Dec. 5
UNITED KINGDOM:
Rillington Place men among 400 hanged by Southport executioner----Albert
Pierrepoint was renowned by the Home Office as the most efficient executioner
in British history
The Rillington Place drama is currently being told in 3-part BBC series - but
did you know the Southport connection to the tragic story?
Based on the real life events, the tense and impactful thriller explores the
crimes of John Christie and the subsequent tragic miscarriage of justice in
1940s and 50s London.
Christie killed at least 8 women, including his wife, but early in the
investigation police wrongly arrested Timothy Evans, who was later convicted
and hanged for a crime he did not commit.
Christie was eventually caught and hanged by the same executioner - Southport's
Albert Pierrepoint.
Pierrepoint lived in Southport for much of his life and was renowned as 'the
most efficient executioner' in British history by the Home Office. Although
there is no officially recognised figure, he is known to have hanged more than
400 people.
He followed in the footsteps of both his dad and uncle in becoming an
executioner and was named the UK's Chief Executioner in 1941. However, years
after his retirement he revealed that he believed capital punishment was not an
effective detterent.
Pierrepoint resigned as hangman in 1956, 8 years before the last hanging was
executed in Britain. He went on to run a pub in Lancashire and made the
revelation in his memoir, Executioner Pierrepoint: An Autobiography.
He wrote in the book: "I have come to the conclusion that executions solve
nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for revenge
which takes the easy way and hands over the responsibility for revenge to other
people ...The trouble with the death penalty has always been that nobody wanted
it for everybody, but everybody differed about who should get off."
Pierrepoint was asked to give statements about his time as a hangman to the
Royal Commission on Capital Punishment. The case of John Christie, or more so
Timothy Evans, was one of the factors which led to the outlawing of capital
punishment in the UK.
Episode 2 of Rillington Place airs on BBC One on Tuesday, December 6 at 9pm.
Episode 1 is available on the BBC iPlayer.
(source: southportvisitor.co.uk)
PAKISTAN:
Mental illness and the death row
In 2004, a Brazilian man from a wealthy family was arrested for drug-smuggling
in Indonesia. Rodrigo Gularte was sentenced to death. Reports indicate that,
until the end, Rodrigo heard voices and talked to the walls.
Up until a few minutes before his execution by firing squad, he was unaware of
his impending death. The priest visiting him said he tried to make him
understand his situation for over an hour, but to little avail.
Rodrigo was not simply acting out on the eve of his execution. He was
exhibiting paranoid schizophrenia, a condition he had been diagnosed with while
in jail but had presumably been dealing with all his life. Family and friends
described strong mood swings, coupled with reckless habits and drug use. Like
most schizophrenics, Rodrigo refused medication for much of his adult life.
There are similar cases where largely poor defendants with mental health
conditions come from situations where they are undiagnosed. Many of these
defendants' 1st interactions with a psychiatrist are in a prison setting. Lack
of information or stigma surrounding certain illnesses make it difficult for
defendants to explain their condition to their lawyers, or even their families.
Prison authorities usually end up gathering this information and presenting it
to court.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights urges states to not
impose the death penalty nor execute those suffering from "any mental or
intellectual disability". The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities calls for "Reasonable accommodation" for persons with
disabilities extending to "appropriate training" being provided to
administrators of justice.
Pakistan has ratified these conventions but local laws remain disconnected. In
October 2016, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that schizophrenia is "not a
permanent mental disorder" and is a "recoverable disease" in the case of Imdad
Ali, a man convicted of killing a cleric.
Government doctors had diagnosed Imdad with schizophrenia after he was
convicted in 2012. But on October 31, 2016 the Supreme Court stayed his
execution on the basis of his mental illness. His lawyers and doctors said he
suffered from delusions, rendering him unable to comprehend the nature of his
crime and punishment.
