April 26
MAURITANIA:
UN rights office deplores death sentence against Mauritanian blogger
The United Nations human rights office today deplored the confirmation of the
death sentence for apostasy against a Mauritanian blogger, Mohammad Ould
M'Kaitir, by the appellate court on 21 April.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR),
Mr. Ould M'Kaitir was convicted in the first instance by the criminal court in
Nouadhibou in December 2014 for an article he had published online. He had
expressed repentance on several occasions since, including during the appeals
hearing, OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville told the regular bi-weekly news
briefing Geneva.
"We should like to stress that under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, to which Mauritania became a State party in 2004, the death
penalty, if not abolished, can only be applied for the most serious crimes,"
the spokesperson said.
"We hope that the Supreme Court, which has now been seized with the case, will
overturn the death sentence against Mr. Ould M'Kaitir," he added.
(source: UN News Centre)
TAIWAN
Taiwan 'not thinking of' putting end to death penalty, Ma says
President Ma Ying-jeou said Monday that although some countries in the world
have replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, Taiwan
is not thinking of following suit.
The president was responding to a question on the death penalty issue, during a
news conference on the release of the 2nd national report on the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
According to Ma, replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without
possibility of parole has given rise to many problems.
For example, the public might find it hard to accept the idea of the country
providing lifelong support for people convicted of serious crimes, he said,
adding that prison population management can be another problem.
Furthermore, putting criminals in prison for the rest of their lives is no less
harmful to human rights than executing them, Ma said.
Based on these reasons, the Ministry of Justice is not considering replacing
the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, he added.
He said the government's current policy is to keep the death penalty but use it
judiciously.
Over the past 20 years, Taiwan has abolished all the laws that prescribed the
death sentence as the sole penalty and has been reviewing those laws that
maintain it as an optional penalty, Ma noted.
Judges and prosecutors have also been very cautious in handling cases in which
the death penalty is applicable, he said.
As a result, Ma said, the number of people sentenced to death has dropped to
six per year on average from a high of 18 per year in the past.
People in Taiwan cannot yet accept the idea of removing the death penalty from
the law books, the president said, adding that abolition of capital punishment
is not yet a global trend either.
Although the United Nations has adopted several resolutions calling on states
that maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on its use, the
countries that retain capital punishment still account for 60 % of the world's
population, Ma said.
(source: China Post)
SRI LANKA:
Lankan President commutes death sentences of 83 inmates
Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has decided to commute the death
sentences of 83 prisoners who are either on death row or serving life.
imprisonments.
President Sirisena has taken the decision to spare the lives of the prisoners
based on the recommendations made by a committee appointed following a request
by the joint committee of the Ministries of Law and Order and Prisons Reforms
and Justice to review the death sentences, reports Lanka Page.
The Commissioner General of Prisons Nishan Danasinghe said they expect more
death row inmates to receive the same concession in future.
Although Sri Lankan courts give death penalty in serious crimes such as murder,
rape and drug trafficking, no executions have been carried out since 1976.
All death penalty cases have been commuted to life in prison.
Sri Lanka last year decided to vote in favor of a UN resolution for moratorium
on death penalty.
(source: Business Standard)
PHILIPPINES:
Philippines Presidential Frontrunner Says He'd Kill His Drug-Using
Child----Admits he probably agrees with people who call him a killer.
Voters in the Philippines are choosing a new president in a couple of weeks and
Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of Davao, has opened up a 12 point lead over Sen. Grace
Poe.
Duterte has made international headlines a number of times over some of the
outlandish things he's said - most recently that he felt he should have been
allowed to rape a woman who was gangraped during a prison riot first, since he
was the mayor of the town where it happened and she was good-looking.
Despite his reputation for speaking before he thinks, Duterte has bristled at
comparisons to Donald Trump. "Donald Trump is a bigot, I am not," Duterte
explained.
