May 10
TAIWAN----execution
Taiwan executes subway killer
Taiwan on Tuesday executed a former college student who killed 4 people in a
random stabbing spree on a subway 2 years ago, in an attack which horrified the
generally peaceful island.
Cheng Chieh, 23, was anaesthetised then shot 3 times by a firing squad at a
jail outside Taipei a little before 9pm (9pm Singapore time), deputy justice
minister Chen Ming-tang told reporters.
"Death was the only way to show publically that justice had been served and to
relieve the sorrow and pain of victims' families," he said.
Cheng was sentenced to death last year for killing 4 people and injuring
another 22, in the first fatal attack on the capital's subway system since it
launched in 1996.
His execution surprised many, however, as it came less than 3 weeks after the
supreme court upheld the death sentence despite last-ditch efforts by rights
groups.
Among the victims of the attack in May 2014 was a man named Hsieh Ching-yun.
His mother said she was "glad" Cheng had been executed.
"Losing my son is a pain that will last forever, for the rest of my life," she
told the TVBS cable news network.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Cheng, saying psychological
evaluations showed that he was not suffering from any mental disorder when he
committed the crime.
Cheng, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was expelled by his university after
the attack and was described by prosecutors as "anti-society, narcissistic,
immature and pessimistic".
Local media said he had been obsessed with gory online games and had written
horror stories.
Cheng's parents had asked for him to be sentenced to death, calling their son's
actions "unforgivable".
The incident shocked Taiwan, otherwise proud of its low levels of violent
crime, and resulted in several minor injuries as edgy commuters fled trains
over false alarms in the following week.
There are currently 42 prisoners on death row in Taiwan, all of whom will face
a firing squad when they are executed.
Hundreds of Taiwanese rallied in April (2016) to show support for retaining the
death penalty after the beheading of a four-year-old girl on March 28 near a
Taipei metro station.
The attack was carried out by 33-year-old man who had previously been arrested
for drug-related crimes and had sought treatment for mental illness.
Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus. But
executions are reserved for the most serious crimes such as aggravated murder
and kidnapping.
Some politicians and rights groups have called for its abolition, but various
opinion surveys show majority support for the death penalty.
In 2012 the murder of a 10-year-old boy in a playground reignited debate over
the death penalty, after the suspect reportedly said he was anticipating free
board and lodging in jail and would get a life sentence at most even if he were
to kill 2 or 3 people.
(source: straitstimes.com)
PHILIPPINES:
New President should break cycle of human rights violations, not compound them
If President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is serious about introducing change in the
Philippines, he must turn his back on the history of human rights violations
and end the prevailing culture of impunity, Amnesty International said today.
Rodrigo Duterte, the former Mayor of Davao city, is set to become the
newly-elected President of the Philippines after leading the voting in the 9
May 2016 election. Duterte's principal rivals have conceded defeat.
"If Rodrigo Duterte is serious about bringing change to the Philippines, he
should address the dire human rights situation in the country and put an end to
extrajudicial executions, unlawful arrests, secret detention as well as torture
and other ill-treatment," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International???s
Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.
During the course of the presidential election campaign, Duterte has issued a
series of inflammatory statements that, if enacted, would contravene the
Philippines' international human rights obligations, including his promise to
reduce crime rates by shooting suspected criminals.
"As leader of the Philippines, the President-elect must protect and uphold
human rights, not reject them. This includes the right to life, due process and
fair trial," said Rafendi Djamin.
"The way to bring about true and lasting change for the Philippines is by
putting in place robust, transparent and accountable mechanisms to bring about
an end to longstanding human rights violations. Threatening to introduce a
culture of impunity, as Rodrigo Duterte has done in recent weeks, will only
exacerbate the problems that he campaigned to resolve."
Background: First 100 days
In November 2015, Amnesty International published a human rights agenda for the
Philippines' next President outlining 5 areas which should be top of their
human rights agenda in their first 100 days. These include:
Putting an end to extrajudicial executions, unlawful arrests, secret detention,
enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment.
Issue an executive order that clearly states the administration's commitment to
prioritize putting a stop to the practice of enforced disappearances and
extrajudicial executions in the country.