Methods of establishing a mentally ill individual's guilt are often murky and
hotly debated. In Imdad's case the Supreme Court of Pakistan took a cue from
the Indian Supreme Court case of Amrit Bhushan Gupta. The court argued
"Insanity...must be such as to disable an accused person from knowing the
character of the act he was committing when he commits a criminal act."
This argument comes from the M'Naghten Rule, a test for criminal insanity
established in England in 1843. Other tests that came afterwards include
volitional insanity, where the accused was aware of what they were doing, but
their mental health condition was so severe or debilitating that they were
unable to "conform their actions to law".
The methods of establishing culpability vary, but in most cases in court, there
are many nuances and uncertain barometers. Some argue that poor prison
conditions can also worsen the mental and physical health of the individual,
affecting their ability to defend themselves.
Khizar Hayat, a former police officer who murdered a fellow officer in 2003 has
spent over 18 years on death row. Since then, his delusions and paranoia have
grown worse.
Like Imdad, Khizar suffers from schizophrenia. During his 18 years on death row
he has made various claims ??? such as: his mother was the Pharaoh's Queen and
the world was ending because the Americans landed on the moon.
Imdad Ali's family says he used to say he controls the world. Reportedly,
Rodrigo kept saying he would be resurrected after his death. In all these
cases, the prisoners suffered from delusions and were unable to understand
their circumstances.
As mandated by international conventions, "reasonable accommodation" must be
made for cases involving prisoners with mental illnesses. Ultimately, it is up
to the Supreme Court to look at Imdad and Khizar's cases equally, while taking
into account the seriousness of their conditions.
(source: Opinion; Nur Ibrahim, The News)
MIDDLE EAST:
Theresa May urged to act on child death sentences at Gulf Summit
Theresa May is set to attend the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
this week, as a number of Gulf kingdoms continue to use the death penalty
against children, or threaten to do so.
The international human rights organisation Reprieve has written to the Prime
MInister, asking her to use the Summit to raise the cases of 3 prisoners
sentenced to death as children in Saudi Arabia; and to call on Kuwait to
reverse its plans to lower the age at which people become eligible for a death
sentence to 16.
Ms May is reportedly set to attend the GCC Summit in Manama, Bahrain on 6-7
December as guest of honour. The summit will be attended by a number of
non-democratic kingdoms which have a record of using the death penalty against
political opponents, protesters and children aged under 18.
Saudi Arabia sentenced to death Abdullah al Zaher, Dawoud al Marhoon and Ali al
Nimr for alleged involvement in protests in the kingdom, despite their being
15, 17 and 17 respectively at the time of their arrest. All 3 remain imprisoned
under sentence of death and could be executed at any time, without even their
families being informed beforehand. (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/22380)
According to Gulf News, the Kuwaiti Government recently announced that, from
2017, the age of eligibility for the death penalty would be lowered to 16. The
announcement was made by Bader Al Ghadhoori, the head of juvenile protection at
the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, during a talk warning students about the use
of social media and the internet.
In Bahrain, Mohammed Ramadan is held under a sentence of death based on a
'confession' which was tortured out of him following his involvement in
protests calling for reform in the country, says Reprieve.
All 3 of these Gulf States enjoy a close relationship with the British
Government, and many have received support and training from the UK for their
prison and police services, despite their use of the death penalty and torture
to extract false 'confessions.'
During 2016, Freedom of Information requests by Reprieve have revealed that:
--British Police have trained their Saudi counterparts in investigation
techniques that could lead to the arrest, torture and sentencing to death of
protesters (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/23142)
--An FCO project delivered by a Northern Irish government body has trained
hundreds of Bahraini prison guards in the kingdom's death row jail.
(http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/23493)
--These projects have been undertaken without the safeguards that are supposed
to be put in place under the Government's flagship guidance on the death
penalty and torture overseas - known as the Overseas Security and Justice
Assistance (OSJA) guidance.
