Nov. 14
IRAN:
"Pope Francis should call for a moratorium on Iranian death penalty"----A day
before the Pope is due to meet Hassan Rohani, human rights organisations are
circulating facts and figures about the excessive use of the death penalty
It is a "deadly injustice". The figures on the implementation of the death
penalty in Iran "are very worrying indeed", Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam tells
Vatican Insider. Amiry-Moghaddam is an Iranian doctor who has lived in Norway
for many years and is founder of the Iran Human Rights organisation. The NGO
was created by Iranian citizens who sought political asylum abroad but are
still in direct contact with the homeland. Hence, President Hassan Rohani's
visit to Europe, which includes stops in Italy and the Vatican, is a chance to
call for a moratorium on the death penalty.
The figures contained in IHR's report titled "Deadly Injustice" are alarming:
648 people were executed in Iran in the 1st semester of 2015, a stark increase
compared to 2014, when a total of 753 executions took place in one year and
2013, when 687 executions were carried out in total. "The average number of
victims is almost 4 people a day. We are concerned because it's the highest
average in the last 21 years and we do not know why Rohani's government
promotes executions being carried out at such an intense rate," he explained.
Most of the victims (463 out of 648 in 2015) are sentenced to death for
drug-related crimes. "But the victims are often the smugglers who are paid
pittance, certainly not those who organise the trafficking," Amiry-Moghaddam
observed. Drug trafficking and dependency are growing among young people and
the authorities are using the death penalty as a deterrent against crime. But
the death sentence is not the solution and is not an efficient means of curbing
crime. We want the executions to stop."
"We believe that the meeting between Rohani and the Pope scheduled for 14
November, could be important" in drawing attention to the principle of respect
for life and the inefficiency of a practice such as capital punishment. "Even
though the Vatican is not a political power, it has a strong influence in terms
of values as well as in symbolic terms. A comment from the Pope could have an
impact: we are asking Francis to put the human rights issue on the discussion
agenda."
"Other states avoid this on account of economic, political and security
interests. They avoid it out of convenience. The Pope has the freedom to ask
for a moratorium on the death penalty in Iran," he continued.
Assessing the standard of respect for human rights in Iran, Mahmood
Amiry-Moghaddam remarked: "Besides the right to life which we mentioned,
looking at the freedom of expression, there has been an increase in the number
of blogs and the use of social media but there are also recurring waves of
repression against journalists."
Regarding freedom of conscience, he said: "we have been informed that those who
convert from Islam to other religions are under pressure and society is faced
with a new problem that is growing: discrimination against religious
minorities. Blasphemy is punishable by execution. The system uses Islam to put
pressure on the people and deny legitimate rights," he affirmed.
But the IHR leader sees a glimmer of hope on the horizon: "Despite these
difficulties, the international community has a role to play at the moment and
can have a positive impact given the current climate of political and economic
openness."
This is where the Pope comes in: "Years ago, there was talk of a "dialogue
between civilizations" between Iran and the Vatican and this is still possible:
a frank, open and constructive dialogue is always useful and fruitful. When
there is sincere dialogue, one can speak not just about the positive points but
also about critical aspects, with a view to overcoming them," he said with a
sense of hope.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam noted that "Pope Francis is popular in Iran, especially
among young people. Some months ago, his words against the death penalty went
viral and attracted support, particularly given that in the Middle East there
are many other religious leaders who call for a more stringent application of
it. Francis has created a very positive impression among the Iranian people who
appreciate his stance on poverty, care for the environment, dialogue and
welcome."
(source: Iran Human Righs)
SINGAPORE:
Man, 41, charged with murder of 75-year-old father
A 41-year-old man was charged in court on Sunday (Nov 15) with the murder of
his 75-year-old father.
Tan Kok Meng is accused of killing his father Tan Ah Hin on Friday (Nov 13) at
around 5.22pm in their Bedok North flat.
Tan appeared in court this morning wearing a red polo shirt. If convicted, he
faces the death penalty.
The prosecution has asked for him to be remanded at the medical complex in
Changi Prison for 3 weeks for psychiatric evaluation, as he told the
investigation officer that he has a history of mental illness.
The case will be heard again on Dec 4.
Neighbours told reporters that they heard a loud argument in Mandarin coming
from 4th-floor unit at Block 416 on Friday evening.
A police spokesman said officers found the elderly man lying motionless in his
home with head injuries when they arrived, after receiving a call around
5.20pm.
He was rushed to Changi General Hospital and was pronounced dead at 6.37pm.
