April 18
TRINIDAD:
The crucifixion and resurrection of Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago is in a state of crisis due to the increased intensity of
crime with little hope of a solution by those in authority who have been
appointed to protect us. In the face of rising crime they tend to shift the
blame on our attitude - a response that if not incorrect is insensitive to the
victims of crime as well as their friends and family, co-workers and
neighbours. The loss of law and order continues to erode our faith in the
government as they continue to fail to convince us that they understand our
fears and frustrations.
We as a nation are appealing for a positive programme for the restoration of a
society of decency and order. The Government must assume a major role in the
fight against violence and senseless killings. The Prime Minister must exert
moral leadership, reinforcing the importance of respect for law and contempt
towards those who continue to violate it by practising murder and other violent
and heinous crimes. Harsher penalties must be imposed on convicted murderers
and rapists.
The primary duty of any government is the safety and security of its citizenry
and loss of law and order due to gang warfare is the most visible sign that the
Government has failed. Those in authority and even citizens continue to make
statements about the crime situation that make them appear to be siding with
the supposed villains rather than their victims.
Who or what do we turn to in the face of this crisis? During this Easter season
the resurrection of Christ provides a semblance of hope.
We are now called to be a resurrection nation; we will rise above kidnappings
and murders. The tomb is empty and this directly means that our nation should
also be emptied of all the murderers and criminals that create a barrier
between us and peace. This will be achieved by enforcing the death penalty on
convicted murderers and rapists and that will send a strong message to the
nation that these crimes will not go unpunished.
The negative influences may never be completely destroyed because of the
attitude of those in authority, but we as individuals can continue to dream and
do all in our power to rise above all obstacles and live a life of success.
Having recently been the victim of an arson attack against my home in Chaguanas
I have decided to rise above the violence, pettiness, immaturity, senselessness
and cowardice of my enemies and have decided to travel the world sharing the
message to millions with speaking engagements and my very own motivational CD
that we can positively impact the world by daring to dream and rising above the
evil influences that are designed to destroy us and prevent us from living our
dreams.
Simon Wright Chaguanas
(source: letter to the Editor Trinidad Express)
IRAN:
Halt imminent execution of 2 men arrested as teenagers
The Iranian authorities must urgently stop the imminent execution of two
long-time death row prisoners who were children at the time of their arrest,
Amnesty International said today.
One of the men, Mehdi Bahlouli, is due to be executed tomorrow morning in
Karaj's Raja'i Shahr Prison, after more than 15 years on death row. He was
sentenced to death by a criminal court in Tehran in November 2001 for fatally
stabbing a man during a fight. He was 17 at the time of the crime.
The execution of the second man, Peyman Barandah, is scheduled to take place
just three weeks later, on 10 May, in Shiraz Central Prison, Fars Province. He
was arrested at the age of 16 and spent nearly 5 years on death row, after
being convicted in August 2012, also for stabbing a teenager to death during a
fight.
"Carrying out the executions of these 2 young men would be an outrageous breach
of international human rights law that would cement Iran's position as one of
the world's top executors of juvenile offenders," said Philip Luther, Amnesty
International's Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North
Africa.
"Mehdi Bahlouli has spent his entire young adult life on death row. His
shocking ordeal epitomizes the cruelty of Iran's juvenile justice system which
regularly sentences juvenile offenders to death in violation of international
human rights law and then subjects them to prolonged periods on death row. The
anguish and torment of living their lives in the shadow of the gallows also
amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment."
Mehdi Bahlouli's family told Amnesty International that they received a call
from the prison on Saturday informing them to attend for their last visit. He
was transferred to solitary confinement on Sunday in preparation for his
execution.
Iran's recently amended 2013 Islamic Penal Code gives judges the option to
replace the death penalty with an alternative punishment if they determine that
the juvenile offender did not understand the nature of the crime or its
consequences, or his or her "mental growth and maturity" were in doubt.
In January 2017, Mehdi Bahlouli's request for retrial was denied. This decision
blatantly contradicts the Iranian authorities' statement to the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child in January 2016 that "all adolescents who were under 18
at the time of committing the crime are granted retrials [under Iran's 2013 new
Islamic Penal Code] and their previous verdicts are annulled by the Supreme
Court."
"The Iranian authorities have touted the 2013 Islamic Penal Code as evidence
that the country is moving away from the use of the death penalty for juvenile
offenders. However, these 2 scheduled executions show these claims are empty
rhetoric," said Philip Luther.
"Instead of intensifying the mental anguish and suffering of juvenile offenders
by letting them languish on death row for long periods, Iran must urgently
amend its penal code to completely abolish the use of the death penalty for
crimes committed while under 18, commute the death sentences of all juvenile
offenders and establish an official moratorium on executions."