The letter, sent on 17 November by Reprieve director Maya Foa, asks that the
Prime Minister
...use [her] attendance at the GCC summit to:
1) Urge the Saudi authorities to commute the death sentences of Ali al Nimr,
Dawood al Marhoon, and Abdullah al Zaher, and those of any other juveniles
facing the death penalty in the country;
2) Call on the Bahraini Government to commute the death sentences handed to
Mohammed Ramadan and Hussain Moosa, and to release the 2 men;
3) Request that Kuwait's Government urgently call off its plans to lower to 16
the age at which individuals can receive the death penalty.
Maya Foa said: "Across the Gulf, the situation is dire for political reformers
and juveniles locked up on death row. These people should not even be in
prison, let alone spending their days under the threat of imminent execution.
The Prime Minister must call on the UK's Gulf allies to commute the death
sentences handed down to children and to protesters, and release them from
prison. Theresa May cannot allow the pursuit of trade deals to ride roughshod
over the most basic principles of justice and freedom, which Britain is
supposed to uphold."
* Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/
(source: ekklesia.co.uk)
PHILIPPINES:
Diocese: No to death penalty
The Diocese of Balanga on Sunday expressed its strong opposition to
reimposition of death penalty in the country.
"We are working together against it because God gives life. It is His gift to
us that we have to treasure and cherish," Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Diocese
of Balanga said.
The diocese comprise parishes in 11 towns and one city in Bataan.
The Bataan prelate said life being God-given should be protected and preserved.
It is not to be destroyed, he added.
"There is always hope and healing to anyone and even bad people can still be
saved. Let us give chances for everybody to repent," Santos said.
In the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on
Migrants and Itinerant People (CBCP-ECMIP), according to him, they always
appeal for mercy and clemency for Filipinos incarcerated in foreign lands.
"While here we are promoting death penalty, so we are sending the wrong message
to those countries," Santos, CBCP-ECMIP chairman, said.
(source: Manila Times)
*******************
Despite Duterte push, Arroyo maintains stance vs death penalty
Deputy Speaker and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo maintained her
stance against death penalty amid the vigorous push by President Rodrigo
Duterte and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to revive it for heinous crimes.
"I spoke with President Duterte about that, it's alright with him if I oppose
the death penalty," she said in a news conference.
Arroyo said she would not engage in debates about the issue, but added that she
would stand firm on her personal conviction to oppose it.
"I will not argue. I am not President anymore. I have a personal conviction,
but I recognize that he is the President and I am not," she said.
"I am against it personally, but I want this administration to succeed, so he
has to be the one to decide on how to make this administration succeed," she
added.
It was in 2006 during Arroyo's administration when the law banning death
penalty was passed.
Duterte and several House leaders led by Alvarez want it revived to help curb
the drug menace.
Alvarez has authored the bill for its reimposition, which has been approved at
the sub-committee level of the justice committee. The House leader said he
wants the bill passed before Christmas.
(source: interaksyon.com)
*******************
Int'l groups to Duterte gov't: Death penalty isn't effective----The measure is
one of the priority bills of President Rodrigo Duterte to help reduce crime in
the Philippines
Various human rights advocates and international organizations have added their
voices to the growing clamor to stop the revival of the death penalty in the
Philippines.
This came after the justice panel's subcommittee on judicial reforms of the
House of Representatives approved on Tuesday, November 29, a bill seeking to
reimpose capital punishment for all heinous crimes.
"We categorically and absolutely oppose the death penalty in any and all
circumstances and consider its use to be a violation of the right to life and
freedom from cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment," about 67 signatories of
a statement released on Monday, December 5, said.
"It cannot be emphasized enough that significant and overwhelming evidence
shows that the death penalty is not effective at deterring crime at a greater
rate than alternative forms of punishment," the groups which include the human
rights group Amnesty International said.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, one of the co-authors of House Bill Number 1,
expects the House of Representatives to pass the death penalty bill on 3rd and
final reading by December.
