
of blasphemy laws will take place only if the government shows some resolve."
Christians in Pakistan insist that blasphemy laws in Pakistan are often misused
and used to attack them through false allegations.
Naveed Chaudhry, head of the Pakistan Minority Alliance, a political party
representing minorities, also welcomed the Supreme Court ruling.
"People who take the law into their own hands and carry out murders in the name
of Islam will be discouraged by the ruling," he told UCANews.com.
Despite the Supreme Court dismissing his appeal, Qadri now still has the right
to file a mercy appeal to the President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain.
(source: The Tablet)
GLOBAL:
World Day against the Death Penalty 2015
Press Release: Amnesty International
Alarming number of countries flout international law by executing for
drug-related crimes
The death penalty continues to be used as a tool in the so-called "war on
drugs", with an alarming number of states across the globe executing people
convicted on drug-related charges, in clear violation of international law,
Amnesty International said ahead of the World Day against the Death Penalty (10
October).
At least 11 countries across the globe - including China, Indonesia, Iran,
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia - have handed down death sentences or executed people
for drug-related crimes over the past 2 years, while dozens of states maintain
the death penalty for drug-related offences.
"It's disheartening that so many countries are still clinging to the flawed
idea that killing people will somehow end addiction or reduce crime. The death
penalty does nothing to tackle crime or enable people who need help to access
the treatment for drug addiction," said Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty
International's death penalty expert.
International law restricts the use of the death penalty to the "most serious
crimes" - generally defined to include only intentional killing. Drug crimes do
not fall into this category. International law also sets the goal for states to
move towards abolition of the death penalty.
Yet many states justify the use of the death penalty as a way to tackle drug
trafficking or problematic drug use. These states are ignoring evidence that a
response focused on human rights and public health, including prevention of
substance abuse and access to treatment, has been effective to end drug-related
deaths and prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. Even in relation to
violent crime, there is not a shred of evidence that the threat of execution is
more of a deterrent than any other form of punishment.
In Indonesia, for example, the government under President Joko Widodo vowed to
use the death penalty to combat a "national drug emergency". 14 people
convicted of drug-related crimes have been put to death in 2015 so far and the
government has said it will deny all clemency applications put forward by
people convicted on drug charges.
"The use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes is far from the only
concern. Shahrul Izani Suparman, for example, was just 19 years old when he was
found in possession of more than 200g of cannabis, automatically presumed
guilty of drug trafficking and later handed a mandatory death sentence in
Malaysia," said Chiara Sangiorgio.
In many of the countries where the death penalty is imposed for drug-related
crimes, the injustice is compounded by death sentences being handed down after
manifestly unfair trials. Defendants are routinely denied access to lawyers, or
coerced to make "confessions" through torture or other ill-treatment which are
admitted as evidence, in countries like Indonesia, Iran or Saudi Arabia.
In April 2016 the UN General Assembly, the UN main deliberative body, will
gather in a Special Session on drugs to discuss the world's drug control
priorities, including the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences.
The last time a special session on drugs was held was in 1998.
"The Special Session of the UN General Assembly next year will offer a critical
opportunity to states to ensure that drug policies at both national and
international level comply with international human rights law. States must
once and for all put an end to the use of the death penalty for drug-related
offences as a 1st step towards its full abolition," said Chiara Sangiorgio.
Country examples
-- China executed more people than the rest of the world put together last
year, but with death penalty figures treated as a state secret the exact number
is impossible to determine. Based on the data that able to confirm, people
convicted on drug-related offences make up a significant proportion of those
executed. China has made tentative steps to cut down on its use of the death
penalty in recent years, including by reducing the crimes punishable by death.
Drug-related crimes, however, continue to attract the death penalty. -
Indonesia has executed 14 people this year, all accused of drug trafficking.
This has been a regressive step for a country that had looked to be moving to
end executions just a few years ago, and which has successfully made efforts to
seek commutations of death sentences for Indonesian citizens on death row in
other countries. The use of the death penalty in Indonesia is riddled with
flaws, as suspects are routinely tortured into "confessions" or subjected to
unfair trials.
- Iran is the world's 2nd-most prolific executioner, second only to China, and
the country has put thousands of people to death for drug-related crimes over
the past decades. Iran's extremely harsh drug laws mean that a person can be
sentenced to death for possessing 30g of heroin or cocaine. More than 700
executions have been carried out in 2015 alone - many of those executed are
foreign nationals and people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. --
Drug trafficking in Malaysia carries the mandatory death sentence, and people
found in possession of certain amounts of illegal substances are automatically
presumed to be trafficking drugs. Malaysia does not publish information on
executions, but Amnesty International's monitoring suggests that half of the
death sentences imposed in recent years are for drug trafficking convictions.