Ensure immediate and effective implementation of Administrative Order 35
guidelines to address torture and other ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions
and enforced disappearances.
Create and prioritize a viable presidential commission to review all cases of
extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, including victims of
vigilante groups such as the Davao Death Squad.
Establish control and accountability over the military, police and other
state-sponsored forces, and ensure witness protection.
Revoke Executive Order 546, which directs the Philippine National Police to
support the military in its counterinsurgency work, including through the use
of militias and paramilitary groups.
Ensure that the military exercises full control over all state-sponsored
militias and paramilitary groups, and that the Department of National Defense
clearly define and differentiate their purposes, chain of command and
accountability mechanisms, or otherwise disarm and disband them.
Disarm and disband all private armies.
Implement through an executive order a clear and transparent mechanism that
prevents the appointment or promotion of persons who face allegations or have
records of grave human rights abuses from the Commission on Human Rights to
senior levels of government, law enforcement and the judiciary, as well as for
the provincial, regional and national command posts for the military.
Ensure the safe and voluntary return of the displaced, and embed human rights
protection in the peace process.
Order the relevant Departments to take stock of the current situation of
long-term displaced populations in Mindanao due to conflict and disasters, and
ensure the full compliance with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement.
Make human rights a priority integrated across government bodies.
Declare as a presidential priority bill the charter of the Commission on Human
Rights in the Philippines, facilitating its approval in both legislative
branches;
Through an executive order, integrate all human rights principles into
government policies and practices.
Ratify key treaties on human rights and international humanitarian law.
Immediately sign the Optional Protocol of the International Convention on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to facilitate the process of ratification
within the new administration's term;
Immediately sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearances as a step towards ratification; and, Immediately
ratify the international Arms Trade Treaty.
Duterte was the only candidate who did not provide a response to the agenda.
(source: Amnesty International)
***********
Larry Henares on Duterte's popularity and death penalty
Inquirer's editorial "Losing grace" (Opinion, 4/28/16) ended thus: "Well, no.
But every day we lose grace. We have a presidential contender who treats rape
as a joke and won't apologize for it. He remains acceptable - and actually
enjoys wide, even delighted, support for all his misogynist views. It's very
telling of how women and girls are regarded in this proudly Christian nation."
First of all it is not true that the presidential contender who treated rape as
a joke did not apologize for it; he did so after a fashion, but was not
forgiven by most people who were scandalized by it. It was not "his misogynist
views" that got him acceptance and "wide, even delighted support" from the
electorate. It was his carefully cultivated reputation for being hard on
criminals, especially rapists, drug pushers and murderers, that endeared him to
the voters ahead of all the other candidates who are perceived to be
traditional politicians (trapo), spineless and inutile. Apparently the voters
did not mind Duterte's bad jokes and foul mouth, as long as he can keep our
women safe from rapists and our citizens free of criminals operating with
impunity.
Secondly, I believe that Duterte is right in telling the Australian and
American ambassadors to "shut up and stop interfering with our domestic
affairs," knowing that for a long time Australian low-types have been setting
up seedy bars in the Philippines, where Filipino women are offered as door
prizes and for auctions; that many Australians come to the Philippines as sex
tourists and pedophiles; that Australian husbands murder their Filipino wives 6
times more frequently than they kill their Australian wives; that Australian
whites descended from criminals exiled from London, and who subsequently
committed genocide on the dark aborigines and the dodo birds.
Also, Duterte was told that the US ambassador to the Philippines, Philip
Goldberg, is from the intelligence (read: spying) community of the US state
department and who as ambassador to Bolivia, was thrown out of the country for
financing the opposition and interfering in domestic affairs; he is also
rumored to have visited the Iglesia ni Cristo to threaten them with a tax case
in the United States if they supported Duterte's candidacy. Duterte does not
like him.
Thirdly, I have changed a lot from my days as a "bleeding heart" against the
death penalty and concerned about the rehabilitation of criminals. I believe in
justice; love you have to earn; mercy you have to beg for; but justice, you can
demand as a matter of right! Fiat justitia, ruat coelum! Let justice be done,
though the heavens fall! Upon this principle Rome built a civilization that
lasted for a thousand years.