PH was leader in fight vs death penalty
They argued that the Philippines is a state party to the Second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
means that it is obliged not to carry out executions within its jurisdiction
and not to reintroduce the death penalty.
"The Philippines has always been viewed as a regional and global leader in the
drive to abolish the death penalty around the world. Bringing back the death
penalty into its laws would be an enormous step backward for the country," they
reminded members of Congress and the Duterte administration.
They warned authorities that the revival of the capital punishment "would
affect the notions of justice and human rights in the country."
The UN General Assembly has repeatedly adopted resolutions by overwhelming
majorities, calling on all States that retain the death penalty to impose a
moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing it.
The groups are proposing that the government instead improve detection and
investigation techniques, along with the capacity and the effectiveness of the
justice system.
The measure is one of the priority bills of President Rodrigo Duterte, who
counts more than 250 congressmen as his allies.
Arroyo opposes death penalty
The Philippines was the 1st Asian country to abolish the death penalty under
the 1987 Constitution, but it was reimposed during the administration of
President Fidel V. Ramos to address the rising crime rate.
During the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, now Pampanga
congresswoman, the Philippines signed the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition
of the death penalty. Capital punishment was eventually abolished under her
watch in 2006.
Arroyo reiterated her position in a press conference on Monday, December 5.
List of groups and individuals opposing death penalty
Below is a list of 67 individuals and international groups that signed the
statement against the reimposition of the death penalty in the Philippines.
--Alcohol and Drug Foundation (Australia)
--Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance Against Mining) (Philippines)
--Amnesty International
--Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice (Russia)
--Artikulo Tres Human Rights Alliance Inc (Philippines) '--Asian Federation
Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) --Asian Forum for Human Rights and
Development (FORUM-ASIA)
--Ateneo de Davao Legal Aid Office (Philippines)
--Bernice C. Mendoza, Lawyer (Philippines)
--Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (Canada)
--Centro de Investigacion Drogas y Derechos Humanos (CIDDH) (Peru)
--Charles Hector, Human Rights Defender and Lawyer (Malaysia)
--Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific
--Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico
--Collectif francais Liberons Mumia
--Commission on the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) (Indonesia)
--Death Penalty Focus
--Defend the Defenders (DTD) (Philippines)
--Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM)
--FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights
--Focus on the Global South
--Forum Droghe0Italia (Italy)
--Housing Works (United States)
--Human Rights Online (Philippines)
--In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (Philippines)
--Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (Indonesia)
--Indonesian Legal Roundtable (Indonesia)
--Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) (Indonesia)
--International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP)
--International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
--International Drug Policy Consortium
--International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture
(FIACAT)
--Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (Australia)
--LBH Masyarakat (Indonesia)
--M.Ravi, Human Rights Advocate (Singapore)
--MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture)(Malaysia)
--Malaysian Bar
--Mamamayan Tutol sa Bitay (Philippines)
--MARUAH (The Working Group on an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism-Singapore)
--Mary Jane N. Real, Women's Human Rights Advocate (Philippines)
--Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism
(MABINI)(Philippines)
--NGO 4 Life (Montenegro)
--Observatory of Crops Declared Illicit (Colombia)
--Penington Institute (Australia)
--Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)
--Philippine Human Rights Information Center PHILRIGHTS
--Purple Action for Indigenous Women's Rights (LILAK)(Philippines)
--Reprieve (Australia)
--Reseau d'Alerte et d'Intervention pour les Droits de l'Homme (RAIDH)
--Ricardo Fernandez, Lawyer (Philippines)
--Romanian Harm Reduction Network (Romania)
--Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) (Philippines)
--Singapore Anti Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC)
--Social Watch (Benin)
--Syndicat national des agents de la formation et de l'education du Niger
(SYNAFEN)
--Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (Taiwan)
--TB/HIV Care Association (South Africa)
--Todung Mulya Lubis, Lawyer (Indonesia)
--Tyrell Haberkorn, Political and Social Change, Australian National University
--Union contre la Co-infection VIH/Hepatites/Tuberculose (UNICO)(Ivory Coast)
--Vietnam Independent Civil Society Organizations Network (VICSON)
--Vietnamese Women for Human Rights
--WANEP GUINEE-BISSAU (West Africa Network for Peacebuilding) (Guinea Bissau)
--We Believe in Second Chances (Singapore)
--West Africa Drug Policy Network (Ghana)
--World March of Women (Philippines)
--Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (Zimbabwe)
Local human rights groups and some lawmakers had earlier objected to the
reimposition of capital punishment in the country, saying it is not a deterrent
to crime. Others plan to take to social media to protest the measure using the
hashtag #StopBitayBill (Stop the Death Penalty Bill).
