Oct. 19
BELARUS:
Belarus Death Penalty Resumes After 2-Year Break
The Belarus death penalty has now resumed operations following an absence of 2
years from the nation. The 2-year pause ceased to exist following 8 months
after European Union foreign ministers had opted to pardon asset freezes and
travel bans for over 150 Belarus politicians and leaders, with President
Alexander Lukashenko included as well.
According to Valiantsin Stefanovic of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, the death
penalty tends to take place rather quickly, in about 2 to 3 months time
following the court's decision. Moreover, the whereabouts of the bodies remain
unknown, as they do not end up being taken to the relatives. Even the burial
place of bodies that are victims of the Belarus death penalty is shrouded in
mystery.
Reports claim that physical and psychological abuse is utilized on death row
inmates in order to extract confessions and information. Such practices have
only added to Belarus' criticisms, as it has been known to be slammed for
issues regarding human rights under the 22-year-rule of President Lukashenko.
As some may recall, President Lukashenko won a 5th term in the presidency just
last year.
Since February, four people have already been sentenced to the Belarus death
penalty. The capital punishment was first introduced to the nation during
Soviet times, and has since executed 400 people following the independence of
Belarus from the USSR in 1991.
Belarus is the last European country to retain capital punishment. For Sacha
Koulaeva, the head of the Eastern and central Asia desk of Paris-based human
rights organization, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), putting
an end to the Belarus death penalty is an achievable goal with the right push
on the government from the EU.
Koulaeva added that previous efforts that involved international intervention
had been proven to be effective, as executions had nearly halted whilst the EU
had been negotiating lifting sanctions between 2013 and 2015.
(source: The Morning Ledlger)
SAUDI ARABIA-----execution
Saudi prince executed for murder, interior ministry announces
Prince Turki bin Saud bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabir, a prince from the Saudi
royal family was executed on Tuesday for murdering a man during a brawl in the
capital Riyadh, the Interior Ministry announced.
"The Interior Ministry, in announcing this, affirms to all that the Kingdom's
government is determined to establish security, bring about justice and
implement Allah's law against all those who attack the innocent," the ministry
said.
Local media said the killing for which the prince was executed took place in
2012.
Prince Turki's death sentence had been upheld by the Appeals Court and the High
Court, the Interior Ministry said.
Another royal prince welcomed the news, in the first public reaction from a
member of the ruling family.
"This is Allah's law, and the way of our blessed kingdom. May Allah have mercy
on the killer and his victim," Prince Khaled Al Saud wrote on Twitter.
Monday's execution brings to 128 the number of persons put to death so far in
the country this year, German News Agency (DPA) reported.
On January 2, authorities beheaded 47 people, including a prominent Shiite
cleric, on terrorism-related charges, leading to furious protests from regional
rival Iran.
Saudi Arabia imposes the death penalty for offences including murder, armed
robbery, banditry, rape, drug-trafficking and witchcraft.
(source: Daily Sabah)
SUDAN:
Sudanese prosecutor explains charges against detained Czech journalist
A Sudanese prosecutor Monday accused a Czech journalist and 2 Sudanese pastors
of espionage and undermining the constitutional system, which all carry the
death penalty.
Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) arrested the Czech
Petr Jasek four days after entering the country last October in his possession
2 suitcases, 1 carrying a laptop, a mobile and a camera while the other one
contained his personal documents.
In the trial which resumed Monday, the prosecutor told the court that Jasek
wrote reports in 2010 to condemn Sudan and tarnish its image before front of
the international community. He stressed that the country has been suffering so
far from these reports which negatively impacted Sudan's political, economic
and security situations.
Prosecutor Abdel-Rahman Sotal-Arab told the criminal court in Khartoum on
Monday that they seized an audio report by a member of Protection of Persecuted
Christians Organization for which the Czech journalist works. In these
statements, he stated that the genocide and destruction, happening in the Nuba
Mountains area of South Kordofan State, is part of a systematic work that has
started since the beginning of "Salvation Revolution", the regime of President
Omer al-Bashir.