The Philippines' presidential frontrunner is at it again, insisting he would
murder his own children if they did drugs. The issue came up in the last debate
before the election, with Duterte vowing to be a harsh president. "They say I
am a killer," Duterte, who as mayor of Davao has seen a dramatic rise in
vigilante death squads in his city. "Maybe I am."
When he was asked what he would do if he caught one of his children doing
drugs, he told the moderator he'd kill them. The Philippines is one of several
Southeast Asian countries where certain drug crimes carry the death penalty. In
the island nation, possession of as little as .3 ounces of heroin, cocaine, and
other narcotics, or 17 ounces of marijuana, is punishable by death.
Similar suggestions have been made for the United States. Most recently, Maine
Gov. Paul LePage (R), proposed beheadings for drug traffickers caught in his
state.
(source: reason.com)
NORTH KOREA:
Pyongyang imposes death penalty for dealers in drugs and S. Korean videos
North Korea is executing people who distribute illegal drugs and South Korean
videos, says the Korea Institute for National Unification.
The institute published "North Korean Human Rights Report 2016" on Monday after
conducting in-depth interviews with 186 North Korean defectors who came to
South Korea from the end of 2014 to last year.
According to the report, three North Koreans including a Hyesan University of
Agriculture and Forestry student were shot dead in Hyesan, Yanggang Province in
2013 because they distributed drugs and South Korean videos.
2 men were also executed at Hyesan airport in 2014 after being charged with
smuggling drugs and watching South Korean dramas. The defectors said 11 people
had been sentenced to death for the same offences since 2011.
North Koreans did not face the death penalty just for distributing South Korean
TV programs. However, they were sentenced to death when police caught them
dealing in or buying illegal drugs as well as the videos.
The institute said illegal drugs were widely distributed in North Korea.
Because of the growing number of cases involving drug dealing and distribution
of South Korean videos, North Korean authorities had recently launched a
crackdown and introduced severe punishment.
(source: Korea Times)
INDIA:
Yug Chandak final hearing: Prosecution cites 3 key witnesses on 1st day
The final hearing of Yug Chandak murder case began on Monday with prosecution
strongly asking for maintaining death penalty for both perpetrators - prime
accused Rajesh Dhanalal Daware (19) and Arvind Abhilash Singh (23). The killer
duo was present during the hearing in afternoon amid tight security with
gun-wielding cops keeping a close watch on them to prevent any untoward
activity. Yug's father Dr Mukesh Chandak and a couple of his relatives also
attended the hearing.
Both convicts were awarded a rare double death penalty on February 4 by Nagpur
sessions court for diabolical murder of 8-year-old on September 1, 2014, that
sparked off huge outrage and protests in the city.
Government pleader Bharti Dangre started the proceedings while citing
testimonies of three key witnesses and the 'last seen theory'. She was assisted
by additional public prosecutor Jyoti Vajani and Chandak family's counsel
Rajendra Daga. She also cited ransom calls made by accused to deceased's
father, Dr Mukesh Chandak, on the same day that Yug was kidnapped. The 1st call
was made for Rs10 crore while 2nd one was for Rs5 crore and both were made from
public telephone booths.
She informed that Dr Chandak immediately lodged the FIR after which police
machinery was set into motion. Explaining 'last seen theory' she named three
witness who last saw the child with killers. The first one was watchman of Guru
Vandan Apartments, where Chandaks reside, who saw Singh carrying Yug with him
on a motorcycle. Another witness Biharilal Chhabria, staying in same
apartments, also saw the second accused with the child. The 3rd witness Ranjan
Tiwari, a nearby shopkeeper, saw the eight-year-old going with both accused
from his shop.
