april 24
EGYPT:
Egypt military court postpones verdict on 28 Morsi supporters for 3rd time
In February, the court sentenced eight of the 28 defendants to a preliminary
death sentence but did not issue sentences for the remaining 20 defendants
An Egyptian military court postponed on Sunday the issuing of a verdict in the
trial of 28 alleged supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi who were
accused of planning attacks on military and police personnel to 29 May.
In February, the court sentenced 8 of the 28 defendants to death. The court did
not issue sentences for the remaining 20 defendants.
15 of the defendants are detained, while the rest are on the run and being
tried in absentia.
The court referred its initial death penalty verdicts to the Grand Mufti of
Egypt -- the country's leading authority on religious edicts - for a
non-binding consultation as per Egyptian law.
In March, the court postponed issuing a verdict in the case until 3 April
without stating reasons. The verdict was further postponed on 3 April to 24
April.
The court is set to confirm or reverse the death sentences and rule on
1st-degree sentences for the 20 remaining defendants.
The awaited verdicts will be subject to appeal in the military cassation court.
(source: ahramonline.com)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi court approves death sentence for activist
Saudi Arabia's Court of Cassation endorsed Saturday a death sentence handed
down to an activist from the Shia community, 4 months after the execution of a
respected cleric by Riyadh sparked international outrage.
The court approved the sentence handed down to Yusof al-Mosheykhas, a citizen
of the Shia-dominated city of Awwamiyah in the eastern region of Qatif, Naba'
TV reported.
According to the report, Mosheykhas was arrested 2 years ago after he attended
several anti-government protests in his hometown. He was convicted of attempted
terrorist act in an initial trial and was incarcerated in January 2014.
Rights campaigners expressed concern about the imminent execution of
Mosheykhas, saying the activist could be put to death in an unknown location
without prior notice. That has been the case for other Saudis and foreigners
convicted of involvement in terror activities.
Back in January, Saudi Arabia executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a highly respected
Shia cleric and an outspoken critic of Riyadh from Qatif, only to trigger
massive condemnations around the world.
Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, an oil-rich region which includes Qatif and
Awwamiyah, was the scene of clashes between people and police since an uprising
began there in early 2011.
Riyadh has faced criticism by human rights groups and governments in the West
over its imposition of numerous restrictions on freedom of speech and the harsh
way the courts deal with dissent. Notable activists, including Raif Badawi, a
31-year-old blogger who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail
for his writings on the internet, has been behind bars in Saudi Arabia since
2012.
On Friday, the United Nations torture committee called on the Saudi government
to stop physical punishment, including flogging and amputations, carried out
against the convicts in the kingdom while it expressed concern about the abuse
of bloggers, activists and human rights lawyers in prisons.
(source: presstv.ir)
AUSTRALIA:
Australia should do more to stamp out capital punishment
The Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing
squad on the Indonesian island of Nusa Kambangan a year ago next Friday. Even a
year on, it stands as yet another case of barbarism in the cause of political
expediency, lives cut short and the potential for good extinguished for no
reason.
The 9-year legal wrangle that surrounded their conviction and incarceration,
further complicated by the murky behaviour of authorities, not least the
Australian Federal Police, ended with the execution of the pair. Naturally,
they had support from those against the death penalty, but their long residency
on death row garnered such widespread sympathy and support from Australia and
elsewhere that for a while it seemed some good could come from such a
groundswell of opposition.
The Bali 9 pair faced execution along with criminals from the Philippines,
France, Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia and, potentially, a mentally ill Brazilian.
The 2 Australians' lives were not worth more or less than the fellow condemned
or the thousands executed in Indonesia and other countries each year. But when
the pair were hurriedly taken to Nusa Kambangan, the barbarity of capital
punishment was brutally underscored, hopes for reform were replaced by impotent
outrage. Australia recalled its ambassador Paul Grigson in protest. It was
unprecedented, but he was back in Jakarta by the following June.
Indonesia's justification for killing offenders in the name of deterrence was
exposed as a fraud. To many in the West, the need to punish for punishment's
sake remains an Old Testament throwback to an-eye-for-an-eye. It has no place
in any modern, civilised, democratic nation. Indonesia's culpability in
reviving executions for convicted drug criminals and denying the Australian
pair clemency was no better or worse than the policies of China for killing
political prisoners or indeed so many states in the US for killing murderers.
It is simply wrong.