(source: rappler.com)
BANGLADESH:
Court sentences death penalty for fugitive Idris in war crimes case
A special court on Monday sentenced a fugitive person to death for crimes
committed during Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan, officials
said.
A 3-member panel of judges of the International Crimes Tribunal headed by
Anwarul Haque handed down the death penalty to Idris Ali Sardar, a resident in
Shariatpur district, for his involvement in wartime crimes.
Sardar was given death penalty as allegations against him were proved beyond
doubt, lawyer Ziad Al-Malum said.
The court kept the case pending for the verdict after the completion of
arguments from both defence and prosecution on November 2.
Accused- Solaiman Mollah alias Soleman Moulvi and Idris Ali Sardar alias Gazi
Idris- were charged with mass killing, murder, kidnapping, torture, looting and
arson attack during the liberation war.
Advocate Gazi MH Tamim, who was appointed by the state, moved for Idris Ali
while prosecutors Ziad Al-Malum, Rishikesh Saha and Rozina Sulnata Chomon stood
for the state side.
67-year-old Idris Ali has been absconding after the case was filed against him.
13 witnesses have testified for the persecution before the ICT against the
accused.
On May 2, 2016 the tribunal indicted the 2 local collaborators ( Razakars) in
the case.
Of the accused, 84-year-old Sulaiman Mollah from Kashipur Muslimpara, died at
Dhaka Medical College Hospital on October 25, 2016 of old-age complicacy.
The prosecution submitted the probe report on October 29, 2015 against 7
collaborators (Razakars), including Solaiman and Idris, containing 852 pages
before the special tribunal.
? On 14 June, 2015, the tribunal served arrest warrants against the 2
collaborators (Razakars) in connection with a case sued for their crimes
against humanity.
One freedom fighter Abdus Samad Talukdar lodged the case with Shariatpur Sadar
police station against seven alleged local war criminals in 2010 who committed
crimes against humanity and genocide committed during the 1971 liberation war.
(source: newsnextbd.com)
IRAQ:
British jihadists captured by Iraqi forces in the besieged city of Mosul have
been warned they face the death penalty----Suspects are being kept in makeshift
prisons in Qayyarah, 40 miles south of Mosul.
So far all the defendants who have been put on trial have been Iraqi nationals.
But at least 100 Brits are thought to be among the thousands of foreign
recruits holed up inside the under-fire city.
And Abu Iman, an Iraqi judge, has warned they will be tried "just the same as
locals".
"They have committed crimes against Iraqis so they should face local law," he
said.
But one British jihadi says he will never be taken alive.
Ex-Morrisons security guard Omar Hussain, 30, originally from High Wycombe,
Bucks, is believed to be fighting on the frontline in Syria.
He says he will die in the desert rather than be taken prisoner.
Last month he said: "Martyrdom is my only option and I don't vouch for anything
else."
And he added: "Death is always around the corner."
(source: The Mirror)
IRAN:
EU urged to clarify if states are funding mass executions in Iran
The European Union has been urged to urgently clarify whether it is helping to
fund Iranian anti-narcotics programmes linked to mass executions.