Also, he told the tribunal that Jasek and some members of the group went to the
Nuba Mountains area and photographed civilians. After what they sent these
pictures abroad with captures claiming they are facing persecution, torture and
forced conversion to Islam by the Sudanese army. The statements further say
that the army bombards their areas inflecting heavy losses to lives and
properties, he stressed.
The prosecution pointed out that the Czech defendant admitted that their
organization protects the persecutors who are subjected to the harassment of
the security authorities. He added that the journalists and the 2 pastors
attended a conference held in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa last year where 1
of the pastors displayed photos of a burned young man and claimed he had been
burned by the Sudanese security to force him to convert to Islam and therefore
the authorities refused to treat him.
The prosecutor continued to say that following Addis Ababa press conference,
the Czech defendant decided to come to Sudan and paid a visit to the burned
young's home in Al-Haj Yousif neighbourhood, east Khartoum. At that visit the 2
pastors told the journalists that security agents used chemicals to burn the
young man during a student protest. He underscored that the victim is a
Sudanese Muslim from Darfur region.
He further said that the security authorities who were monitoring the foreign
journalist stopped him at Khartoum International Airport and asked him give
them his smartphone, laptop, a camera and 2 external memories.
The prosecutor added that he was apprehended when he refused to leave the
country without his belongings in line with the National Security Act. He added
the investigation resulted in discovery of photos and video footages in which
appear the SPLM-N deputy leader Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, civilians and photographs
of military areas and trenches.
The trial of the 4 defendants started last August.
Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State
Department since 1999, due to its treatment of Christians and other human
rights violations. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
recommended the country remain on the list in its 2016 report.
Also last August, the SPLM-N, called on the United States Special Envoy Donald
Booth to help to secure the release of detained pastors and activists in Sudan.
(source: Sudan Tribune)
EGYPT:
Man awaiting death penalty shot by police----Ashraf Al-Kazaz - who was wanted
in several violence-related cases, convicted, and sentenced to death - was
killed in a police raid amid allegations of extrajudicial killing
A man named Ashraf Al-Kazaz was shot dead by police forces on Monday during a
security raid. The Ministry of Interior accused him of killing and planning to
attack officers, while several human rights groups suspect he was killed
following his arrest.
On Monday, the ministry released a statement clarifying that Al-Kazaz was
killed in action because he resisted arrest. The statement mentioned that he
was sentenced to death in a criminal case in which he was accused of killing
officers and mutilating their bodies in 2013, following the forced dispersal of
the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in.
The statement clarified that he was involved in several attacks against
security headquarters and the planting of several bombs.
Meanwhile, Al-Shihab Human Rights Centre and the Human Rights Monitor mentioned
that Al-Kazaz was arrested and "eliminated" by police forces, accusing the
authorities of committing the crime of extrajudicial killing.
Al-Kazaz, an Islamist, was reportedly active in anti-government protests in
Giza since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Al-Kazaz, a
carpenter, has been on the run for 3 years.
Several political suspects, involved in violence-related cases, have reportedly
been arrested and then shot by police officers - a narrative the ministry
rejects and condemns.
(source: dailynewsegypt.com)
IRAN:
Stop the Hanging of a Child Bride In Iran----Islam's death wish for a young
woman.
She was born into poverty and an abusive family. As a young innocent child she
was forced by her family to marry an older man. According to the Islamic and
Sharia law of Iran, this was a perfectly legal and moral arrangement. Islam
encourages young girls to become child brides. Iranian authorities point out
that the Prophet Muhammad's life also illustrates a similar model for his
followers.
After being forced to marry, Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran was repeatedly raped. But
in Iran's Islamist law, even if a husband beats and forces his wife into having
sex with him, it is not considered rape or abuse of any kind, since they are
married. According to the clerics, a wife's duty is to please the man. The
Quran in Sura (Chapter) 2:223 says: Your women are your fields, so go into your
fields whichever way you like.
