Dec. 4
PAKISTAN:
Criminal justice system
The very basis of the modern judicial system is deliverance of justice through
an impartial adjudicator. The theoretical justification for the separation of
the executive and the judiciary is so that those who prosecute are not the same
who decide on the guilt or innocence of the party under trial. However, when
the prosecution itself lacks capacity for effective investigation and the
judicial system has glaring shortcomings, then the deliverance of justice can
hardly be expected. This was witnessed in the acquittal of a death row convict,
Mazhar Farooq on Friday. The Supreme Court ruled the acquittal on the grounds
that there was no proper prosecution nor presence of contradictory evidence
against him. How, given the Supreme Court's ruling, Farooq ended up on death
row is a sorry commentary on the criminal justice system of Pakistan. The
initial ruling for his death sentence came from a trial court, which was in
turn upheld by the Lahore High Court. The fact that the absence of consistent
evidence was missed by these 2 tiers of the judicial system paints a terrifying
picture of the criminal justice system of Pakistan.
In very basic terms, the modern judicial system, for criminal cases, holds
evidence to a very high test of reliability for a conviction to take place.
Whereas, for civil cases the principle of higher probability applies, for
criminal cases a person can be held guilty only if his or her guilt is
established beyond reasonable doubt. This is because a criminal conviction
results in cessation of a person's liberties and has serious ramifications for
his or her future. However, despite, the presence of these safeguards, there is
always the possibility of an innocent person getting incarcerated. This is one
of the reasons why many countries have eliminated the death penalty, as its
irreversible nature prevents making amends if a person has been wrongfully
convicted.
However, in Pakistan, the death penalty continues to be in place and people
continue to wait their eventual end on death row, having ended there by a
system that is fundamentally flawed. In October, 2 bothers, Ghulam Sarwar and
Ghulam Qadir, were acquitted by the Supreme Court only to find out that that
they had already been executed. This is a glaring reminder of the many issues
in Pakistan's judicial system, which militate against the death penalty, if not
on principle, than on pragmatic basis. Even the most ardent supporters of the
death penalty would not support it in Pakistan given its present state of the
criminal justice system. The moratorium on death penalty that was initially
lifted to punish hardcore terrorists is being used to punish those who have
been convicted on non-terror related charges. And this is leading to the
present-day travesties of justice in Pakistan.
In any case, death penalty misses the concept of individual reform that forms
the central objective of the modern criminal justice system. That concept takes
into account the various circumstances that make an individual turn towards
crime, and see that crime as society's failure of providing a healthy
environment for that individual. Granted, certain crimes have more to do with
just social shortcomings, but this approach transcends the role of the state
beyond merely avenging for a crime, and instead focuses it on reintegrating
individuals into society so that they can become productive members of the
localities. This has proved to be a far more effective deterrent than the fear
of the death penalty. Moreover, it breaks the cycle of despair and crime that
convicts get locked in once they serve their sentence. It is towards these
progressive ideals that Pakistan should be moving towards.
(source: Editorial, The Daily Times)
**********************
PHC suspends death sentence of 7 tribesmen
Suspending the death sentence to 7 tribesmen awarded by a jirga in the Frontier
Region Kohat, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday observed that nobody had
the right to deprive a person of life and liberty except in accordance with the
law and constitution.
A 2-member bench headed by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth suspended the decision of
the jirga.The assistant political agent Frontier Region Kohat and Commissioner
FCR Kohat had maintained the decision.
The court directed the APA, and commissioner FCR Kohat and jirga members,
including Malik Zar Khan, Malik Muhammad Naeem, Malik Javed Iqbal and the Fata
Tribunal, to submit reply in the case and explain as why the death sentence was
awarded to the tribesmen and under what authority.
During the course of hearing, lawyer Mohibullah Kakakhel submitted before the
bench that the petition was a human rights case as the right of life was
snatched from 7 persons including Abdul Wahab, a resident of Qasimkhel village
in Darra Adamkhel and his companions Malik Imran, Fazal Rahim, Nawab Khan,
Gulbaz and others.