Background
Since the beginning of the year, Amnesty International has received reports
indicating that 2 young men, Arman Bahrasemani and Hassan Hassanzadeh, were
executed for crimes that took place when they were under 18 years of age. The
organization fears the true number could be much higher.
The organization has identified the names of at least 90 juvenile offenders
currently on death row across Iran. Many have spent prolonged periods on death
row - in some cases more than a decade. Some have had their executions
scheduled then postponed or stayed at the last minute on multiple occasions,
adding to their torment.
In January 2017, the Iranian authorities scheduled the executions of 2 other
men arrested as children - Sajad Sanjari and Hamid Ahmadi. Both were halted at
the last minute, following an international outcry.
According to Amnesty International's report on death sentences and executions
in 2016, Iran carried out at least 567 executions last year, including at least
2 executions of people who were under 18 at the time of the crime. The
organization received information indicating that 5 other juvenile offenders
may have been among those executed.
(source: Amnesty International)
*******************
Investigate Iranian Presidential Hopeful Ebrahim Raisi for 1988 Mass Executions
Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and former political prisoner Nasrin
Sotoudeh has strongly criticized the candidacy of Ebrahim Raisi in Iran's May
19, 2017 presidential election.
"The competency of this candidate should not be approved for any reason until
the events of 1988 are investigated and it is proven that he was not an
accomplice," she told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). "In the
meantime, we do have an audio file... that shows he did have a hand in those
events."
In 1988, Raisi was part of a 4-man commission, later known as the "death
committee," that implemented the extrajudicial executions of thousands of
political prisoners.
The victims, who had already been tried and were serving prison sentences, did
not know they were facing death when they then faced the inquisition-like
proceedings.
At that time, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was the heir apparent
to the Islamic Republic???s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, condemned the
killings, telling members of the committee: "I believe this is the greatest
crime committed in the Islamic Republic since the [1979] revolution and history
will condemn us for it.... History will write you down as criminals."
Montazeri's son, Ahmad, released the taped recording of that conversation in an
audio file posted online in August 2016, bringing the massacre to the forefront
of public memory.
That month he was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Special Court for the
Clergy for releasing the audio file.
While he did not personally prosecute Ahmad Montazeri, Raisi was the chief
prosecutor of the court at the time of Montazeri's conviction.
"When you add it all up, [Raisi's] resume looks very bad... If the veracity of
existing evidence is not discredited and his innocence is not proven, we cannot
pretend nothing happened and allow this man to be a candidate for president,"
Sotoudeh told CHRI.
Raisi and the Special Court for the Clergy
Iran's Special Court for the Clergy has proven to be "much tougher" in
politically motivated cases compared to the Revolutionary Court, and blatantly
violates human rights' standards, Sotoudeh, who has defended countless
political activists, told CHRI.
"Naturally, the work of this court is on Mr. Raisi's resume -
the kind of work that he has been able to do, hidden in the dark, away from the
public eye," she said.
"No lawyer has ever come forward to criticize and review the rulings by this
court because essentially no independent lawyer has ever been present at its
proceedings," she added.
Sotoudeh was a leading member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center when she
was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2011 for her peaceful defense of human
rights in Iran.
"The Special Court for the Clergy is much worse than the Revolutionary Court in
violating legal tenants," she told CHRI. "Deliberations in the Special Court
for the Clergy are often behind closed doors."
"At least in the Revolutionary Courts, thanks to 40 years of constant efforts
by human rights activists, families can attend trial sessions and follow up on
the cases against their loved ones," she said. "But you can't do any of that in
the Special Court for the Clergy."
"The families face a lot of severe restrictions when they have to deal with
this court and they often don't have any access to what???s going on," she
added.
After spending almost 3 years in prison, Sotoudeh was released on September 18,
2013.
"Only certain types of lawyers are accepted by the Special Court for the
Clergy," said Sotoudeh. "They have to be a member of the [Muslim Shia] clergy
and are hand-picked by the court itself."
"The rulings made by the court have been issued behind closed-doors and
defendants are usually handed stiff sentences, such as those against Hassan
Yousefi Eshkevari, Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, and most recently Ahmad
Montazeri," she added.
Sotoudeh continued: "This is Mr. Raisi's resume. Now there is also the issue of
what he did in the 1980s, which he has never wanted to address. But after the
release of Mr. Montazeri's recording, Mr. Raisi came out and defended his
actions and didn't deny his role in any way."
In an April 2017 interview with CHRI, Ahmad Montazeri also strongly criticized
Raisi's presidential bid.
"(Raisi's) direct and undeniable participation in the massacres in the summer
of 1988 is very important," he said. "If any of the candidates had attacked a
person with a knife, he would have had a criminal record and would not get
clearance from the authorities, never mind Mr. Raisi, whose record is very
clear."
Ahmad Montazeri also told CHRI he is waiting to release more recordings.
