Aug. 17
MALAYSIA:
Pain for mom of drug mule son on death row
As a young South African woman prepares for her 1st court appearance in
Thailand for drug trafficking, a mother, whose son faces the death penalty in
Malaysia for the same crime, has appealed to parents to warn their children
about the perils of drugs.
The appeal by Ria Zeelie, whose son Deon Cornelius, 30, was sentenced to death
in Malaysia in 2014, follows the weekend arrest of Vanessa Ann du Toit.
She is the 2nd South African to be arrested on drug-trafficking charges in a
week.
Another South African woman was arrested in Panama for drug trafficking last
week.
Du Toit was arrested with Ukrainian national Yaroslav Yanovski after they
landed in Bangkok on Friday.
Du Toit, on a South African police drugs watchlist since last year, was
allegedly found in possession of 2.5kg of cocaine.
Yanovski was allegedly caught with 4kg of cocaine.
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the pair were arrested shortly
after landing in Thailand.
Both had flown on the same flight from Sao Paulo via Ethiopia.
"Du Toit flew from South Africa via Angola to Sao Paulo, where she allegedly
collected the narcotics."
He said the arrests were made following liaison between police in South Africa,
Brazil and Thailand.
''In a follow-up operation by Thai police, a Thai woman who had come to the
airport to collect the drugs from the suspects, a Nigerian national and a
Guinean national were arrested.
"They seemed to be part of an international narcotics network."
Mulaudzi said Yanovski was arrested after he was identified through his airline
booking.
"It was made exactly the same time as Du Toit's and paid for by the same person
at the same travel agency," he said.
For Zeelie and her family the past two years have been a living hell.
"We are not sure when the execution will be. Deon is trying to appeal it and
will write to the Malaysian king to ask for leniency.
"Every day we pray for good news. We have been unable to visit him, which is
terrible."
She said the day before Cornelius flew he phoned her to say he was going to
Singapore for work.
"He would not say what the job was. The next I heard he was arrested for
carrying crystal meth. Since 2014 he has been on death row, and for what?
"The government must become involved and warn children about the dangers of
drugs."
Patricia Gerber, director of Locked Up - an organisation that campaigns for the
rights of South Africans imprisoned overseas - said more than 3000 South
Africans were incarcerated overseas on drug-related crimes.
(source: timeslive.co.za)
TURKEY:
PM: Terrorists to be prosecuted with justice, not revenge----Turkey's Prime
Minister says a fair trial for perpetrators of terror acts would be a greater
punishment than the death penalty.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday said a fair trial for
perpetrators of terror acts would be a greater punishment than the death
penalty, adding that Turkish courts will prosecute those "not in revenge, but
with justice."
Yildirim said, "Death penalty is immediate death, however, there are greater
deaths for them, which is objective and fair judgment."
Last month's failed coup attempt that the Turkish government believes
perpetrated by members of Fethullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) left 240
people dead and nearly 2,200 injured.
Since then, support for bringing back the death penalty has increased in
Turkey.
Yildirim said, "Turkish justice will bring terrorist organisations to account
for our martyrs."
He referred to Monday's PKK car bomb attack against a traffic police station in
Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir, which martyred 1 child and 5
police officers.
Yildirim said PKK serves the same purpose as FETO, the terrorist organisation
led by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating the
July 15 coup attempt.
"These 2 terror organisations made quite a lot of efforts to turn Turkey into a
country like Iraq, Syria, or Egypt, both before July 15 and later."
PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, US and the EU.
About a possible reinstatement of the death penalty in Turkey for those
involved in the defeated coup, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his
stance that the decision would be left up to Turkish lawmakers in the
parliament.
Erdogan repeatedly has said he would approve reinstating the death penalty if
parliament approves it.
Such a penalty could be imposed on Gulen as well, who is accused of leading a
long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of
Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming
what is commonly known as a parallel state.
Since the deadly coup attempt, Turkish government has been clearing the state
institutions off FETO members.
Yildirim assured citizens not to be anxious about such steps.
"Those Muslim people who have been doing charity work warm-heartedly have
nothing to do with these terror organisations.
"We need to settle a score with those who exploited such good feelings and who
took money from our citizens for charity work, but used it to attack on people
with arms, tanks, and planes."
Yildirim said they would definitely differentiate between the innocent and the
guilty, but admitted it will not be easy.
The Turkish PM said once more that the terror attacks, including the deadly
July 15 coup attempt, did not hit Turkey's economy, adding that both the
banking and finance sectors have been operating well.
Pointing out that Turkey is available for investments, he said an economic
stimulus package was on the way to enliven the economy.
"Let's not allow terrorists to drive the agenda of Turkey anymore. Let's focus
on our economy and developing the country more."
(source: trtworld.com)
*****************
Erdogan: EU Would Reinstate Death Penalty if Faced Similar Terrorism as Turkey
European countries would reinstate death penalty if they faced terror attacks
similar to those experienced by Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on
Tuesday.
"If Europe faced such terror attacks as those in Turkey, they would immediately
return the death penalty and declare a curfew," Erdogan said addressing the
Turkish bar association.