6 Australians have been executed since 1986 and around the world today there
are some dozen or so in jails, detained for serious offences or charged with
crimes that carry the death penalty. They include Peter Gardiner, the dual
Australia-New Zealand citizen caught with 30 kilograms of methamphetamine. This
week he is awaiting a Chinese court decision on whether or not he is to face a
firing squad.
Generally, Australia could make sure capital punishment is prominent in its
broader discussions about human rights and justice issues with countries to our
north, not least China. Nearly 90 % of the 1634 people Amnesty International
estimates were executed around the world in 2015 occurred in just 3 countries:
Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. However, these figures exclude China, where
numbers are thought to top 1000 but remain a state secret.
There will always be different opinions on the fundamentals of crime and
punishment. Many people favour capital punishment, but we support the
contention that having fewer world citizens exposed to the death penalty
represents a giant step forward for the common good of humanity.
Australia abolished the death penalty in 1973, accepting that the extinguishing
of a human life by the state is repugnant. Clearly, judicial killing can never
equal the score; it is the victory of revenge over redemption. The practical
argument, too, is persuasive. Death is absolute. It leaves no room for error or
doubt, and abuse by unaccountable authoritarian regimes. Information remains
limited but Amnesty International claims 150 US prisoners sent to death row
since 1973 have later been exonerated. Others have been executed despite
serious doubts about their guilt.
By pushing for the abolition of the death sentence everywhere, Australia will
make itself a more credible advocate for Australians anywhere.
(source: Editorial, Sydney Morning Herald)
************************
Life after Myuran and Andrew: The legacy of the executed Bali 9----It is a year
since Bali nine members Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were executed in
Indonesia, but they are not forgotten.MO<
We speak to 2 prisoners inside Bali's Kerobokan jail about the legacy of
executed Australian Myuran Sukumaran.
One of the life-affirming legacies of executed Bali 9 members Myuran Sukumaran
and Andrew Chan can be found on a crowded footpath in Kuta.
On a stool outside a jewellery shop, Billy Surya Adji sits sketching in his
makeshift B Billy gallery, oblivious to the snarl of traffic along Legian Kaja
Street.
His body is dead, but still his soul is here.
Billy met Chan and Sukumaran inside Bali's Kerobokan jail, where he was serving
more than 4 years for possessing crystal meth and marijuana, in 2013.
Sukumaran persuaded him to join drawing classes in the BengKer (workshop), an
oasis of art the man once known as the "ringleader" of the Bali 9 heroin
smugglers had helped establish behind bars.
"When I started focusing on painting, I stopped [taking drugs] completely,
because Myuran hated drug users," Billy says. "He would get so angry he would
throw stuff."
When Billy was clean, he started playing tennis, where he met Chan, who was
involved in the jail's church and sport activities.
"Andrew was a jokester. He would taunt us during tennis, saying 'you will lose,
you will lose, you will lose' ... and then he would end up losing himself."
Billy says he would probably still be using and selling drugs if he hadn't
started painting and playing tennis.
Now, he works as an artist, with commissions coming from passers-by and his
Facebook and Instagram accounts.
"I believe the reason I am clean is first the painting, Myuran's influence and
the tennis."
Just after midnight on April 29, 2015, Chan and Sukumaran were among 8
prisoners tied to a post and shot dead on the penal island of Nusakambangan?,
known as Indonesia's Alcatraz.
Nine years earlier, they had been sentenced to death for their role in a foiled
attempt to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.
Chan's widow, Febyanti Herewila?, recalled the men died singing 10,000 Reasons
(Bless the Lord), the same song they had sung at their wedding less than 72
hours earlier.
"They all managed to finish the first verse and the second halfway and then
they took him," she said at Chan's memorial service. "Andrew managed to end it
well."
The men's Indonesian lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, would later describe it as the
darkest moment of his life. "I failed. I lost." he tweeted at 4am.
Todung, Indonesia's most famous human rights lawyer, has been fighting for the
abolition of the death penalty in Indonesia since 1979.
Until the bitter end, he had been hopeful President Joko Widodo would grant
mercy. "My clients changed ... they did not deserve to die," he says.
"I noticed Andrew became a very religious person, preaching, giving sermons in
Kerobokan, and then you see how Myuran did all his paintings, sharing his
knowledge with the other inmates.
"They did not do any drugs. There are other inmates who still do drugs, but not
Andrew, not Myuran, they are clean. That's why I thought they deserved to be
pardoned."