-- Executions for drug-related offenses have skyrocketed in Saudi Arabia over
the past 3 years. In 2014, almost 1/2 of all 92 people who were known to have
been put to death were convicted for drug-related crimes. Saudi Arabia's
justice system lacks the most basic safeguards to ensure the right to a fair
trial is protected. Often death sentences are imposed after unfair and summary
proceedings, which are in some cases held in secret.
Background
In 2014 and 2015, Amnesty International recorded executions or death sentences
for drug-related offences in the following countries: China, Indonesia, Iran,
Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab
Emirates and Viet Nam.
As of today, drug-related offences, which can include different charges ranging
from drug trafficking to drug possession, are punishable by death in more than
30 countries.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life, as
proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
(sdource: Scoop News)
*******************
October 10 Is World Day Against the Death Penalty
Every year on October 10, people around the globe observe World Day Against the
Death Penalty. The focus changes year by year, and this year's theme is "The
Death Penalty Does Not Stop Drug Crimes."
Countries That Kill
The U.S. is among the top 5 executioners in the world, along with Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, and China, which executes more people than the rest of the world
combined.
On a more positive note, only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty in
1977, but today that number is 140, which is almost 2/3 of countries worldwide.
A few more facts: according to Amnesty International, death sentences increased
by more than 500 last year compared with 2013; at least 2,466 were sentenced to
death.
On the other hand, the number of actual executions dropped by around 22 %, to
at least 607. This doesn't count China, where such numbers are a state secret.
22 countries murdered people by government decree in 2014, compared to 41 in
2004, and Madagascar added itself to the list of countries that have abolished
the death penalty.
10 Reasons The Death Penalty Is Wrong (adapted from Death Penalty Focus)
1. Irreversible mistakes happen, and innocent people are executed.
2. The death penalty is extremely expensive.
3. The death penalty can provoke prolonged suffering for the victim's family;
offenders may spend 20 or 30 years on death row.
4. Scientific studies have found no proof that capital punishment deters people
from committing crimes.
5. Almost all nations in Western Europe, North America and South America, a
total of 140 worldwide, have abolished the death penalty.
6. The quality of legal representation is the most important factor in
determining whether or not a defendant will receive the death penalty; in
general, poor people get the worst legal support.
7. Religious groups agree that the death penalty is immoral.
8. Racial disparities mean that the race of both the victim and the defendant
are major factors in determining who lives and who dies in the U.S.
9. Politics and where a crime is committed are more often determining factors
in a death penalty case than the facts of the crime.
10. A sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole is cheaper
to tax-payers and keeps offenders off the streets forever.
The Death Penalty Doesn't Stop Drug Crimes
In light of these 10 reasons why the death penalty is always unacceptable,
let's examine the theme of this year's World Day Against The Death Penalty.
The use of the death penalty is decreasing worldwide, but there has been a jump
in the number of executions for drug-related offenses in 2015. A total of 33
countries retain the option to execute people for drug use or trafficking, and
13 have used this option in the last 5 years.
Perhaps the most famous of these happened in April of this year when the
Indonesian government executed eight people by firing squad for drug offenses,
including 2 Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran, who were the subject
of a years-long campaign for clemency. 4 Nigerians, a Brazilian and an
Indonesian were also executed.
In addition to all the reasons for being against the death penalty, it's clear
that imposing the death penalty for drug-related crimes does not protect people
from drug abuse. In the World Drug Report 2014, the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime estimates that in 2012, there were 183,000 drug-related deaths worldwide.
Drug overdose is the chief cause of drug-related deaths worldwide, with opioids
being the main drug category implicated in those deaths. There is no proof,
however, that the death penalty reduces drug consumption.
Neither does the death penalty deter drug trafficking. Take Singapore: the
country has had very strict laws for drug-related offenses since 1973 and has
in fact been a world leader in imposing the death penalty for such crimes. In
spite of this, the Central Narcotics Bureau of Singapore reported record
numbers of drug seizures in 2012.
In addition, serious concerns have been raised over trial standards in
countries that allow the death penalty for drug-related offenses, according to
Harm Reduction International. Independent human rights groups have uncovered
evidence of confessions extracted under coercion or torture in China, Egypt,
Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and others. The trial standards for
such crimes have also raised concerns in Cuba, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea and
Syria, amongst other countries.
The World Day against the Death Penalty was created in 2003 to help activists
worldwide rally to oppose the death penalty.