A division bench of Justices Bhushan Gavai and Swapna Joshi then adjourned the
hearing till Tuesday. The hearings would continue on a day-to-day basis till
arguments from both sides are over. It was 2nd diabolic killing in the city
within 3 years after another 8-year-old child Kush Katariya was similarly
killed by Ayush Naresh Pugalia on October 11, 2011, for extracting Rs2 crore
ransom from his parents. He was awarded a rare double lifer by the court, which
was enhanced to triple lifer by the Nagpur bench.
Govt appoints Vajani to assist prosecution
State's Law and Judiciary Department has appointed additional public prosecutor
Jyoti Vajani, to assist the prosecution in the confirmation case of death
penalty to Yug Chandak's perpetrators in Nagpur bench. A March 31 letter by
under secretary SG Deshmukh requested her to join the public prosecutor during
the arguments. Vajani had pleaded for the prosecution while arguing the case in
sessions court that awarded capital punishment to the accused duo earlier. In
the past, she had successfully pleaded for prosecution in many such cases in
which the accused were sentenced to gallows.
(source: The Times of India)
***************
Release of the NLU Delhi Death Penalty India Report on 6th May 2016
The Centre on the Death Penalty at National Law University, Delhi announces the
release of the 'Death Penalty India Report' on 6th May 2016.
Based on interviews with all prisoners on death row and their families carried
on from June 2013 to January 2015, the Report documents the socio-economic
profile of prisoners sentenced to death in India and provides an in-depth
understanding of their interaction with the criminal justice system.
The release of the 'Death Penalty India Report' shall be at the Nehru Memorial
Museum and Library (Teen Murti Bhavan Auditorium) on 6th May 2016 at 5.30 pm.
Welcome Address would be by Professor (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor,
National Law University, Delhi followed by the presentation of the Report by
the Centre itself.
There shall be a Panel Discussion amongst Hon'ble Mr. Justice Madan B. Lokur,
Judge, Supreme Court of India; Ms. Nitya Ramakrishnan, Advocate, Supreme Court
of India and Dr. Anup Surendranath, Director, Centre on the Death Penalty.
The whole event shall be moderated by Mr. Omair Ahmad, Books Editor, The Wire
and concluded by Remarks from Professor (Dr.) GS Bajpai, Registrar, National
Law University, Delhi.
The Death Penalty Research Project has been carried out by National Law
University, Delhi in collaboration with the National Legal Services Authority
(NALSA), and was approved by Honourable Justice Sathasivam in his capacity as
the Executive Chairman of NALSA.
(source: livelaw.in)
**************
Kerala: People's manifesto calls to abolish death penalty
The people's manifesto, a draft released by an activist group in Kozhikode,
scrutinises the current development strategies followed by the state
administration and proposes a sustainable model to uplift the marginalised
people in the state. The manifesto has been released as part of 'Occupy Kerala'
campaign, a movement against corporate-model development and anti-environmental
activities in the name of development.
The draft has covered areas like health, energy, trade and labour. It stresses
agriculture-based development and says that growth should be based on
sustainable and participatory democracy. It also proposes to abolish the death
penalty in India. "Death penalty has been eliminated in about 150 countries but
there was no increase in the crime rate there. Kerala has to stand for
abolishing death penalty as a progressive state," the document says.
Another take is to form a transgender justice board to address the problems of
transgender minorities. "Kerala is the 1st state that unveiled a transgender
policy but the attitude of most people remains unchanged and this campaign will
promote the rights of transgenders," the manifesto says.
Dr. Asad, one of the pioneers of the campaign, says that they intend to
showcase all the atrocities happening under the label of development. "We aim
to address all the basic issues that an administration has to follow. Dalits
are the victims of development and they are the most neglected section in
society. We have to hold them with us rather than ignore them as a forsaken
community," he says. A 2-day camp and discussions took place as part of the
campaign and the manifesto was drafted thereafter.
(source: Deccan Chronicle)
IRAN----executions
2 Prisoners Executed
According to recent reports, a prisoner was hanged on Sunday April 24 at Sari
Prison on murder charges and a prisoner was hanged on Thursday April 21 at
Zahedan's Central Prison on drug charges.