"When the conditions are right and the people in charge of the country are more
tolerant, the rest of the audio files will be published," he said. "Already a
lot of transparency has been achieved (with the release of the 1st file)."
Ahmad Montazeri was detained on February 21, 2017 to begin serving his 6-year
prison sentence, but was granted furlough (temporary leave) and released the
next day.
(source: iranhumanrights.org)
TURKEY:
President Erdogan's death penalty remarks start debate with Europe
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks over reinstating capital punishment
following the approval of constitutional amendments in the April 16 referendum
has triggered a fresh debate, collecting warnings from European allies.
Erdogan said during his arrival to Ankara from Istanbul on April 17 that he
would approve the return of the death penalty if the parliament passes such a
law to pay respect "to our martyrs."
"If [a bill] comes before me, I will approve it. But if there isn't support
[from opposition MPs], then we could have another referendum for that," Erdogan
said late on April 16 to a crowd in Istanbul, which chanted for its
reintroduction.
A referendum on restoring the death penalty in Turkey would constitute a break
from European values, the French president's office warned on April 17.
France said the organization of a referendum on the death penalty would
"obviously be a break with values and engagements" that was accepted by Turkey
when it first joined Europe's top rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, the
presidency said.
The French presidency said it "took note" of the figures and the "disputes"
surrounding them, saying they showed "that Turkish society is divided over the
proposed deep reforms."
In a separate statement, France's foreign ministry called on the Turkish
government to respect the European Convention on Human Rights and its ban on
the death penalty.
Although the death penalty had not been in effect since 1984, Turkey abolished
the capital punishment in 2004 as a part of reforms to ease Turkey's accession
into the European Union.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in March that any return of
the death penalty in Turkey would be a "red line" in the country's stalled EU
membership bid.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, meanwhile,
said on April 17 that Turkish authorities needed to address concerns about the
content and procedure of the referendum raised by a panel of European legal
experts.
"The German government respects the right of Turkish citizens to decide on
their own constitutional order," they said in a statement.
"The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided the Turkish society is
and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for
President Erdogan personally," the statement said.
The European Commission said Turkey should seek a broad national consensus on
constitutional amendments. In March, the Venice Commission, a panel of legal
experts at the Council of Europe, said the proposed changes to the constitution
on which Turks voted, namely boosting Erdogan's power, represented a "dangerous
step backwards" for democracy.
Austria, which has repeatedly called for halting membership talks, once more
called for them to stop.
"We can't just go back to the daily routine after the Turkey referendum. We
finally need some honesty in the relationship between the EU and Turkey," said
Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, adding the bloc should instead work on a
"partnership agreement."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on April 17 that the results of
the Turkish referendum should be respected. He said the vote was a domestic
Turkish matter.
Rached Ghannouch, the leader of Tunisia's Ennahdha Party, said he called
Erdogan to congratulate him over the win.
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Army congratulated Erdogan, according
to state-run Anadolu Agency.
(source: Hurriyet Daily News)
**************************
Soldiers parade outside the Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,
founder of the Republic of Turkey----Turkey's EU Membership Off Table Amid
Likely Death Penalty Reinstatement - Rome
Turkey's EU membership is no longer on the bloc's immediate agenda after the
the outcome of the country's constitutional referendum had laid down the
framework for the possible reinstatement of capital punishment, Italian Foreign
Minister Angelino Alfano said Tuesday.
On Sunday, Turkey held a referendum on the transition from a parliamentary to
presidential system of governance. Preliminary results of the vote indicate a
victory for supporters of the governance shift. Once the results are confirmed,
the nation's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with his newly bestowed powers,
will be able to reinstate the death penalty, which was outlawed in 2004 amid
Turkey's attempts to have closer ties with the European Union. In late
February, Erdogan said Ankara may seek to reintroduce capital punishment in the
light of last year's failed coup attempt.
"The issue of Turkey's accession to the European Union is 'not on table.' In
any case the possible solutions, related to the death penalty reintroduction
may delay it even further," Alfano told Il Corriere della Sera newspaper.
On Monday, a number of senior EU officials, including German Foreign Minister
Sigmar Gabriel, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Belgium's Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, expressed the opinion that
the reinstatement of the death penalty would diminish Turkey's prospects of
joining the bloc.
Turkey signed an association agreement with the then-European Community in
1963, and submitted a membership application in 1987. Talks about Ankara's
membership of the European Union began in 2005, but have been repeatedly
suspended due to the Cyprus dispute and Turkey's record of denying press
freedom, among other obstacles.
In March 2016, Brussels and Ankara agreed on a deal, under which Turkey pledged
to take back all undocumented migrants that had arrived to the European Union
through the state's territory. In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate the
Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime, as well as provide
financial aid to Turkey to cover the costs of migrant reception.
(source: sputniknews.com)
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