He submitted that Abdul Wahab and 6 others were awarded death sentence by a
jirga on December 16, 2015 in a murder case of one Shafiq. The lawyer said that
Shafiq was murdered outside Darra Adamkhel in a settled area and his murder
case was being heard by the additional district and sessions judge in Kohat.
The lawyer submitted that the jirga awarded death sentence to seven persons in
violation of the law and constitution. He informed that APA Frontier Region
Kohat and Commissioner FCR Kohat had also confirmed this unlawful decision and
rejected the applications of the convicts.
"Though an accused cannot be handed down death penalty under the FCR, the APA
FR Kohat and Commissioner FCR maintained the decision of the jirga," he pointed
out. The jirga in its verdict had also warned the local people not to attend
the funeral prayer of the accused after their execution and their family
members were told that they would not be allowed to bury them in Darra
Adamkhel.
The lawyer submitted that the family members of the slain person on November
12, 2016 had moved an application to APA FR Kohat, requesting for official guns
and cartridges and a place where the convicts will be killed.
In the application, they also requested the APA to nominate persons from the
deceased's family for shooting dead the convicts. It was stated in the petition
that the proceedings of the jirga and its decisions were illegal, beyond their
competence and against the constitution and law. It was stated that under the
Supreme Court's decision and Constitution the tribesmen had fundamental rights.
It said that the impugned order of the jirga and then confirmation by the APA
FR Kohat and Commissioner FCR Kohat were totally illegal and thus the high
court had the jurisdiction to save the life of citizens of Pakistan.
"A question of far-reaching human rights consequences is involved and this high
court may show indulgence to do away with orders of the official respondents,
wherein private persons have been let loose on someone for the purpose of
killing," the petition noted.
(source: The News)
ZIMBABWE:
10 Death Row Inmates Escape Hangman's Noose
10 inmates on death row successfully petitioned Cabinet for exemption from the
hangman's noose and their sentences have since been commuted to life
imprisonment, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told Parliament recently.
There are 90 inmates on death penalty.
He was responding to a question from Zvishavane-Ngezi legislator John Holder,
who had asked the Leader of the House what Government policy was on capital
punishment.
"The current law in the country as articulated under our new Constitution is
that women are exempted from capital punishment. Every citizen under the age of
18 is again exempted from capital punishment but men from the age of majority
upwards are liable to death penalty," he said.
"Under the current law, it is only one offence that attracts death penalty and
that is aggravated murder. Until three weeks ago, we had 90 inmates who had
been sentenced to death but three weeks ago, 10 of them submitted petitions to
Cabinet, under a provision in the Constitution, for the President to exercise
his prerogative of mercy where he deems it fit in terms of that provision of
the Constitution," explained VP Mnangagwa.
"Fortunately, the 10 were granted reprieve and their death penalties commuted
to life. So we now have about 80 or 79 inmates in the death cells."
VP Mnangagwa said inmates sentenced to death were still in prison because the
country has not had a hangman for the past 12 years.
He said applications for the hangman's job were still open.
VP Mnangagwa said during their attendance of the Universal Periodic Review
meeting in Geneva a month ago, 89 members of the United Nations member states
appealed to Zimbabwe to reconsider the issue of the death penalty.
He said Government was in the process of making a paper for public debate on
the issue.
"I just wanted to find out if after this paper that is going to be presented to
the public for debate, are we going to vote for it or what is the process then
since capital punishment was part of the Constitution when we were making the
Constitution?," said Honourable Holder.
VP Mnangagwa said the issue of death sentence was made a public issue during
the making of a new Constitution.
"The majority of our people in this country went for the death penalty. They
supported the imposition of the death penalty and a minority, me included, went
against the death penalty. We believe that the issue of the death penalty
should not be partisan or should not be a political party policy. It should be
a national policy where we need to have outreach programmes countrywide to
discover the attitude of our people towards the issue of the death penalty."
Mutasa Central MP Trevor Saruwaka asked VP Mnangagwa if the Constitution was
not discriminatory against men when it only exempts women from the death
penalty.
