March 31
GLOBAL:
The 13 countries where being an atheist is punishable by death
Around the world, a number of countries continue to criminalize atheists and
humanists, with 13 having laws which enable them to impose the death penalty.
It's often said that the world is becoming an increasingly secular place. Just
last week David Cameron sparked backlash when he used his Easter message to
describe the UK as "a Christian country". Critics pointed out that just 30 per
cent of people in the UK describe themselves as religious, making Britain one
of the least religious countries in the world. 53 per cent of people say they
have no faith, while 13 per cent claim they are committed atheists.
However, despite the prevalance of atheism and humanism in the UK, many may be
surprised to know that having no faith can be a life or death matter around the
world. In thirteen countries, you can be sentenced to death for not having a
faith:
1. Afghanistan.
2. Iran.
3. Malaysia.
4. Maldives.
5. Mauritania.
6. Nigeria.
7. Pakistan.
8. Qatar.
9. Saudi Arabia.
10. Somalia.
11. Sudan
12. United Arab Emirates
13. Yemen
In a number of other countries, the death penalty is not a formal punishment on
statute books but atheists and humanists have been murdered by religious
extremists on account of their beliefs.
In countries including India and Bangladesh, police have been accused of
condoning these murders by failing to investigate them properly. At least 3
atheist bloggers have been hacked to death in Bangladesh after penning posts
advocating that scientific proof should inform opinion above religious beliefs.
(source: The Times of India)
IRAN:
Iranian group gets help from Islam to save juveniles from execution ---- As 160
under-18s wait on death row in the Islamic Republic, an NGO is raising blood
money and public awareness to halt executions of juvenile offenders
On the night of 22 March 2009, 17-year-old Hamid was in his dad's mini-bus when
their neighbour's son, Ayyoub, 16, got in. Hamid was in the business of selling
mobile phones, and Ayyoub had been in dispute with him for days over a
cellphone he'd bought from him. As their argument became heated, Hamid grabbed
part of a seat cover and strangled Ayyoub.
Hamid was sentenced to death by hanging. Murder in Iran carries capital
punishment even for minors who are incarcerated until the sentence is carried
out when they turn 18. The execution can be halted only if the victim's family
pardons the offender, usually in return for blood money.
Ayyoub's father, Ali Kouravand, considered a pardon but this was in Izeh, a
city in the south-western province of Khuzestan with strong tribal networks. As
Hamid and Ayyoub were from different tribes, the father could not decide on his
own. His tribe set stringent conditions for a pardon. They demanded that the
killer's family pay the victim's a large sum, and then to leave Izeh.
It took the NGO Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society much negotiation
before Ayyoub's family agreed to a pardon. In December 2015 Kouravand took his
family to Ahvaz prison to meet his son's killer - knowing that by pardoning
Hamid, his family would be boycotted by their tribe, at least for a while.
Hamid had been prepared by Farzad Hosseini from Imam Ali Society. "His mind was
frozen, he didn't know how to react," says Hosseini. "Before he entered the
room where Ayyoub's family were waiting, I told him: 'Kiss their hands and
apologise. Keep your head down'."
Hamid did as he was asked. He bowed and kissed Kouravand's hand, and in
response Kouravand kissed his cheek, pardoned him and gave him his blessing.
The family received around $35,000 in blood money, partly gathered by Imam Ali
society through public fundraising.
Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society was founded in 1999 by a group of
students at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology led by Sharmin
Meymandi-Nejad, originally to combat poverty. Today 15,000 volunteers are
involved in projects to help the vulnerable in 12 provinces including Tehran,
Fars, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Hormozgan and Qom.
A playwright and university teacher, Meymandi-Nejad had been intrigued in 1997
by the case of Gholam Reza Khoshrou, known as khoffash-e shab (the night bat),
who was tried and executed for the murder of nine women, some of whom he had
raped. Meymandi-Nejad followed the story of Khoshrou in prison with the aim of
making a documentary but was struck by the hardships Khoshrou had faced as a
child, growing up with a step-mother in a poor and violent neighbourhood before
being sent to a juvenile detention centre and at 18 to prison, where, he told
his phycologist, he was raped many times by other prisoners.