Zeinab was also repeatedly beaten after her wedding day. Despite the risk she
knew she faced, she attempted to leave her husband multiple times, but with no
success. She begged the police to help her, but they ignored her complaints,
and reprimanded her for leaving her tormentor. The Islamist law of the land
does not provide any protection for girls like her. In addition, neither her
family nor friends would accept her if she left her husband.
More tragedies were to unfold for Zeinab. Her husband's brother began also
repeatedly raping her.
She begged for a divorce, but her husband would not accept her request for one.
She did not have any legal base according to Iran's Islamist codes to get a
divorce. Everything was against this brave, unyielding girl. Yet, the worst was
still to come.
At the age of 17, her husband was found stabbed to death. Because Zeinab had
tried to escape him so many times, her community accused her of perpetrating
her husband's death. She was arrested and tortured for the next few months.
After endless abuse and torment, she was forced to confess that she was a
murderer.
It did not take long for the judge to issue a death sentence for Zeinab. She
was not allowed to have access to a lawyer at any point of her trial. Once
more, men made the decisions about her life and her death.
Zeinab insisted that her brother-in-law was the one who killed her husband. He
threatened her to be silent, and told her that if she pleaded guilty, he would
pardon her, according to Islamic law, so she wouldn't be executed.
Just as she was about to be executed by the medieval method of hanging, it was
discovered that she was pregnant. Soon after, she gave birth to a stillborn
child, most likely due to the stress and physical abuse that she endured at the
hands of her captors. Not long after she gazed at her lifeless baby, she was
told by the Iranian authorities to be ready for execution.
. Philip Luther, Amnesty International's research and advocacy director for the
Middle East and North Africa, said: "This is an extremely disturbing case. Not
only was Zeinab Sekaanvand under 18 years of age at the time of the crime, she
was also denied access to a lawyer and says she was tortured after her arrest
by male police officers through beatings all over her body."
Mansoureh Mills, the Iran campaigner at Amnesty International, pointed out:
"I can only imagine how extremely difficult her life must have been. That is
why this case is extremely shocking and disturbing, She was relying on adults
to protect her and unfortunately no adults were able to do that. Not the
authorities and not her family. She tried the police, but they wouldn't help.
She tried her family and they wouldn't take her back. And she is just a
teenager so she had nowhere to turn and so she was forced back to this
allegedly abusive marriage until the day her husband was killed."
The Islamic Republic has hypocritically signed on to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, which prohibits the death penalty for and execution of
children. But Iran repeatedly uses the death penalty to execute people under
18.
Zeinab is one case of many female children who live such tragic lives and then
get executed. Last year, Iran executed Fatemeh Salbehi for reportedly killing
her abusive husband at the age of 17.
According to the Islamic penal code of Iran, girls are treated as adults when
they reach the age of 9.
Zeinab can be executed any day. Instead of continuing with sanctions relief and
appeasement policies, the Obama administration should bring attention to Iran's
crimes against humanity. Iran ranks as the world's top executioner per capita.
It is incumbent on human rights organizations, the UN, Amnesty International
and the international community to stop this execution and many other similar
child executions, which are occurring in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(source: frontpagemag.com)
*******************
Urgent: 10 Drug Death Row Prisoners in Imminent Danger of Execution
On the morning of Monday October 17, at least 10 death row prisoners in
Ghezelhesar Prison were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for
their executions.
According to close sources, the prisoners were given their last visit with
their families on Monday afternoon. The prisoners are all reportedly sentenced
to death for drug-related offenses and may be executed as early as Wednesday
October 19.
Iran Human Rights is aware of the names of 8 of the prisoners: Abbas Karami,
Hamid Saber, Hamid Babaie, Hamid Nazari, Peyman Sabalani, Ganjali Chekezadeh,
Reza Sabzi, and Khodameli Pirzadeh.