The press department of the Judiciary in Mazandaran has identified the prisoner
from Sari as H.H., 27 years old, executed on murder charges.
According to a report by the Campaign of Baluch Activists, the prisoner from
Zahedan is Javad Sanji, executed on drug charges. Iranian official sources,
including state run media and the Judiciary, have been silent about Javad
Sanji's execution.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
****************
Dowlat Nowrouzi: Execution rate rising in Iran under Rouhani
Dowlat Nowrouzi, the representative of the National Council of Resistance of
Iran in the United Kingdom, says the rate of executions in Iran are rising
during Hassan Rouhani's presidency.
In an interview with ncr-iran.org on Tuesday, Ms. Nowrouzi said that recent
trips by European officials to Iran have not led to an improvement of the human
rights situation by the mullahs' regime.
Earlier this month while the head of European Union diplomacy Ms. Federica
Mogherini visited Tehran, 10 people, including 2 women, were executed, Ms.
Nowrouzi pointed out.
"The recent trips not only did not help the terrible human rights situation in
Iran; they only aggravated it," she said.
She added that according to the United Nations the execution rate in Iran hit a
record last year.
"In reality and based on the reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on human
rights in Iran only last year 966 people had been executed in Iran, while we
know that the real figure is much higher," Ms. Nowrouzi said.
"In the aftermath of the nuclear deal the human rights situation has not
improved for the better; rather, it is getting much worse."
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement on April
13 that the increasing trend of executions "aimed at intensifying the climate
of terror to rein in expanding protests by various strata of the society,
especially at a time of visits by high-ranking European officials, demonstrates
that the claim of moderation is nothing but an illusion for this medieval
regime."
Ms. Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was in Tehran on April 16 along with 7 EU
commissioners for discussions with the regime???s officials on trade and other
areas of cooperation.
Her trip was strongly criticized by Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI who said: "This trip which takes place in
the midst of mass executions, brutal human rights violations and the regime's
unbridled warmongering in the region tramples on the values upon which the EU
has been founded and which Ms. Mogherini should be defending and propagating."
Amnesty International in its April 6 annual Death Penalty report covering the
2015 period wrote: "Iran put at least 977 people to death in 2015, compared to
at least 743 the year before."
"Iran alone accounted for 82% of all executions recorded" in the Middle East
and North Africa, the human rights group said.
There have been more than 2,300 executions during Hassan Rouhani's tenure as
President. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation
in Iran in March announced that the number of executions in Iran in 2015 was
greater than any year in the last 25 years. Rouhani has explicitly endorsed the
executions as examples of "God's commandments" and "laws of the parliament that
belong to the people."
(source: Iran Human Rights)
VIETNAM:
Thai woman, 3 Vietnamese sentenced to death for drug trafficking
A court in Hanoi sentenced 3 Vietnamese and a Thai woman to death on Monday for
drug trafficking.
Investigation found Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, 53, from Ho Chi Minh City, learned
about the illegal trade in late 2011 and started hiring several people to help
her transport drugs across regional borders.
Police in Hanoi, Quang Ninh Province and HCMC busted the ring in October 2012,
seizing 24 kilograms of heroin and more than 2 kilograms of methamphetamine.
They arrested Trang and 3 of her smugglers Le Xuan Phu, Phan Thi Lien, and
Pornpirom Upapong from Thailand, local media reported.
The members told police Trang was the mastermind and hired them to transport
drugs across regional countries including China, Cambodia, Nigeria, Malaysia,
Thailand and the Philippines.
Police said the gang also hired some Africans who used money to lure poor
Vietnamese women, who had little knowledge about drug laws, into the illegal
business.
They are still looking for these suspects.
Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. The production or sale of
100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is punishable by
death.
Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or
more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine also face the death penalty.