"To me, it would appear to be allowing men of a certain age to be killed;
already it discriminates against men. Is that provision unconstitutional in as
far as that is regarded?" he said.
Responded VP Mnangagwa: "I believe that the Honourable Member was a Member of
this Assembly when we passed the Constitution, but he did not raise the issue
that the Constitution was contradictory or discriminatory. So, the current
Constitution is a document which was passed by the House."
(source: The Herald)
CHINA:
Transnational drug ring convicted in central China
A court in central China's Hunan Province has handed down the death penalty for
2 drug dealers, 1 from Hong Kong and the other from Mexico, for producing and
selling drugs in China.
2 other principal culprits of the transnational drug gang were sentenced to
suspended death with 2 years' reprieve, according to Friday's ruling by the
Intermediate People's Court in Chenzhou City.
5 members of the gang received jail terms from 15 years to life, according to
the court ruling.
Court investigation found the gang produced more than 400 kilograms of
methamphetamine and 254 kilograms of caffeine at their underground drug factory
in a mountainous village in Guiyang County of Hunan Province.
About 100 kg of the meth had been sold to drug dealers and addicts before the
gang was busted in 2013.
(source: Xinhua)
*******************
Chief criminals of transnational drug trafficking case sentenced to death
A Mexican drug dealer and 3 of his Chinese accomplices were passed the death
penalty in Hunan on December 2.
A total of 9 people were sentenced for selling and producing illicit drugs in a
remote pig farm at Chenzhou, central China's Hunan Province.
2 chief criminals, Carlos from Mexico and Lei Minghua from Hong Kong, were
sentenced to death. Another 2 were sentenced to death with a 2-year reprieve,
and the other 3 given 15 years in prison.
Over 1 ton of methamphetamine and caffeine were found by police in the drug lab
during a raid in 2012. It was estimated 100 kilograms of drugs had already been
sold before the dealers were arrested.
Police from Hunan Public Security Department said this is the biggest drug bust
in the province since 1949, the year the People's Republic of China was
formally founded.
Originally, two Mexican technicians were part of the gang in 2012, Global Times
reported. One left after installing the equipment for producing the drugs.
Carlos remained to watch over production.
The drugs were intended to be sold in Japan, Australia, Indonesia and China,
Global Times reported.
Over 50 people including representatives from the Consulate General of the
United Mexican States in Guangzhou, family members of the defendants, as well
as citizens attended the court hearing.
(source: english.cri.cn)
SINGAPORE:
Police nab Malaysian man suspected of supplying drugs to traffickers in
Singapore
A man believed to have been involved in the supply of "sizeable" quantities of
heroin to drug traffickers here was arrested in Malaysia last Friday.
Malaysia's Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID), which conducted the
operation, arrested the 30-year-old Johor-based Malaysian and 14 of his
associates.
About 27kg of heroin and RM290,000 in cash were also seized.
? The operation was a result of close co-operation between NCID and Singapore's
Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
CNB conducted 2 operations on Thursday and Friday, in conjunction with the
action by the NCID.
3 Singaporean drug traffickers - thought to have received drugs from the
Malaysian man - were arrested
About 3kg of heroin and 450g of cannabis was seized.
The drugs are estimated to be worth more than RM706,226.
CNB director Ng Ser Song said he was grateful to NCID for helping to nab "a
very elusive drug supplier who was involved in the supplying of sizeable amount
of drugs to Singapore".
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, traffickers face the death penalty if the amount
of diamorphine (pure heroin) trafficked exceeds 15g - the equivalent of 1,250
straws, enough to feed about 180 abusers for a week.
(source: The Star)
IRELAND:
Dubliners and the death penalty
Ireland had a bitter history of capital punishment over the centuries under
British rule. Many of our most famous patriots, from Padraig Pearse to Robert
Emmet, had met their end as a result of a death penalty.
It's easy to see why the provisional Irish Government in 1922 seriously
considered banning the practice of putting criminals to death, even at a time
when the punishment was used in almost every corner of the earth. The impending
Civil War soon changed minds, however, and the ultimate deterrent was kept just
in case.