(source: Straits Times)
INDONESIA:
Indonesian court sentences 2 drug smugglers to death
Indonesia sentenced 2 men to death Friday for running an worldwide drug
syndicate that smuggled 840 kg (1,850 pounds) of methamphetamine into the
country.
The sentences, however, were lighter than those demanded by public prosecutors
Teguh Ananto and Leila Qadria, who last week demanded the death penalty for all
syndicate members, including the ring leader, Wong Chi Ping, for violating
Article 114, Paragraph 2, of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics.
Wong was believed to have been the mastermind behind the smuggling of
methamphetamines from Hong Kong, on southeast China???s coast, to Indonesia,
packing the drugs into coffee containers, media reported.
A former fisherman, Wong started a fish business in Indonesia and eventually
married an Indonesian woman.
Judges in the trials concluded that there were no reasons for lenience and both
defendants deserved death sentences.
"The harsh penalty on drugs will provide a deterrent effect for those who are
looking to do such crimes", said Slamet Pribadi, spokesman for the agency,
after the West Jakarta District Court delivered its verdict.
Wong's lawyers said they would appeal against the sentence.
The National Narcotics Agency said it appreciated the judge's decision to send
the pair to the firing squad, although it had earlier expressed its
disappointment that the other 7 were spared. Widodo has accelerated the death
penalty campaign - so far 14 drug convicts have been executed during his
presidency, 12 of them foreigners.
(source: Rapid News Network)
PAKISTAN:
Walking the tightrope: Kaniza Bibi among 47 women on death row in Pakistan
Kaniza Bibi has been languishing in jail since 1989. According to her
relatives, she hasn???t said a word in eight years, since she was admitted to
the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) in Lahore due to her unstable
mental condition. The resident of a small town in Kamlia, a sub-district of
Toba Tek Singh, is among 47 women prisoners on death row in Pakistan, which has
now made it to the list of the top 3 executioners in the world.
Most of these prisoners are accused of murdering family members or husbands.
They have been unable to hire lawyers to plead their cases because of extreme
poverty, say interior ministry officials and representatives of civil activist
groups. And sooner or later, the Punjab Home Department will hang them under
the government's National Action Plan, which was formulated in the aftermath of
the brutal Army Public School massacre in Peshawar on December 16 last year.
"Kaniza Bibi recognised me but could not speak or hear me. Police not only
harassed her, but also brutally tortured her in jail," alleges Kaniza's cousin,
25-year-old Parveen Bibi, while speaking to The Express Tribune.
Parveen says her mother told her Kaniza was arrested in 1989, before Parveen
was born. Kaniza was sentenced to death for murder under Section 302/34 of the
Pakistan Penal Code. Not a single member of Kaniza's immediate family is alive,
adds Parveen, claiming that jail authorities issued Kaniza's black warrant
despite her long history of mental illness. She recalls the time when the
President of Pakistan at the time, Pervez Musharraf, rejected Kaniza's plea for
mercy. She says the entire village mourned the decision at the time. Around 50
other women had filed for mercy according to the villagers, says Parveen, but
none of them were granted clemency.
"She (Kaniza) has always maintained her innocence," says another cousin,
29-year-old Muhammad Munawar, who met Kaniza just before Eid. "Kaniza is almost
dead now. Doctors say she suffers from severe schizophrenia."
Framed?
Kaniza was working at one Khan Muhammad???s residence in Kamila as a housemaid
when her employer was accused of killing his entire family because he wanted to
marry a girl from the same town, Munawar quoted the police as saying. According
to the police statement, Khan allegedly killed his 5 children and his pregnant
wife before running away, says Munawar.
The police later arrested both Kaniza and Khan. Khan was executed in 2003,
while Kaniza, who was sentenced to death for being an accomplice, still
maintains her innocence, adds Munawar. Another relative of Kaniza, however,
claims the real killers of Khan Muhammad's family were Mohammad Habib and Allah
Yar, who both died of natural causes soon after the brutal murders. Kaniza's
cousin Muhammad Akram, 47, claims Allah Yar had a family dispute with Khan
Muhammad and ultimately managed to send him to jail. Akram also alleges that
Allah Yar, who was a landlord in the area, was involved in the murder of 2
other villagers. "Khan Muhammad was innocent. No one can kill their own family
members," he says.
Other relatives of Kaniza are also of the opinion that both she and Khan
Muhammad were framed for murders they did not commit. They say Mohammad Habib
and Allah Yar were initially arrested for the offence but managed to obtain
their release by bribing the local police and then filing a false police report
implicating Khan Muhammad and Kaniza. The police, on the other hand, say there
is no record of the case at the Kamila Police Station. Wishing to remain
anonymous, police officers on duty said that since the case is 2 1/2 decades
old, the file has perhaps been closed and the case gone to superior court. When
approached, family members of Mohammad Habib and Allah Yar refused to comment,
saying the case has been closed now.