Since 2015, Turkey has faced a number of fatal terror attacks committed by the
Daesh terror group - outlawed in Russia and many other countries - and the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In July, Erdogan announced that the country would reinstate the death penalty
if the people demanded it after a coup attempt on July 15 failed. According to
the Turkish leader, a 57 % majority of the country's citizens back the idea of
reinstating capital punishment.
The European Union has warned Turkey that any reintroduction of the death
penalty would be viewed by Brussels as a "deal-breaker" that would end the
country's efforts to join the bloc.
The death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004 to bring its legislation in
line with EU standards.
(source: Sputnik news)
IRAN----execution
Prisoner Executed in Northern Iran on Drug Charges
A prisoner was reportedly executed at Lakan, Rasht's central prison, on drug
related charges
According to the Iranian state run news outlet, ISNA, the execution was carried
out on the morning of Tuesday August 16th in the Gilan province (northern
Iran). The report identifies the prisoner as H.R., 45 years of age. The
prisoner was reportedly charged with buying and selling 2 kilograms of crystal
meth.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
KYRGYZSTAN:
Draft law on death penalty for pedophiles submitted for public discussion
The draft law on introduction of death penalty for pedophiles has been
submitted for public discussion. The initiator is Onuguu-Progress parliamentary
faction.
It is proposed to supplement Article 21 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz
Republic with the words "The death penalty is prohibited, except for crimes
against sexual inviolability of the minors."
Faction leader Bakyt Torobaev notes that it is necessary legislatively to
toughen the penalties against pedophiles. "If the MPs support us, then such
provision will be included in the Constitution," he says.
Moratorium on the death penalty was imposed in Kyrgyzstan in 1998. And in
November 2007, the country adopted a new version of the Constitution, from
which provisions on the death penalty have been removed.
The theme of the abolition of capital punishment for pedophiles was raised by
the deputies in the spring before going on vacation, since more than 10,000
citizens then initiated the introduction of the death penalty for rapists of
the minors.
Chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children "Strong family - strong
state" Zhenish Akmatov noted that the rate of sexual offenses against children
is increasing from year to year. Explaining the need for the introduction of
capital punishment, the activist noted that many countries use the death
penalty. It is Belarus, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and more than 12 US
states. Russia, Kazakhstan, South Korea have such a provision, permitting the
use of the death penalty, in the Constitution but it is not put in practice.
Kubat Otorbaev, Ombudsman, stated that he, as a parent, is for the abolition of
the moratorium on the death penalty, but as the country's main human rights
defender he understands - Kyrgyzstan can not use it. Ombudsman explained that
the introduction of the death penalty will be, in fact, the rejection by the
state of the intentions on raising the spiritual values ??without which a
developed society can not exist. And deprivation of a person's life (even
legally) means lifting of responsibility by the state and society for the
education of man as a person. "In the end, all this could lead to further
degradation and exasperation of the society, and in the best case - to a
standstill in the legal consciousness," Kubat Otorbaev said.
As an alternative, the Ombudsman proposes to replace the death penalty with
life imprisonment, fixing legally that a pedophile can not be granted amnesty.
(source: eng.24.kg)
ISRAEL:
Capital Punishment Is Not Israel's Answer to Terrorism
For decades, Israel has prided itself on its anti death-penalty stance. But in
the past year, calls for the use of capital punishment have started to rise
again, heightened by the trial of Elor Azaria, a sergeant in the Israel Defense
Forces. Sergeant Azaria has been charged with manslaughter for killing Abdel
Fattah al-Sharif, a Palestinian. Mr. Sharif had stabbed an Israeli soldier, and
been shot and wounded by the soldier's colleagues. In a video of the event, he
can be seen lying supine and still for several minutes before Sergeant Azaria
calmly points the gun at his head and fires.
The sergeant, who has pleaded innocent, claims that Mr. Sharif still posed a
threat and that he acted to eliminate the danger. While many Israelis,
including the commanders of the Israel Defense Forces, have responded in
outrage, others have said that Sergeant Azaria???s actions were justified and
have called him a hero
The support for Sergeant Azaria coincides with a renewed debate on the death
penalty in Israel. Avigdor Lieberman, the defense minister recently proposed a
bill asking Israeli courts to enact the death penalty in terrorism cases. It
would have essentially applied only to Palestinian assailants.
Mr. Lieberman campaigned in last year's elections on a promise to apply capital
punishment to convicted terrorists. He agreed to a partial implementation of
his original bill, which had been rejected by the Knesset, when he negotiated
his terms for joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition in May. The
recent attack by Mr. Sharif and Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, a fellow Palestinian,
seemed to play into his hands by reinforcing an increasingly widespread yet
simplified conception of the conflict: that Palestinians are inherently violent
and will never stop trying to kill Israelis.
It's not hard to pinpoint the root of such a mind-set. It starts with the
military education that almost all Jewish Israelis receive beginning in high
school. Later, when Israeli teenagers are drafted, the military requires that
soldiers view every situation through the lens of security, looking for any
possible source of danger.