When Khoshrou was executed, Meymandi-Nejad promised himself he would do his
best to help kids in violent neighbourhoods to keep them from becoming another
Khoshrou. This led by 2006 to Meymandi-Nejad's decision to work against the
execution of juvenile offenders.
Since then the group has saved 25 juvenile offenders - including one woman -
from execution and are working on nearly 50 other cases. Where offenders'
families cannot afford the blood money, the group raises funds from the public
through conferences and online campaigning.
Cases usually come to their attention when juvenile offenders' families seek
their help, as Imam Ali Society lacks access to court files. "We face lots of
restrictions, there is no systematic support," says Hosseini, 33, who became
involved 8 years ago when a civil engineering student at Sharif University. "We
can't even visit our clients in prison easily. It depends on the prison staff
who sometimes out of humanity let us pay limited visits to the offenders."
After gathering information by reading official documents, talking to the
offender's family, and if possible visiting the offender in prison, comes what
Hosseini describes as the "very difficult and complicated" task of approaching
the victim's family to seek a pardon.
By the time the Imam Ali Society is involved, the case is usually a few years
old, which as Hosseini says, means the victim's family anger and desire for
revenge have had time to fester. The visit is often far from smooth.
Hosseini says he and fellow volunteers were attacked by one family of a murder
victim: "They wanted to kill us." But over time they were not only able to talk
to the family but even convince them to share a meal with the offender's
family.
"Everything depends on how we treat the [victim's] family," he says. "When we
approach the next of kin, we see them as our own family. We put ourselves in
their shoes. To us, the person who was killed is like our own brother or
father."
Hosseini carries with him a photograph of a father of 7 killed 10 years ago by
a 17-year-old male, forgiven by the victim's family last autumn. "I really love
him like my own father."
But however time-consuming the process can be, most cases are not successful.
Hosseini says only 1 or 2 out of 100 see the victim's family pardoning the
juvenile offender. He cites the case of Alireza Shahi, hanged in November 2015
in Rajaei Shahr prison in Karaj city, west of Tehran, 7 years after he killed
someone during a street fight when he was 18.
"We tried so hard to convince the victim's family, but they didn't want to
listen at all," recalls Hosseini. "Even the night before the execution, we went
to the prison and were next to his [Shahi's] family until dawn. We were hoping
that maybe the execution would be halted, but in the morning he was executed. I
visited Alireza in prison twice. I hugged him. He was like my own brother. He
was so innocent. It all had happened during a fight. I really can't understand
- why should this kid be executed?"
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says no death sentences should be
imposed for offences committed by individuals under 18. Iran ratified the
convention in July 1994, but the age of adult criminal responsibility remains 9
lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.
While Imam Ali Society's ultimate goal is to change the law and stop all
executions of juvenile offenders, it has welcomed more limited changes. In May
2013 a new Islamic Penal Code was adopted, with Article 91 allowing a judge to
impose an alternative punishment if there is doubt over the offender's maturity
and wisdom, or if the judge determines the juvenile did not comprehend the
nature of the crime or its consequences. In December 2014, the general board of
the supreme court ruled that all juvenile offenders on death row were entitled
to request a retrial based on Article 91.
But these changes didn't bring actual results. Hosseini says since 2013 they
have encountered 2 or 3 cases positively affected by Article 91. Amnesty
International reported 12 executions of juvenile offenders in 2014 and 4 in
2015: there had been 4 in 2012 and 9 in 2013.
Iran doesn't deny it executes juvenile offenders but often disagrees with
numbers reported. The authorities also argue they are trying to make changes.
In January in a meeting with the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child in
Geneva, Mahmoud Abbasi, deputy for human rights and international affairs at
the justice ministry, said that reforming policies would not work without
changing the attitudes "particularly of policy-makers and those directly
involved with children".
Neither the UN nor Iranian activists are prepared to ease up. On 14 March,
during the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN
special rapporteur on Iran Ahmed Shaheed said that "at least 73 juvenile
offenders were reportedly executed" in Iran between 2005 and 2015. He added
that "at least 160" others are on death row.