Forced confession?
One of the counsels for Kaniza, Justice Project Pakistan's Namra Gilani says
her client's mental health is deteriorating with each passing day. She adds
they are also planning to move a petition to incumbent President Mamnoon
Hussain to review the case. Gilani says Kaniza's health worsened after she was
sentenced to death. Jail authorities and paramedics, too, are concerned about
Kaniza, she says. "I visited her as her counsel but she is too ill and unable
to record her statement. A fresh PIMH report prepared by a medical board also
states Kaniza cannot be executed due to her poor mental condition."
Kaniza's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia has been confirmed by successive
medical boards, claims Gilani. In the report sent to the superintendent of Kot
Lakhpat Jail, the PIMH wrote that the patient has lost her ability to
understand what is going on around her and is even unable to feed and clothe
herself. The medical report also confirmed that Kaniza hasn't spoken a word in
the last 8 years, says Gilani.
Kaniza's extended family claims she was tortured while in custody to extract a
confession. They say she was tortured so brutally at one stage that she had to
be admitted to a hospital. Although Kaniza initially challenged the confession,
saying it was involuntary, the court relied on it while handing the death
sentence to her and Khan Muhammad.
International concern
Another woman prisoner on death row is Aasia Bibi, a Christian accused of
blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death by a district court judge the
following year. Her case has garnered a lot of international attention, with
many rights groups flaying Pakistan's government for failing to protect
minorities. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has now decided to hear the appeal of
her high-profile case after the Lahore High Court upheld her death sentence
last year. Other cases of female inmates on death row are also pending in the
Supreme Court. Unlike Aasia, these women have no legal assistance, with no one
pleading their cases. Gilani said these women would have won their cases had
someone been representing them.
"Pakistan's return to using the death penalty, an inherently cruel and
irrevocable form of punishment, has been a tragic setback for human rights in
the country," says Andrew Stroehlein, European Media Director of the Human
Rights Watch.
Amnesty International's Press Officer Asia/Pacific, Olof Blomqvist stresses
that the government should impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a view
to eventually abolish it completely. "Pakistan has gone from being a country
that showed real progress on abolishing capital punishment to this year,
becoming one the world's top 3 executioners - a shameful club no one should
aspire to join."
Research Director at Death Penalty Worldwide of the International Human Rights
Clinic, Cornell University Law School, Delphine Lourtau fears the death penalty
is being used against women as part of gender-based violence. "Many women are
sentenced to death after being found guilty of killing a close family member,
often their spouse, in a context of physical and emotional abuse. Only rarely,
however, do courts recognise gender-based violence as a circumstance that
should lead to lighter sentencing. Moreover, women facing the death penalty are
often abandoned by their families and, having no wealth of their own in many
cases, find themselves without resources and support required to ensure that
they receive a fair trial," she says.
The government, however, is adamant the death penalty is the only deterrent in
the country. "Both, lifting the moratorium and quick executions, are the need
of the hour. We are waging a war against militants who are killing our
soldiers, our children, our leaders," stresses Minister of State for Interior
Balighur Rehman. "Hangings have not only discouraged militants, but also remain
a source for boosting the morale of our forces. We understand the concern of
rights groups, but we believe that in war, execution is the right punishment
for terrorists," he said in response to questions from lawmakers in Parliament
recently.
Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Zohra Yusuf says they
have taken the issue up with the Ministry of Interior. "But no one has listened
to us. There are only a few prisoners involved in terror-related incidents who
have been hanged. Deterrence is very low. We have even protested across the
country. Bring the official moratorium back, if abolishment is not possible"
she urges, adding Pakistan should review the cases of individuals for lesser
executions. "We wrote to the Ministry of Interior but their response is still
awaited."
The representative for Human Rights Watch in Pakistan, Saroop Ijaz, concurs
with Yusuf's argument. He, too, thinks very few of those involved in terror
attacks have been hanged. "It is a new low. Instead of making its citizens
safer by reforming the criminal justice system to ensure prosecution and
conviction of those involved in terrorist attacks, the Pakistan government went
on a killing spree after the horrific Peshawar [Army Public School] attack.
Only a small percentage of those executed were convicted of offences related to
terrorism. And amongst those executed were juveniles and people with
disabilities. The Pakistan government needs to reinstate the moratorium on the
death penalty and devise and implement legislative and policy measures."
(source: The Express Tribune)
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