In a letter seen by The Independent, human rights charity Reprieve raises
concerns that as part of a "new page" in EU-Iran relations announced earlier
this year, the EU and member states could be actively seeking to fund UN
programmes linked to support for Iran's drug police - a body responsible for
hundreds of executions in the country.
Reprieve has called for "urgent clarification of the European Commission's
policy on funding counter-narcotics operations in Iran", following "deeply
concerning" reports in the Iranian media that a senior official in the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the EU was actively seeking to provide
support for Iranian drug enforcement operations.
The letter, addressed to EU foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini and
co-signed by NGOs including Human Rights Watch and Iran Human Rights, cites a
report in the Iran Daily stating a UNODC official named Alex P Schmid confirmed
"the European Union has positive evaluation of Iran's performance in the
anti-narcotics fight," and the "European Commission is eager to earmark new
funds to Iran for the purpose".
He reportedly added: "Countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway are ready to
allocate the credit to Iran."
Around 1,000 people were executed in Iran last year, according to a report from
the United Nations investigator Ahmed Shaheed. But, the unofficial number is
believed to be higher.
The majority of these executions are linked to drug trafficking and non-lethal
drugs offences.
According to Reprieve, in 2014 the Iranian government executed 474 drug
offenders, in 2015 682 drugs offenders were hanged and around 189 drug
offenders had been hanged as of September 2016.
Despite these statistics, the deputy head of the judiciary, Mohammad Bagher
Olfat, said in August that the death penalty had not had a "dissuasive effect"
on drug trafficking through Iran, which is one of the main routes for Afghan
heroin heading for Europe.
The EU is the 2nd largest donor to the UNODC, spending more than 2 million
euros(1.6 million pounds) on the law enforcement arm of UNODC's 2010-15
regional programme for "Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries" - an
initiative alleged to support the activities of the Iranian drug police,
according to reports from Reprieve.
"Counter-narcotics support programmes in Iran risk enabling death sentences by
urging Iranian drug police to demonstrate increased arrests, higher conviction
rates, and larger seizure sizes - all of which end up encouraging capital
convictions in a judicial system that fails to meet the minimum standards of
due process and where the death penalty is one of the required punishments for
seizures of more than 30g of illegal drugs," the letter reads.
A draft resolution by the European Parliament published in October called on
the European Commission to "ensure that any technical or other assistance
offered to Iran is not used to commit human rights violations".
The EU's 28 member states made a joint statement to the UN General Assembly in
April confirming that "imposing the death penalty for drug offences is against
the norms of international law".
During the same month, Ms Mogherini visited Iran to announce the EU and Iran
had "turned a new page" in their diplomatic relations, but also said "it is not
a secret we have some concerns" over the question of human rights in Iran.
Countries including the UK, Italy, Germany and Austria have previously
indicated they will not contribute to Iranian counter-narcotics programmes
overseen by the UNODC.
Maya Foa, a director at Reprieve, said: "Iran continues to hang hundreds of
alleged non-violent drug offenders every year in a brutal and ineffective war
on drugs. In light of these abuses, many national Governments across Europe
have refused to provide support for Iran's anti-narcotics efforts - rightly
acknowledging that this would put them at risk of complicity in the country's
execution spree.
"Given many member states' refusal to fund such raids, and the EU's clear and
categorical opposition to the death penalty, it would be hypocritical and
unacceptable for the EU to provide support to Iran's execution machine. The EU
should urgently disavow comments by the UN drugs agency that it is willing to
do just that".
An EU spokesperson said: "We do not comment on comments neither on reported
comments. No decisions on new funding have been taken on the matter. We are in
a stage of launching a dialogue with the Iranian authorities. Any EU-Iran
cooperation on the fight against drugs is done in a manner fully consistent
with the respect of human rights."
The UNODC declined to comment and said they were not able to verify the Iranian
media reports.
(source: The Independent)
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