3 representatives from Imam Ali Society, including Hosseini, were present
during the session. On 14 March, in response to Shaheed's report, a
representative read a statement noting the lack of implementation in many cases
of Article 91 and restating opposition to executing those who committed the
offence when aged under 18.
Hosseini says change should come primarily from below. "We believe that most of
our social and human rights issues are solvable if we empower civil society
within the country," he explains. "When we started working years back, public
mentality was different. People didn't want to get close to imprisoned kids.
But now through our efforts people are willing to help juvenile offenders, even
murderers. Currently several thousand people [in Iran] are in favour of the
abolition of death penalty for juvenile offenders, so now the judiciary and
those in charge have realised these laws need to be changed."
(source: The Guardian)
BELARUS:
New death sentence in Belarus: "EU opposes capital punishment in all cases"
The European Union has again called on Belarus to abolish the death penalty,
following confirmation by the country's Supreme Court of a new death sentence
this week. "Despite the seriousness of the acts, the European Union opposes
capital punishment in all cases," said the EU spokesperson in a statement
issued yesterday, adding: "It has proved to fail as a deterrent and it
represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity."
"We urge Belarus, the only country in Europe which still applies capital
punishment, to respect the right to life of each one of its citizens and to
join a global moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its
abolition," the statement added.
(source: enpi-info.eu)
PAKSITAN:
Pakistan Pledges Not to Amend Law That Imposes Death Penalty for Blasphemy
Muslim radicals ended a four-day sit-in in a high-security "red zone" near
Pakistan's federal parliament, claiming victory after the government late
Wednesday gave assurances it will not seek to amend the country's notorious
blasphemy laws or show leniency to anyone convicted under them.
The government's pledge to the protestors came just days after a deadly Easter
Sunday bombing in Pakistan's 2nd-biggest city underlined anew the threats faced
by minority Christians both from terrorists and from Islamist extremists like
those at the sit-in in the capital.
The protestors, estimated at 25,000-strong at the peak of their demonstration,
are supporters of a police officer executed a month ago for the 2011 murder of
a provincial governor he was paid to protect. Bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri became a
hero to many fundamentalist Muslims after killing Punjab governor Salman
Taseer, whom he had accused of blasphemy.
During the sit-in some protestors, members of radical Sunni groups known for
their zeal for Mohammed and the Qur'an, clashed with police and set fire to
buses and bus shelters.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had ordered that the protest be brought to an end,
peacefully, by Wednesday. Pakistani media reported that protest leaders
declared victory after talks with government officials netted them several of
their listed demands.
They included an assurance that no amendments will be made to provision 295-C
of the penal code, which states that "Whoever by words, either spoken or
written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or
insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy
Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death."
According to the private television network Geo News, Daily Times and other
outlets, the government also promised that no-one convicted under the blasphemy
laws will be spared.
The government agreed further to release hundreds of people arrested during the
sit-in who do not stand accused of attacking property or personnel, and in
response to demands that shari'a be imposed across Pakistan agreed that clerics
would submit proposals on the matter to the religious affairs ministry.
Government ministers portrayed the various points as an "understanding," saying
no written agreement was signed with protest leaders. Interior Minister
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan declared that no future protests would be allowed in
the capital's "red zone."
On 2 of the protestors' demands, the government gave no assurances: They had
called for Qadri to be publicly declared a "martyr," and for the execution of
Asia Bibi, the 1st Christian woman in Pakistan to be sentenced to death for
blasphemy.
Asia Bibi, a mother of 5, has been on death row since her conviction in 2010
for "blaspheming" Mohammed. Qadri murdered Taseer after the governor, a liberal
Muslim, came out in support of Asia Bibi and called for her pardon.
'Appeasement'
How much of a concession the government has made to the protestors by pledging
not to touch the blasphemy laws is debatable, since there has been no
significant attempt to amend or annul them for years.
The last tentative effort to amend the blasphemy laws, by a lawmaker in the
then-ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was dropped just weeks after
Taseer's assassination after its sponsor, who had received death threats,
failed to receive the support of her own party.
Religious freedom advocates say Christians and other minorities have long been
disproportionately targeted under the blasphemy laws, which at times have also
been used as a pretext in instances of personal grudges or business disputes.