Finally, I believe that victims are more entitled to justice than criminals
are. The former deserve "blood money" for restitution. Prisons do not
rehabilitate, they are schools that teach criminals to be worse criminals. Why
should we waste public money on recidivists?
Restore the death penalty for grave crimes. Restore penalties that fit the
crime: hanging, beheading, electrocution, garroting, firing squad, lethal
injection. Let criminals suffer the pain they inflict on their victims. Bury
the criminals where their remains can enrich the soil for agriculture. Solve
overpopulation.
- HILARION M. HENARES JR., Makati City
(source: Letter to the Editor, Philippine Inquirer)
BANGLADESH----execution
Bangladesh hangs Jamaat-e-Islami chief Nizami for 1971 war crimes to protect
Pakistan
Motiur Rahman Nizami has paid with his life for the carnage he unleashed on
Bengalis as the commander of Al-Badr militia to stop a secular Bangladesh being
carved out of Islamic Pakistan in 1971.
He was hung by the neck at Dhaka Central Jail in the 1st hour of Wednesday,
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told bdnews24.com around 12:10am.
The executive order to carry on with his execution was sent to the prison after
the Jamaat-e-Islami chief chose not to beg the president to have mercy on him,
the minister had said earlier.
Police have cordoned off the area outside the prison gate at Old Dhaka's
Nazimuddin Road as journalists and crowds gathered to witness the fate of the
fifth war criminal to be put to death for horrific atrocities in 1971.
Security had been heightened around the prison premises since Tuesday afternoon
with additional police, RAB along with plainclothesmen roaming the area.
The 73-year old Jamaat chief's brutal past caught up with him when he had
exhausted all options to get his death penalty overturned, which was handed
down by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in 2014.
The legal battle that he waged even since his arrest on Jun 29, 2010, has been
long.
He sought a review after the Supreme Court upheld the maximum sentence on Jan 6
this year but the petition was dismissed last week for having 'no merit'.
"Motiur Rahman Nizami not only co-operated with the Pakistani invading force in
committing various crimes against humanity but also masterminded the formation
of Al-Badr Bahini and was a leader of this Al-Badr Bahini," read his appeal
verdict.
He was entitled to beg pardon from the president by admitting his guilt, but
the home minister at 8:10pm on Tuesday said, "Nizami did not seek mercy. The
executive order to carry out the death sentence has been sent to the prison
authorities."
Final hours
* Senior Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir carries executive order to hang the
73-year-old in Dhaka Central Jail.
* Hangman Tanvir Hasan Raju arrives at the prison in an ambulance.
* Nizami is visited in the prison by 24 members of his family, including his
wife and 2 sons, for a meeting that lasted for nearly 2 hours.
* Civil Surgeon Abdul Malek Mridha and Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Md Salah Uddin
enter prison where 2 ambulances were waiting.
* Nizami is led to the hanging post from his condemned cell after being
administered 'Tauba' or 'repentance for sins' by a Moulavi.
* Arrangements are completed to bury him in his family graveyard in Monmothpur,
his village from Dhopadaha Union at Pabna's Santhia Upazila.
On Monday, the full copy of the review verdict was released and sent to the
ICT. TV cameras panned on the tribunal officials as they took documents wrapped
in red cloth to Dhaka Central Jail.
As head of Jamaat, Nizami has followed to the gallows partners in crime Ali
Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdur Quader Molla - all top
leaders of his party.
After Mujahid, he is the 2nd war criminal to be hanged for orchestrating the
abduction and killings of Bengali intellectuals for siding with the freedom
struggle.
Both had headed the Al-Badr which during the war had dubbed itself the 'Angel
of Death' for those fighting to be liberated from a repressive Pakistan.
The other charges describe Nizami assisting Pakistani soldiers in mass killing,
murders, rapes, abduction and torture in Pabna's Santhia.
He was handed life imprisonment for ordering the murders of young freedom
fighters including Shafi Imam Rumi who was being held at Nakhalparha's MP
Hostel on Aug 8, 1971.