Late in 2015, a draft bill for a new criminal code was submitted to Parliament.
Under the draft, which is yet to be debated, Todung says someone given the
death penalty could have their sentence commuted to life or 20 years if they
could demonstrate they had changed.
"That's the 3rd way, the Indonesian way, in solving this problem," he says.
"[Indonesia] wanted to find a way to answer the criticism from the human rights
and international communities. I think Andrew and Myuran contributed to ...
this whole process. That is the legacy, that is the contribution of Andrew and
Myuran."
The last ghastly days before the executions will be forever etched in my mind.
The anguished wailing of Raji Sukumaran? as she begged the President for her
son's life. Chan's brother, Michael, holding back tears, as he said no family
should ever have to experience this.
Sukumaran entrusted his beloved art room and T-shirt printing business in the
jail to two Iranian prisoners serving life sentences at Kerobokan.
He asked Denise Payne and Tina Bailey, who taught yoga, art and dance classes
at Kerobokan jail, to help the Iranians.
"He told us to remind them that when he was gone his ghost would come back and
haunt them if they didn't make sure the programs continued," Bailey recalls.
Walking back into Kerobokan jail after the executions was incredibly difficult.
The loss of the men is still felt viscerally there.
"The first yoga class was so painful. Everyone was teary-eyed the whole time.
It was such an obvious void," Payne says.
"But even if I didn't want to, it was like Myuran was pushing me: 'Come on
Payne, you made a promise."
The latest T-shirt design from the jail's workshop features a striking image of
Sukumaran releasing doves of peace from a map of Australia.
Ali Reza Safar Khanloo, who was asked to take over the T-shirt printing studio,
is sending the design to Sukumaran's family to commemorate Myuran's birthday in
April.
"I want to show to his family we are here and we are always thinking of you,"
he says.
Ali's relationship with Sukumaran was like that of a father and son.
"When he left, I understand why he was pushing me. Sometimes when I need help
and I am stressed about the work or the guards, I think: 'What would Myuran
do?' Suddenly people come to order a T-shirt and I feel Myuran has sent someone
to me."
Rouhallah Series Abadi also still feels Sukumaran's presence. Rahol, as he is
known, was entrusted with the art room.
"Please help people in here; they need some colour," Sukumaran told him.
"I get goosebumps every morning I walk in here," Rahol says. "His body is dead,
but still his soul is here."
Keeping the rehabilitation programs going inside Kerobokan has not always been
easy.
"Myuran had funding from sources we never knew about," Payne says. "Tina and I
had to figure out what to do. How to organise lunches, how to keep people
motivated to keep going. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of cash out
of our own pockets."
A generous donation meant Payne was able to buy 20 yoga mats. However, within
months, they had been stolen or commandeered as mattresses in the jail. "We
need new mats always."
But somehow everyone has pulled together. Ali is experimenting with producing
skateboards and bags, as well as T-shirts, in the prison workshop.
Former inmates - including Billy Surya Adji - return to Kerobokan jail to
attend Bailey's art classes.
"I miss Myuran and am committed to keeping his story alive and the story of the
power of art to transform people's lives alive," Bailey says.
"I saw it in him and I see it in others. That is why I keep doing what I do,
believing it will make a difference."
Bailey served communion to Sukumaran and his family on Nusakambangan two days
before he died. The day of the executions, she prepared his last paintings -
still wet to the touch - to be sent back to Australia.
"So, in a way, I was surrounded by Myu that day."
7 months after his death, GQ Magazine named Sukumaran artist of the year. His
mentor, Archibald Prize-winning artist Ben Quilty?, is not yet ready to speak
about his friend and student.
He says he will have more to say next year, when a show of Sukumaran's work
tours Australia. It will open in Sydney, about the 50th anniversary of the
death of Ronald Ryan, the last man legally executed in Australia.
Meanwhile, Febyanti Herewila told Marie Claire magazine she hoped to open a
youth centre on Sabu Island near West Timor in honour of Chan.
It was something the couple, who were both pastors, dreamed of doing together;
holding music classes and providing a place for young people to play sport and
learn.
Julian McMahon was the longest-serving member of Chan and Sukumaran's team of
Australian lawyers, working for the 2 men pro bono for almost a decade.
Death penalty cases have been part of the Melbourne barrister's work for 13
years - he also represented Australian drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen, who
was hung in Singapore in 2005.