The focus for 2015 is to end the use of the death penalty for drug-related
offenses, but whatever the reason for the death sentence, deliberately taking
another person's life is not justice; it is nothing more than a crude
instrument of revenge. We should banish the death penalty now.
(source: Judy Molland, care2.com)
***************
Why a world day against the death penalty?
First and foremost, because the fight against the death penalty is one of the
major battles for human rights, such as the fight to abolish slavery or
torture.
It is also a fight in which, every year, the abolitionists are gradually
gaining ground over the retentionists (countries that retain and apply the
death penalty).
Today, 1/2 of the countries represented in the United Nations (UN) have
abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. Only 58 retain and apply the
death penalty. 30 years ago, the situation was exactly the opposite, with
abolitionist countries representing a minority.
The death penalty, more than ever before, is the symbol of the fight of reason
against ignorance, the force of right against the right to force, the fight
against all inequalities and injustices, be they racial, ethnic or religious
and, ultimately, always social.
It is also a weapon for the oppression of peoples, who are made to believe that
they will receive justice, when capital punishment is, in fact, often no more
than the long arm of tyranny.
"But democracies," you may tell me "also deliver and execute the death
penalty."
I grant you that, but it may surprise you to know that an ever-diminishing
number is applying the death penalty.
Indeed, any democratic process inevitably goes hand in hand with a progressive
or even a radical break with the practices of the past, from the time of the
dictators and oppressors. Such was the case, for example, in South America in
the 1990s, after the military dictatorships (the whole of Latin America has now
abolished capital punishment), or post-Soviet Europe (Belarus is the last
retentionist state).
It is not without reason that the peoples of the world who have suffered
genocides - Armenia, Israel, Cambodia and Rwanda - have nonetheless all had the
strength and felt duty-bound to abolish the death penalty. The same is true of
the highest international jurisdictions, the International Criminal Court (ICC)
and the International Crimes Tribunals (ICT), despite their having to try the
perpetrators of the world's most serious crimes: war crimes, crimes against
humanity or genocide.
A few democracies still use capital punishment: the United States, Japan and
India, for example. Most of them, however, only now use it on rare occasions.
Even in the United States, things are moving forward. In 1999, there were 98
executions, compared with 35 in 2014, in 8 states, and 22 executions in 2015
(figure as at 1 October), in 6 states.
The fall both in the number of executions and death sentences, as well as in
the number of retentionist states, is the beginning of a gradual end to the
implementation of the death penalty in the U.S. and most likely heralds its
official abolition in the coming years.
Drug trafficking and the death penalty
Today, the fight for the abolition of the death penalty is above all centred on
the Middle East (particularly Saudi Arabia and Iran) and Asia.
Saudi Arabia, with more than 150 executions in 2015, has already surpassed the
figures for last year. Since President Hassan Rouhani took office in Iran, the
number of executions has doubled.
The injustices are many and routine. Ali Mohamed Al-Nimr comes to mind: a young
man condemned to death in a mock trial, even though he was a minor, for having
demonstrated against the royal family and for belonging to the country's Shia
minority.
Mahmood Barati also comes to mind: a teacher in the city of Taybad, in Iran,
who was executed for drug trafficking on 8 September, following an unfair trial
in which he was sentenced based on the testimony of another person accused of
drug trafficking, who was also subsequently executed, and who had retracted his
testimony before the courts on 2 occasions.
The link between drug trafficking and the death sentence is, precisely, at the
heart of the World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2015.
Understanding the issues around this theme is crucial, given the breadth of the
implications in terms of human rights, as well as at public and international
policy level.
Most of the countries with the world's highest execution rates issue the death
sentence to people involved in drug trafficking (be they "hard" or "soft"
drugs); that is, 32 countries (plus Gaza).
There has, in fact, been a sharp rise in executions for drug-related crimes in
7 countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and
Indonesia.
These executions are ordered in total contravention of international human
rights standards, whereby the death penalty should only apply to the most
serious crimes, such as intentional homicide. In most cases, the executions do
not correspond to such crimes.
The death penalty, moreover, is used both as an electoral and a diplomatic
tool. Since the 1980s, we have, in fact, been witnessing a - totally legitimate
- international campaign termed the War on Drugs. This policy is being led, at
international level, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
which is sponsoring extensive programmes to fight drugs.
Applying the death sentence is, for some, the "only visible way" of showing
that governments are taking action.
Retentionist states use this international campaign (and the millions of
dollars that go with it) to execute small drug dealers, couriers or
???mules???, which account for the vast majority of the prisoners executed.
They are often foreigners, people in vulnerable situations. Women (sometimes
pregnant) are often used to smuggle drugs across borders, as customs officers
are generally less suspicious of them.