That conflict saw the execution of 81 rebels. The first were four young Dublin
men executed in Kilmainham Gaol in November 1922 after being found in
possession of revolvers without proper authority.
Dozens of other suspected republicans from the capital would be shot dead by
firing squad during the conflict.
The ultimate deterrent was also kept on the statute books for ordinary murder,
although this would be carried out by a hangman rather than a firing squad.
The 1st execution was that of Dubliner William Downes, on 29 November, 1923.
The death penalty had been retained to protect against republican violence, but
ironically Downes was pro-Treaty and was employed as a dispatch rider in the
National Army. He shot and killed policeman Thomas Fitzgerald, who was
attempting to arrest him, after Downes committed an armed robbery at a candle
factory in Castleknock.
Justice was mercilessly swift, with Downes' execution occurring just over a
month after the murder. Thomas Pierrepoint, the English executioner, was
contacted and offered 15 pounds as his fee, travelling over to Mountjoy where
he officiated at the hanging.
The next Dubliner to meet his end in Mountjoy's Hanghouse was Henry McCabe who
was found guilty of 1 of the most notorious mass murders in Irish history.
McCabe was a gardener in a large house called La Mancha, just outside Malahide.
The owners of the property, and McCabe's employers, were the wealthy McDonnell
family. In March 1926, he murdered four members of the family, as well as 2
co-workers, by bludgeoning them to death. He then stole valuables and set the
house on fire in an attempt to cover his tracks. He was immediately the prime
suspect due to his suspicious behaviour and despite protesting his innocence
was found guilty and hanged in December of the same year.
Some Dubliners who saw the judge place the black cap on his head would be more
fortunate, including three young men who murdered their partners.
Patrick Boylan was reprieved just hours before he was due to mount the scaffold
in 1936 after slitting his girlfriend's throat following a drunken row at a
party in Coburg Place. He would serve 11 years in jail instead.
John Fanning also killed his girlfriend, strangling her to death on Howth Head
in 1948. She had threatened to break up with him. Fanning, too, would come
within days of the noose before the Government chose to exercise leniency.
Finally, in 1952, Rathfarnham man William Hopkins was found guilty of stabbing
to death Theola Curran, his fiancee, from Kimmage, after she told him their
relationship was over. Showing incredible generosity, Ms Curran's family
appealed for mercy on the prisoner's behalf. Mercy was indeed shown and
Hopkins' death sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life.
Some of the most controversial executions in the history of the State occurred
in Dublin during the Emergency, or World War II.
Patrick McGrath, a native of Aungier Street in the city, had survived being
shot by the British in the Easter Rising. He sided with the anti-Treaty faction
of the IRA after independence, however, continuing to serve in the
organisation.
In 1940, officers of the Special Branch raided a house on Rathgar Road where
members of the IRA had based themselves. McGrath and his colleagues chose to
shoot their way out rather than surrender, killing 2 detectives on their way.
They were quickly apprehended and sentenced to death by a military tribunal.
Appeals for clemency were made to Taoiseach Eamon de Valera, himself a former
anti-Treaty soldier. The appeals were refused and McGrath and a fellow
volunteer named Thomas Harte were put to death by firing squad just weeks after
the crime.
Several women from Dublin would also get the dreaded death penalty. Mary Agnes
Daly (27) saw 83-year-old Mary Gibbons kneeling in prayer in a church in
Glasnevin in 1948. Daly, who was in arrears with her rent money, beat the
elderly woman over the head with a hammer in an attempt to steal her bag.
Gibbons died some days later.
Daly, despite being caught red-handed, denied the crime but was sentenced to
death nonetheless. After a reprieve she would spend 6 years in jail instead.
The ultimate deterrent was finally abolished from the constitution in 1990.
During the lifetime of the State, 5 men had received the punishment in Dublin
and 28 men and 1 woman nationally.
(source: Colm Wallace is the author of 'Sentenced to Death: Saved from the
Gallows'----dublinpeople.com)
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