Individuals accused of blasphemy have frequently been attacked by mobs, and
vigilantes claiming to be protecting the honor of the prophet have taken the
law into their own hands.
Among many killed in such circumstances was a High Court judge, shot to death
in his Lahore chambers in 1997 after acquitting a man who had been convicted of
blasphemy by a lower court; a minority Ahmadi lawyer, shot dead in 2014 after
agreeing to represent a university lecturer facing blasphemy charges; and a
Christian couple, accused by a mob of blasphemy and burned alive in a brick
kiln, also in 2014.
On Sunday more than 70 people, many of them women and children, were killed in
a suicide bombing at a public part in Lahore. Claiming responsibility for the
attack, a Pakistan Taliban offshoot made it clear the target was Christians
celebrating Easter.
Earlier this week Xavier William, head of a Pakistani Christian human rights
advocacy group, Life For All, responded to queries about both the Easter Sunday
bombing and the Islamabad sit-in.
"Religious intolerance, sectarian violence and blatant terrorism is destroying
the very core of our social fabric," William said.
"In a plural Islamic society, which is what we must aspire and strive to
become, there is no place for intolerance, violence and appeasement of
extremist groups who are trying to make our nation hostage to their
obscurantist ideology."
Human Rights Focus Pakistan president Naveed Walter accused the government of
having "no long-term strategy to eliminate terrorism from the society," citing
both its response to terrorist threats against Christians, and the sit-in in
Islamabad in support of Qadri - whose execution, Walter said, "also increased
hatred against the Christian community."
(source: CNSNews.com)
INDIA:
Man sentenced to death for 2012 Anaimalai double murder case
A local court in Coimbatore on Wednesday awarded death penalty to a 28-year-old
man for murdering 2 women at Anaimalai in 2012. For the double murder, Rajiv
was awarded the death penalty and for the attempt to murder, he was sentenced
to life imprisonment," said E R Sivakumar, additional public prosecutor. and a
case was registered against him under Sections 302 (Murder), 307 (attempt to
murder) and 506(ii) (criminal intimidation). Rajiv had moved the high court
against the life imprisonment and the sentence was commuted to 7 years
imprisonment. He added that the death penalty was awarded mainly because of the
cruelty of the murder and also considering the fact that the accused was
punished for the similar crime earlier.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, G Vijaya, also sentenced him to
life imprisonment for the charge of attempt to murder and 3 years' imprisonment
for the charge of criminal intimidation.The convict M Rajiv Gandhi, a resident
of Anaimalai in Coimbatore district, was a juvenile offender who was sentenced
to life imprisonment when he was 17 years old. In 2005, he had murdered a man
named Kanakaraj.
In that case his neighbour N Murugan was 1 of the witnesses. Rajiv had moved
the high court against the life imprisonment and the sentence was commuted to 7
years imprisonment. He came out of jail in February 2012. Rajiv then stayed in
his house, which was close to Murugan's home.
(source: nyoooz.com)
********************
Triple blast convicts plead for leniency in sentence before POTA court----Prime
conspirator Saquib Nachan says his father made him surrender before court
"My father held my hand and made me surrender before court. He asked me only
one thing: Did you execute the blast? When I said no, he took me to the court.
He had blind faith in the judiciary," Saquib Nachan told the Special Prevention
of Terrorist Act (POTA) court on Wednesday.
Seeking leniency and asking the court to sentence him to the period already
undergone by him in prison, he said: "Not only me but my entire family suffered
because of the terror tag, my children were called as sons of a terrorist and
as I suffered in prison, they also suffered outside."
Nachan, who claimed he prepared his case overnight after the conviction was
handed down to him under the POTA and Arms Act charges, said: "Under POTA it
was the discretion of the court to hand over the sentence, if he feels it can
be even one day or only Rs100 fine, the wordings of the explanation of the
section for possessing weapons in a notified area says imprisonment up to life
and does not specify a minimum sentence."
Nachan, who was a businessman, claimed he suffered huge financial losses and
his family which has certain repute in the local community at Padgha village
suffered a face loss among peers. He also told the court that last month his
father passed away and at times when he saw him in prison, he would feel it was
a mistake to ask him to surrender. But he would immediately console himself and
me that judiciary will give the right decision.