I learned that crucial lesson when I was drafted into the military in 2009. Our
training demanded that we approach threats as immediate, not long term; nuanced
thinking was dangerous; political considerations were irrelevant; and
Palestinians were security risks until they had been proved safe. While serving
in the West Bank, my fellow soldiers and I were kept safe by this type of
vigilance. We remained alert to any potential security threats. We paid little
attention to innocuous Palestinians or to their needs and concerns.
Despite this security-1st outlook, the military's strict rules of engagement,
which Sergeant Azaria appears to have flagrantly broken, are intended to
restrain soldiers. As a result of his trial, he is a martyr for the movement
that sees those rules as a hindrance to the military's mission, just as it sees
Israel's avoidance of capital punishment as a hindrance to the state's fight
against terrorism.
But capital punishment for Palestinian assailants will not help fight
terrorism, nor will it solve any aspect of the conflict. It will not deter
future attacks, as the promoters of the legislation had claimed. It is a
thoughtless, vengeful reaction to a problem many Israelis increasingly believe
is unsolvable. Mr. Lieberman's proposed legislation is a sign of the disease of
intractable conflict metastasizing.
Part of the solution is bolstering the counternarrative that seeks peaceful
cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. But the same movement that calls
for death to terrorists accuses pro-peace nonprofits of betrayal. Last month,
the Knesset passed legislation known as the N.G.O. bill, which targets Israeli
human rights organizations with disproportionate scrutiny compared with other
nonprofits. Last year, a popular video called the leaders of four Israeli human
rights organizations "foreign agents."
One of these organizations, B'Tselem, provides video cameras to Palestinians in
the West Bank so they can film human rights violations. B'Tselem released the
widely viewed video of Sergeant Azaria's alleged misconduct. As the nonprofits'
work is attacked and as its leaders receive death threats, the United States
should increase its support to these groups, given their crucial role in a
healthy democracy.
One of the beacons of that democracy has been the state's refusal to carry out
capital punishment, which is allowed in Israeli law during wartime and for
certain crimes. Since its inception, the country has executed just one person:
the Holocaust leader Adolf Eichmann, who was put to death in 1962. But like
many countries that have recently faced deadly terrorist attacks, Israel has
been inching ideologically further to the right.
I recently overheard a conversation among soldiers about Sergeant Azaria's
trial. When someone noted that what the sergeant did was against the law and
reflected poorly on the military, several soldiers accused him of being a
leftist.
This fits with Sergeant Azaria's narrative of his arrest and prosecution. He
claims that his indictment is a political move to pacify the left, in which he
includes the military and the media. In his 1st court testimony, he blamed
Moshe Yaalon, the recently ousted defense minister, and Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot,
the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, for throwing him "to the dogs
for fear of the journalists," who had showed "a biased film clip."
To be sure, the public support campaign for Sergeant Azaria - which includes
Mr. Lieberman, who, before becoming defense minister, visited him in court - is
devoted to defending the individual at least as much as his actions. His
defenders paint him as "our boy," and there is some truth to this. Sergeant
Azaria is a young man with a narrow perspective, a share in the national grief
and a rifle. His actions, inexcusable as they appear to be, are a result of 50
years of meeting terrorism with occupation. They also reflect an unabating
mind-set that is changing the nature of Israel, promoting vengeance and
vigilantism in place of law and order.
(source: Nathan Hersh is a former managing director of the social justice
nonprofit Partners for Progressive Israel; New York Times)
PHILIPPINES:
CBCP anti-death penalty book out
CONSISTENT with the Church's teachings on the sacredness of human life, the
Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has come out with an
anti-death penalty book amid moves by the Duterte administration to reimpose
capital punishment.
The book, "Affirm an Option for Life, a Source Book on Death Penalty and
Justice that Heals," was formally launched on Tuesday by the CBCP Episcopal
Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care.
Rudy Diamante, executive secretary of the commission, expressed confidence that
the book would convince the faithful and the government to support the CBCP's
advocacy against the return of the death penalty.
The book, he said, does not only oppose the death penalty but offers as well
alternatives on how to heal the pain and anguish of the victims and their
families, and also of those who have committed the crime.
Diamante added that the book also contains the latest pronouncements of Pope
Francis on the death penalty.
He said work on the book began in 1996 but since there were moves by the
Duterte administration to reimpose capital punishment, the CBCP decided to
publish it this year.
"It documents why we should not reimpose the death penalty," he said.
The President earlier said that he wanted the return of the capital punishment
to serve as a deterrent to heinous crimes, particularly the growing menace of
illegal drugs which he claimed was a threat to national security.
The death penalty was abolished for the second time in 2006 by then President
and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
It was first scrapped by the 1987 Philippine Constitution, only to be restored
in 1993, with lethal injection as the means.
Leo Echegaray, who was convicted of raping his daughter, was the 1st to be
executed. 2 others followed Echegaray before Arroyo declared a moratorium on
the death penalty at the urging of the international community.
A total of 124 countries out of 194 have abolished the capital punishment
because it was unable to deter crimes, the CBCP commission pointed out.
Even Pakistan, 1 of the 3 countries in the world, along with Iran and Saudi
Arabia, with the most number of executed criminals, abolished its death penalty
law in 2014.
(source: Manila Times)
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