He believes Chan and Sukumaran's legacy in Australia has been a calm level of
acceptance at both the public and political level that the death penalty is
unacceptable.
"I think it's been a developing idea basically since the execution of Van
Nguyen, which many people rightly thought was an appalling outcome," McMahon
says.
"The public consciousness was awakened to the reality of executions, which
hadn't really featured in public life for a long time. It was on a slow burn
until the lead-up to the executions of Chan and Sukumaran. Their case led to
such intense analysis, discussion and political input, it is now beyond dispute
that we simply understand as a nation the death penalty is unacceptable."
McMahon is the president of Reprieve Australia, dedicated to eradicating the
death penalty worldwide. Historically, it has sent young legal interns to
assist with death penalty cases in the United States, but it is refocusing its
advocacy to the Asia Pacific region.
The fight against the death penalty is like other long-term human rights
battles, such as slavery or sexual abuse, McMahon says.
The voices opposing the death penalty in Europe and the Americas have never
been as strong. (German Chancellor Angela Merkel tackled the Indonesian
President about the thorny issue during his trip to Europe last week.)
At the same time, Amnesty International reported a 54 % increase in executions
globally in 2015. Indonesia is preparing for a fresh round of executions.
"Simultaneously there are gains and losses," McMahon says.
But he is buoyed by the Australian government's activism.
In September, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the United Nations General
Assembly that Australia would use a seat on the UN's Human Rights Council to
wage a tireless campaign to end the death penalty around the world.
Australia, France and Norway will co-host the Sixth World Congress against the
death penalty in Oslo in June.
"The Australian government has clearly stepped up its focus and willingness to
fight the death penalty," McMahon says.
"If we were sitting having a beer three years ago, would Australia have been
one of the major sponsors of an anti-death penalty conference, with someone as
senior as Philip Ruddock leading the delegation? I wouldn't have said: 'Yeah,
that would happen'."
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
IRAQ:
Report: Islamic State Executes 250 Women for Refusing Slave Marriage
Kurdish news outlets have reported the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) executed 250
girls and women who refused to become their sex slaves or enter temporary
marriages with terrorists.
"At least 250 girls have so far been executed by IS for refusing to accept the
practice of sexual jihad, and sometimes the families of the girls were also
executed for rejecting to submit to IS's request," announced Said Mamuzini, the
Kurdish Democratic Party spokesman.
The Islamic State has implemented this practice since they took over large
areas of Syria and Iraq for their self-declared caliphate.
In December 2014, Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights claimed that the Islamic
State murdered 150 women because they refused to marry or engage in sexual acts
with the terrorists.
"At least 150 females, including pregnant women, were executed in Fallujah by a
militant named Abu Anas Al-Libi after they refused to accept jihad marriage,"
said the Ministry. "Many families were also forced to migrate from the
province's northern town of Al-Wafa after hundreds of residents received death
threats."
The militants buried the victims in mass graves in the city. The families who
left lost many children after the militants stranded them in the desert.
8 months later, another report from Mosul surfaced that said the Islamic State
killed another 19 women who refused to have sex with terrorists.
"Isis [has] executed 19 women in the city of Mosul during the past 2 days,"
declared Mamuzini. "The penalty decision came on the background of the refusal
to participate in the practice of sexual jihad."
Militants claim they adhere to a very conservative interpretation of Islam, one
that apparently allow them to run brothels and keep sex slaves. They allow
women from the West to perform "sexual jihad" for the terrorists. A 2013 edict
allows this behavior "to boost the morale of fighters." Islamic State issued
its own edict in June after conquering towns in Iraq. Jihadists set up brothels
filled with kidnapped females and placed British women in charge. One Yazidi
sex slave begged the West to bomb the brothel at which she was held to end her
suffering. A video in November showed militants laughing and joking about
buying female Yazidi slaves.
The Islamic State issued a manual that teaches militants how to treat their
female slaves.
"It is permissible to buy, sell, or give as a gift female captives and slaves,
for they are merely property, which can be disposed of," wrote the author.
The author writes that men can use the females as sex slaves only when the
master is the exclusive owner of that slave.
"If she is a virgin," the guide explains, "he [her master] can have intercourse
with her immediately after taking possession of her. However, is [sic] she
isn't, her uterus must be purified [first]..."
It also encourages pedophilia.
"It is permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn't reached
puberty if she is fit for intercourse."
(source: breitbart.com)
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