Similarly, Muzammil Ansari, who planted 3 bombs between 2002-2003 at Mumbai
Central, Vile Parle and Mulund train blast, told the court that for the last 13
years he has suffered great mental agony being in prison. He claimed he was
falsely implicated and his co-workers at the private firm in Andheri where he
worked deposed falsely against him.
Ansari, who face the death penalty, sought for interim bail to meet his family
and said he was tortured and illegally detained by the police. Moreover, he has
not been able to return anything back to his parents who educated him. Ansari
is a mechanical engineer by education. He also said that while in prison he
helped other inmates in writing letters to their family members.
The POTA court on Tuesday convicted 10 accused, including conspirators Saquib
Nachan and planter Muzammil Ansari, for planning and executing triple blasts,
in 2002-2003. The court acquitted 3 accused of all charges leveled against
them. On Wednesday all of the convicted pleaded for leniency in sentence before
the court.
(source: dnaindia.com)
*************
Man gets death penalty for double murder
The IV-Additional District Judge here, on Wednesday, awarded death penalty to a
30-year-old man for murdering the wife and daughter of his neighbour, who had
earlier testified against him in a murder case.
Additional Public Prosecutor E.R. Sivakumar said that M. Rajivgandhi alias
Marimuthu (30) of Subbaiya Goundan Pudur Sungam near Anamalai, murdered
Kanagaraj on November 1, 2005. The Fast Track Court in Coimbatore awarded him
life imprisonment on August 7, 2006.
"He made an appeal in the Madras High Court where the sentence was commuted to
7 years imprisonment. Rajivgandhi was released in 2012. He held a grudge
against his neighbour N. Murugan (60) for testifying against him in the murder
case," Mr. Sivakumar said.
Rajivgandhi and Murugan were farm labourers who lived in adjacent houses that
they built on a poramboke land.
"Rajivgandhi asked Murugan for a portion of the latter's land to expand his
house, which Murugan refused," Mr. Sivakumar said and added that this
infuriated Rajivgandhi further.
Around 6 p.m. on February 11, 2012, Murugan's wife M. Palaniammal (55) and 2
daughters M. Jothimani (31) and M. Magudeeswari (28) went to a vacant space
behind their house to ease themselves, when Rajivgandhi blocked their way and
attacked them with a machete.
"Suffering around 18 deep cuts all over their bodies, Palaniammal and Jothimani
died on the spot. Badly injured Magudeeswari fell unconscious. Murugan and his
son Manikandan (26) tried to rescue the 3 when Rajivgandhi threatened to kill
them. He fled on a 2-wheeler in which his accomplice, Jothimani (55), was
waiting," Mr. Sivakumar added.
Anamalai Police registered a case under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to
murder) and 506(ii) of the Indian Penal Code.
They arrested Rajivgandhi about 15 days later as he was under hiding and he was
lodged in jail since then.
Accomplice Jothimani who helped him escape the scene died during the course of
trial about a year ago.
On Wednesday, judge G. Vijaya awarded death sentence to Rajivgandhi for a
murder, life imprisonment for another murder and 3 years imprisonment for
attempt to murder, all to be served concurrently. Rajivgandhi was lodged at the
Coimbatore Central Prison.
(source: The Hindu)
**************
Sharad Yadav favors death penalty to liquor manufacturers
Days after Bihar Government unanimously passed the Bihar Excise Bill, which
holds stringent punishments, including death penalty for the country's liquor
makers and sellers, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Thursday said the decision was
justifying and welcoming. Yadav stated that to accomplish the idea of 'liquor
free state', strict measures are necessary to be taken.
(source: ANI)
SINGAPORE:
Sarawakian on death row in Singapore to know fate next week
A Malaysian man who faces the gallows in Singapore will find out next Tuesday
whether his sentence is commuted by the country's Court of Appeal.
Kho Jabing, 31, who is from Ulu Baram, Sarawak faces the gallows for killing a
Chinese construction worker with a tree branch back in 2008 during a robbery
attempt.
He was scheduled to be executed on Nov 6 last year but received a stay the day
before, after his lawyer filed a motion raising points of law about the way the
case was handled.