These prisoners are scheduled to be executed at a time when the death penalty
or drug-related offenses is under review in the Iranian Judiciary.
(source: iranhr.net)
PHILIPPINES:
House panel pushes restoration of death penalty to up 'fear factor' among drug
fiends
The restoration of the death penalty for drug offenses topped the menu of
legislation the House of Representatives' justice committee is proposing
following its inquiry into the narcotics trade within the National Bilibid
Prisons.
The committee recommended a number of legislative and administrative measures
in its 24-page report on the inquiry, which was officially released Wednesday.
In an earlier interview, Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo said the
death penalty for drugs needs to be restored to increase the "fear factor"
among offenders.
The inquiry, which was mounted after President Rodrigo Duterte publicly accused
Senator Leila de Lima of benefiting from the drug trade at the NBP, saw
witnesses, including 12 "high-profile" inmates and former law enforcement and
jail officials, testify during lengthy hearings over 4 days against the former
Justice secretary.
De Lima refused to participate in the House inquiry, which she said was
intended to destroy her.
The proposed legislative measures:
-- Re-imposition of the death penalty on drug cases pending the reform of the
criminal justice system
--Granting of exceptions to the Anti-Wiretapping Law, Bank Secrecy Law, and
Anti-Money Laundering Act with respect to inmates and drug-related cases
-The Director and the Deputy Director of the BuCor shall serve a tour of duty
not to exceed 3 years from the date of assignment.
(source: interaksyon.com)
INDIA:
SC Stays Execution Of 2 Death Row Convicts
The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of 2 death row convicts - Vikram
Singh and Jasvir Singh @ Jassa, who were sentenced to death for kidnapping and
killing a 16-year-old boy after demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from his
father.
The bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice
Amitava Roy stayed the execution of death sentence and posted the matter to
2.00 pm on Monday (October 24th) for the final disposal.
The sessions court had issued death warrants for the execution of the 2
convicts on 25th of this month.
A petition for re-opening the review petition was filed by the convicts through
Advocate BS Billowaria, in view of the Supreme Court judgment in Mohammed Arif
@ Ashfaq vs. Registrar, Supreme Court.
In Arif's case, the constitution bench of the Supreme Court by 4:1 majority
extended the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution by holding that hearing of
cases in which death sentence has been awarded should be by a bench of 3 judges
and the hearing of review petitions in death sentence cases should not be by
circulation but should only be in open court.
Factual Background
The review petitioners were tried, convicted and sentenced to death under
Sections 302 and 364A of the Indian Penal Code, for kidnapping and killing a
16-year-old boy and demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from his father. The
conviction and sentence awarded to them was affirmed by the High Court of
Punjab and Haryana, and later by the Supreme Court.
Later, the review petitioners filed a writ petition before the high court
challenging the constitutionality of Section 364A awarding death penalty, which
also got dismissed.
Thereafter, they filed an appeal before the Supreme Court. A 3-judge bench had
dismissed the appeal, and held that Section 364A awarding death penalty as a
possible punishment, for kidnapping any person threatening to cause death in
order to compel government or any other person, to pay ransom , is not
unconstitutional.
****************
Death Row Convict Umesh Moves Karnataka HC Seeking Commutation
Infamous serial rapist Umesh Reddy has approached the Karnataka High Court
seeking directions for commutation of his sentence to life imprisonment citing
'compelling and supervening circumstances'.
The petition will be heard by the division bench comprising Chief Justice
Subhro Kamala Mukherjee and Justice Budihal RB on Tuesday.
The accused contended that the death sentence has been rendered
'in-executable', owing to stated facts and circumstances. He cited that there
was excessive delay of 2 years and 3 months in the disposal of mercy petition
filed by his mother before the President.
It was also pleaded that he has been behind bars for more than 18 years,
including a period of solitary confinement lasting 10 years, which has led to
huge psychological impact on the prisoner who is currently on anti-psychotic
medication.