Nizami was born on Mar 31, 1943 in Monmothpur of Santhia.
He got his Kamil degree in Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from Dhaka's
Madrasa-e-Alia in 1963.
He later graduated from the University of Dhaka in 1967.
Nizami joined Jamaat's then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha and swiftly rose
through the ranks to become its president in 1966, a post he retained for the
following 5 years.
(source: bdnews24.com)
************
Death penalty will exist ---- Law minister tells reporters after meeting
Swedish team
Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said the existing laws of the country, where
provision of death penalty for serious offences were incorporated, will remain
in force.
The provision may not be included in the new laws, which will be formulated in
the future, he said while talking to reporters after a meeting with a 5-member
Sweden delegation at his secretariat office.
Swedish Minister for Justice and Migration Morgan Johansson led the delegation.
The delegation wanted to know about the progress of the trials of blogger
killings, human rights and freedom of expression, Anisul Huq said.
He said the government had taken all necessary steps to ensure quick trials for
blogger killings.
Separate cases have been filed in connection with the murders and the process
for holding trials of those cases is going on, the law minister said.
Morgan Johansson told reporters that they had requested the law minister to
ensure security for Bangladesh citizens so that they can enjoy the freedom of
expression.
The minister also said freedom of press and freedom of expression are protected
in the country.
(source: The Daily Star)
************
Execution of war criminal as per law: Anisul
Law Minister Anisul Huq on Tuesday said the execution of death penalty for the
chief of Jamaat-e-Islami party in war crimes would be taken place in accordance
with the country???s existing law.
The minister came up with the statement after a Swedish delegation met him in
Dhaka Tuesday when Bangladesh was preparing for execution of the head of
country's largest Islamic party, which opposed creation of Bangladesh during
1971 war.
Nizami is convicted of genocide, rape, forcible conversion of religion and
other crimes against humanity during Bangladesh's 9-month war with Pakistan.
The jail authorities in Dhaka are ready to execute Nizami as he refused to seek
marcy from the President.
The minister said death penalty is still in force in Bangladesh for committing
murder and rape.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has already called for the suspension of the
execution of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami.
According to an another source all the necessary preparation for execution of
Nizami has been taken as main hangman Raju was brought to Dhaka from Kashimpur
jail in the afternoon.
The minister said the trial of war crimes in Bangladesh is a continuous
process. "It will continue."
On May 5, the Supreme Court dismissed the review plea of Jamaat chief Nizami
against his death verdict and he had no other choice to seek pardon from the
president.
He decided not seek presidential mercy and the jail authority can execute him
anytime.
(source: newsnextbd.com)
UGANDA:
Makerere Don Remanded Again Over Rape of Student
Law Development Centre Magistrate's Court has for the 3rd time remanded a
senior lecturer at Makerere University on charges of raping a 22-year-old
female student who was living in his garage.
Dr Christopher Bakuneta appeared before the trial magistrate, Mr Moses
Baligeya, who ordered for his further remand to Luzira prison until May 23.
This suspect's remand was prompted by State prosecutor Flavia Birungi's
assertion that investigations into the rape charges are not yet complete.
Dr Bakuneta is expected to be committed to the High Court to stand trial since
the offence he is charged with is capital in nature and a magistrate's court
has no jurisdiction to handle.
Background
Prosecution contends that Dr Bakuneta, a lecturer of zoology at the College of
Natural Science at Makerere University, on March 24 at the same institution had
sexual intercourse with Ms Vasha Ntegeka without her consent.
The student in her police statement stated that she had not locked the door of
her dwelling when Dr Bakuneta entered the garage and raped her.
However, Dr Bakuneta admitted having had sex with the victim at his office at
the Zoology Department, but said it was consensual, adding that the girl
reported the case to police as an afterthought, 2 days later.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga, told Daily Monitor that medical tests carried
out on the suspect revealed he is HIV positive, which prompted the detectives
to amend the rape charge to aggravated rape, which attracts the death penalty
on conviction.
(source: The Monitor)
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