(source: Thanh Nien News)
PAKISTAN:
Fears that wheelchair-bound prisoner on death row will have a 'horribly botched
execution'
A paralysed prisoner on Pakistan's death row has called on the country's
President to spare his life, as a stay of execution granted to him in January
expired on the weekend.
Abdul Basit, 44, who has no movement from the waist down, has had his execution
halted at the last minute 3 separate times in the past year, after his lawyers
raised concerns that his execution could be illegal (as the country's prison
rules have no provisions for the hanging of prisoners in wheelchairs).
According to the country's law, a prisoner sentenced to death should be able to
"reach the execution point on his own feet".
Campaigners have argued that hanging a man in a wheelchair runs a high risk of
the execution going wrong, potentially leading to slow strangulation or
decapitation.
Maya Foa, a director at the anti-death penalty NGO Reprieve, said in a
statement that the government has still given no explanation of how it plans to
avoid a "horribly botched execution."
Basit has been on death row since 2009, convicted of murdering a man in a
financial dispute. He has always maintained his innocence.
He became paralysed in 2010 after he contracted tuberculosis meningitis in the
prison. Complications with the illness - which lawyers say were a result of
negligence - caused him to lose all movement in his limbs, and he was rendered
incontinent and put in a wheelchair.
Wassam Waheed, a spokesman for legal aid group Justice Project Pakistan, told
The Independent
Basit has "spent 6 years on the prison floor, unable to move and reliant on
others for personal hygiene".
Basit's family and his legal team are calling on the government to grant him
clemency, despite no pardon having been granted to any death-row prisoner since
a moratorium on executions was lifted in the country in 2014.
Basit's wife Musarat told The Independent: "It is not only my husband who is
being punished by the legal system.
"It is his entire family who is suffering through this, especially my children.
They haven't visited their father in years as he didn't want them to see him
lying on jail floor, not able to walk".
After visiting her son in prison yesterday, Basit's mother Nusrat Perveen told
The Associated Press that her son had lost a lot of weight and looked skeletal.
"His life has become a bigger punishment than death ... he is living in
conditions worse than hell".
She urged the country's president to pardon her son.
"I beg Mr President, Mr Prime Minister and the judiciary, please have mercy on
my son. He has already suffered a lot. He is already half dead. What will they
get if they execute a paralysed man, a helpless paralysed man who is already in
prison for life? Basit deserves mercy."
Representatives at legal aid group Justice Project Pakistan say that in the
absence of instructions from the Federal Government, "the jail authorities are
likely to forward a request for a fresh warrant of execution in the coming
days".
(source: news.com.au)
SINGAPORE:
Young Malaysian rider arrested with a kilo of drugs faces death penalty
Singaporean authorities arrested a young Malaysian rider who was carrying
heroin and meth worth $86,000 at the Woodlands checkpoint.
The 20-year-old motorcyclist had in his possession almost one kilogram of
drugs, which far exceeds the minimum amount of contraband that attracts death
penalty in Singapore.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB)
said in a joint statement that apart from the heroin, about 120 gram of meth
also was recovered from the rider.
The rider arrived at the checkpoint at 5.20 in the morning on Monday. The
checkpoint authorities discovered a packet of heroin weighing 460 grams on him
and arrested him.
They then handed him to the central narcotics bureau officials, who recovered
another packet of heroin from him which contained the same quantity of the
contraband.
Drug related offences get harsh punishment in Singapore, including death. The
island republic has been in the forefront of nations that vouch for strict
punishment for drug crimes.
Under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act provides anyone trafficking heroin above
15 grams can be punished with death.
In a speech at a UN conference last week, Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs
and Law K. Shanmugam said the country will never go soft in its fight against
drugs.
"We believe that drugs will destroy our society. With 200 million people
traveling through our borders every year, and given Singaporeans' purchasing
power, a soft approach will mean our country will be washed over with drugs,"
Shanmugam said.
(source: ibtimes.com)
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