We Believe in Second Chances founder Kirsten Han said the Singapore-based
non-governmental organisation was making arrangements to bring Jabing's family
to Singapore.
"Jabing's judgement will be out on Tuesday 5 April, 9.30am at the Court of
Appeal," she told The Star Online on Thursday.
Jabing was sentenced to death in 2010 but in August 2013, following revisions
to Singapore's mandatory death penalty laws, the High Court sentenced him to
life and 24 strokes of the cane instead.
The prosecution challenged the decision before the Court of Appeal, which again
sentenced Jabing to death in a 3-2 majority decision earlier this year.
On Oct 19, Singapore president Tony Tan rejected a clemency petition before a
stay of execution by the Court of Appeal.
In 2013, the Singapore government amended the mandatory death penalty that gave
judges the discretion to choose between death and life imprisonment with caning
for all but the most serious category of murder, as well as certain cases of
drug trafficking.
(source: The Star)
MALAYSIA:
Kasthuri: Putrajaya should 'walk the talk' on executions
There should be no executions until the bill to abolish the "mandatory" death
penalty is tabled in Parliament.
When there's a possibility of judicial blunders, no one can ensure that just
and right sentences have been rendered to the accused, pointed out Batu Kawan
MP Kasthuri Patto in a statement.
"The government should walk the talk that there shall be no executions until
the Bill to abolish the 'mandatory' death penalty was tabled in Parliament."
The Attorney-General and the government should not play Russian roulette with
the lives of inmates on death row by arbitrary, "secretive" and hasty
executions, she added. "It should immediately impose a moratorium on executions
for all crimes."
The MP was commenting on the fact that it would be a week on Friday since the
"secretive" execution of 3 men in Taiping. "They had been sentenced to death
for a crime that took place in 2005 in Sungai Petani."
The families had been given a letter from the Taiping Prisons Department on
Wednesday 23 March informing them that they may visit their sons on Thursday
after 9 am and that they will be carrying out the executions in the soonest
time, noted Kasthuri. "The letter concluded that the families may also discuss
on claiming the bodies of the 3 men after the execution for their burials."
The letters had been dated 10 March and according to the families, they had
only received them on 23 March, a delay of 13 days, said the MP. "This may be
deliberate to deprive the families of help and support from various bodies who
may try to halt the executions."
While she does not condone or defend the crimes committed by the 3 men and
other offenders, the nature in which the executions had taken place had been
extremely shady, "secretive" and hasty, she reiterated. "To top it all,
questions have been raised if any particular case had become a victim of the
miscarriage of justice."
It is apparent that the prisons were bent on executing the 3 men come hell or
high water, charged the MP.
In November last year, she reminded, a roundtable discussion had been held in
Parliament by "Parliamentarians for Global Action for the Abolition of the
Death Penalty" on initiatives, commitments and particularly reforms on the
state of inmates on death row and the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.
The main outcome of the meeting was that the government put in place an
official moratorium on executions pending the assessment of the report on
effectiveness of the death penalty, said Kasthuri. "The government pledged to
introduce a Bill to abolish the mandatory death penalty for all offences and a
review of the existing death row cases."
(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)
JAPAN----executions
Japan executes an elderly man and a woman, despite international calls for
abolition
FIDH and its member organisation in Japan, Center for Prisoners' Rights,
strongly condemn the execution of 2 prisoners in Japan that took place last
week. On Friday 25 March, Japan's Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki authorised
the execution of Mr. Yasutoshi Kamata and Ms. Junko Yoshida. These are the 1st
executions to take place in Japan in 2016, adding to the 14 other executions
since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected in 2012.
Mr. Kamata's death sentence for murder charges was confirmed in 2005, and he
was 75 years old when he was executed last week. In response to a questionnaire
sent to him by a human rights group in 2015, he stated that he had "become
senile and did not understand anything complicated." The execution of Mr.
Kamata is particularly problematic considering the UN Human Rights Committee's
recommended in 2008 that Japan adopt "a more humane approach with regard to the
treatment of death row inmates and the execution of persons at an advanced age
or with mental disabilities." [1] Since the UN handed down this recommendation,
Japan has executed several elderly and mentally disabled individuals.