The notorious former reserve police constable, often described as a psychopath
serial killer, was involved in a series of rape, murder and robbery cases in
Karnataka and other states.
He was convicted for rape and murder of Jayashree Maradi Subbiah on February
28th, 1998, in Peenya police limits.
The sentence was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in 2009 and later by the
Supreme Court as well. His mercy petition filed before the President was also
rejected.
The Supreme Court's October 3rd verdict quashing his review petition, confirmed
the death penalty stating, "The petitioner is a menace and has become threat to
the society".
Read more at:
http://www.livelaw.in/death-row-convict-umesh-moves-karnataka-hc-seeking-commutation/
(source for both: livelaw.in)
PAKISTAN:
LHC summons record of 6 death row inmates
A division bench of Lahore High Court on Tuesday summoned case record of 6
alleged members of a banned outfit awarded death penalty by military courts on
targeted killing charges. The bench ordered for production of the required
record until November 10. The military courts had convicted Sabir Shah, Abdul
Rauf, Awais Gujjar, Suleman Pathan, Rafiullah and Sheikh Farhan for terrorism.
Their family members had challenged the sentence awarded by the military
courts. Applicants' counsel Zia Bajwa submitted that trial of the convicts was
already in progress before anti-terrorism courts and evidence was recorded,
when they were shifted to military authorities from Kot Lakhpat Jail. He
claimed that whole process was illegal as the convicts were neither allowed to
meet their families nor given a chance to hire a lawyer to plead their case in
the military courts. He said that even habeas corpus petitions challenging
detention of the convicts were pending before the high court when they were
secretly shifted from jail. He said the convicts had come to know about the
military courts' decision through a press release issued by the ISPR. He said
that requisites of justice were not met by the military courts as they were not
given right to defend themselves. He requested the court to set aside the
military courts' decision.
(source: Daily Times)
UNITED KINGDOM:
NZer shot for mutiny remembered in UK
An Otago soldier executed for mutiny is to be remembered this year at the Shot
at Dawn Memorial in England.
Jack Braithwaite, of Dunedin, volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary
Force in May 1915.
He served in Egypt and was later sent to France in April 1916.
While serving in France, he fell foul of the military authorities on a number
of occasions, losing his rank as lance corporal in May 1916.
He went absent without leave, served at the front for a short time, and was
later imprisoned after again leaving his unit, receiving further terms in
military prison after seeking to escape.
His attempt to defuse an incident involving a group of Australian and New
Zealand prisoners and a military policeman at a military prison resulted in his
being charged with mutiny.
British military leader General Sir Douglas Haig confirmed the court-martial
sentence, and he was executed on October 29, 1916 at Rouen.
He was 1 of at least 16 children of bookseller Joseph Braithwaite, who was
mayor of Dunedin in 1905, and he was 1 of 6 sons from the family to die in
World War 1.
The Shot at Dawn Memorial, created in 2000, is a monument at the National
Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England.
There, 306 wooden posts remember the British Army and Commonwealth soldiers
executed for desertion and other offences during World War 1.
Posts for Mr Braithwaite and 2 other "mutineers" - Scottish Gunner William
Lewis and Welsh Corporal Jesse Short - will be added to the Shot at Dawn
monument at a ceremony on October 29.
The trio were among the 309 soldiers granted formal pardons by the British
Ministry of Defence in 2006, after a campaign for those executed by their own
side, often after hurried and unsatisfactory courts martial.
The campaign battled for them to be declared victims of World War 1, because
many of those shot were suffering from shell shock.
Because of the efforts of many concerned people, including historians and
politicians, particularly former Invercargill MP Mark Peck, Mr Braithwaite and
4 other New Zealand servicemen who were executed during World War 1 were
pardoned by the New Zealand Parliament in September 2000.
Brigadier Evan Williams, of New Zealand, will attend the ceremony on October
29, along with relatives of Mr Braithwaite, including his nephew David
Braithwaite.
(source: Otago Daily Times)
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