Cooperation in the fight against drugs often leads to European diplomacy
finding itself involved in absurd situations and aberrations. Australia, the
United Kingdom and France, for example, help the Vietnamese or Indonesian
police to arrest drug trafficking suspects, at the same time as fighting tooth
and nail against the execution of their own nationals, often after assisting
with their detention.
Examples such as Serge Atlaoui, a French national who was almost executed in
Indonesia, and the other foreign nationals executed by firing squad on 29 April
2015 speak volumes. These policies are used locally to justify the lack of a
national health policy and their lack of long-term vision.
It is essential that European governments interact with the UNODC to stop this
worrying rise in drug-related executions and with a view, in the long run, to
ensuring the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes.
(source: Opinion, Raphael Chenuil-Hazan; Equal Times)
SINGAPORE/BELGIUM:
Belgian expat's murder charge sparks discussion about the death penalty in
Belgium
The arrest of Belgian expatriate Philippe Graffart for the alleged murder of
his 5-year-old son has attracted media attention in Belgium, with many Belgian
news reports focusing on how he faces the death penalty.
Newspapers like the La Derniere Heure (The Latest Hour), a French-language
daily published in Brussels, kicked off their reports by stating that Graffart
faces the death penalty by hanging if he is convicted. Others, such as La
Meuse, a French-language regional paper published in Liege, Belgium, ran the
death penalty threat as a headline.
Graffart, 41, was charged in court on Wednesday with the murder of his son,
Keryan Gabriel Cedric Graffart. The boy was understood to have been strangled
as hand-shaped bruises were found over his neck.
The La Derniere Heure said on Wednesday that Graffart's mother was trying to
help him. The newspaper also quoted Graffart's uncle, who was unnamed, as
saying that the family was "in shock" over the incident.
Belgian minister of foreign affairs Didier Reynders said that consular
assistance has been offered to Graffart's family in Singapore, according to the
La Derniere Heure. Mr Reynders also told the Brussels newspaper that Belgium is
against the death penalty.
"Belgium is campaigning in the front line and has always been against the death
penalty. We operate all over the world to demand its abolition. Belgium's
position is very clear on the matter. If any of our people had to be condemned
to such penalty, it is clear that we will take steps to publicise our position
again," the La Derniere Heure quoted Mr Reynders as saying.
The Straits Times was not able to verify the comments, as the Belgian Foreign
Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Corporation, which is responsible for
Belgium's external relations, had not responded to messages by press time. The
Belgian Embassy in Singapore has declined to comment on the case.
Meanwhile, many Belgians have commented on the case online.
"This jerk, he deserves death, rest in peace little angel." said Marie-therese
Rodts Marino said in a comment on Belgian newspaper Sud Presse's Facebook page.
On La Meuse's website, someone named Martine Monseur said:"May this little
innocent victim rest in peace. Belgium should institute the death penalty for
people who harm children!"
But other netizens were critical of the death penalty.
Said Marie-francoise Cambron: "I am against the death penalty because it does
not change what he did and will not bring back the little boy."
(source: Straits Times)
AUSTRALIA:
Australian Lawyers For Human Rights (ALHR) has spoken out about the need for
the death penalty to be abolished worldwide prior to the 13th World Day Against
the Death Penalty.
ALHR recently lodged a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade regarding Australia's international
advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty.
"ALHR strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of
principle," ALHR Qld Convenor Benedict Coyne said.
"We consider that its use clearly violates fundamental international human
rights norms, such as the right to life and the right not to be subjected to
torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment."
Mr Coyne said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognise these rights, and the death
penalty undermines human dignity, which is inherent to everyone.
"ALHR recognises that every country has the right to approach domestic criminal
justice issues in a sovereign manner, and a responsibility to protect the
public from crime. However, the death penalty is not an effective way to do so
and the taking of life is far too absolute and irreversible a measure for the
State to impose, even when backed by legal process."
ALHR commends Australians on their non-partisan view on the issue and their
focus on international advocacy.
"Globally, the cause of abolition is making slow but steady progress.
Australian people are strongly passionate about promoting this historic
humanitarian cause, as was evidenced by the outpouring of support for Andrew
Chan and Myuran Sukumaran."
The World Day Against the Death Penalty was established to combat the primitive
practice of capital punishment, and for its 13th year the group has put an
emphasis on raising awareness around the application of the death penalty for
drug-related offences.
"This very important day marks the great distinction between humanity's ability
for civility and the barbarity of state-sanctioned murder."
(source: Lawyer's Weekly)
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