Ms. Yoshida, sentenced to death in 2010 for murder, had her request for a
retrial rejected last year. It is suspected that the Ministry of Justice
expedited her execution in so that she could not file another petition for
retrial. Following Ms. Yoshida and Mr. Kamata's executions, there remain 124
people sentenced to death in Japan.
In 2020, Japan will host the United Nations (UN) Congress on Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice. Considering the growing global trend towards abolition
and the multiple decisions by UN human rights bodies confirming that the use of
the death penalty entails serious human rights violations, the government of
Japan should abolish the death penalty before the 2020 Congress, in order to
bring its laws and criminal justice system in line with international human
rights standards.
Our organisations strongly condemn Japan's continued use of the death penalty,
and call on the government of Japan to immediately suspend all executions with
a view to ultimately abolishing the death penalty.
(source: fidh.org)
BAHAMAS:
Judge Spares Death Penalty, Laments Violent Crime Trend
A judge who spared a 22-year-old man the death penalty yesterday in connection
with a 2012 murder case expressed concern at an increasing trend of young men
under the age of 30 being tried and convicted of violent crimes.
Justice Indra Charles had been asked by prosecutor Uel Johnson to impose the
death sentence on Livingston Woodside for the June 3, 2012 shooting death of
Owen Rose Sr.
Rose, of Elizabeth Estates, was found dead that night at Washington Street with
gunshot wounds in his body.
It was the Crown's case that the murder was a paid execution with Woodside, who
was 19 at the time, pulling the trigger. His alleged accomplice, 19-year-old
Glenardo Johnson was 16.
A jury unanimously convicted both men of murder on May 1, 2015.
The judge sentenced Woodside to 40 years and Johnson to 35 years imprisonment
at the Department of Correctional Services to run from the date of conviction.
Both were credited 3 years for time spent on remand prior to conviction,
reducing their respective sentences to 37 and 32 years.
"One cannot restate the number of murders committed in this country by young
men like the ones in the prisoner's box," Justice Indra Charles stressed.
"It bothers me why so many young men are continuously before this court. It's
very rare to see someone who is 30 years old charged with these crimes. The
trend, it seems, is to see them much younger as even teens are appearing in
Supreme Court and it appears to me that message we (the court) are sending out
is not sounding."
"The court should be cognisant of the fact that just about every day the
newspapers read murder," the judge also stressed.
Justice Charles said notwithstanding these serious concerns, "each case must be
determined on its own peculiar facts."
"The Crown did seek the death penalty for Woodside. However, the court is of
the firm view that because of his young age, he's not a candidate for the death
penalty."
The judge acknowledged the 2011 amendment to the Penal Code, which followed the
Privy Council's decision in the Maxo Tido decision, which notes that only
certain types of aggravated murder are currently punishable by death. These
include murder of a law enforcement officer; murder of a judicial officer,
including judges, registrars and prosecutors; murder of a witness or juror;
murder of more than 1 person; murder committed by a defendant who has a prior
murder conviction; and murder in exchange for value.
"The amendment further provides that any murder committed in the course of/or
in furtherance of a robbery, rape, kidnapping, terrorist act, or any other
felony is punishable by death, with no explicit requirement of intent to cause
death.
"Justice Charles said the appellate court, in its Simeon Bain decision, ruled
that the crimes named in amendments met the threshold of consideration of the
imposition of the death penalty.
"However, she also had to consider the case on its own merits and whether the
circumstances determined it to be the "worst of the worst" and "rarest of the
rare."
"Justice Charles said she also had to consider Woodside's reasonable prospects
for reform as presented in a probation report given to the court.
"Despite the fact that this case qualifies for the death penalty, I don't think
the death penalty should be imposed," the judge said.
"Johnson was told that because of a provision in law, he could potentially be
released after serving 20 years following a review of his time in custody
because the offence was committed as a juvenile.
Justice Charles ordered both men to enrol in anger management sessions as "both
of you appeared to be angry throughout the trial."
Jiaram Mangra and Christina Galanos represented the pair at trial.
Johnson and Woodside have the right to appeal the conviction and sentences.
(source: tribune242.com)
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