July 6
SOUTH AFRICA:
Crime Death Penalty Won't Return But There Are Alternatives
Late last week we reported that ANC Women's League is lobbying to bring back
the death penalty in South Africa.
The league expressed that it's necessary to reinstate the capital punishment
and combat murder crimes in the country, particularly, the senseless killing of
women and children.
As reported, ANC Women's League's President, Bathabile Dlamini related that
bringing back the death penalty is one of the issues tabled for discussion at
the ANC national policy conference.
"...women are feeling aggrieved a lot, especially young women that are calling
for the death sentence," she said.
It has now emerged that the ruling party's peace and stability commission
rejected the petition from the party's Women League to bring back the death
penalty.
Speaking at a news conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg, David Mahlobo the State
Security Minister dismissed the calls for capital punishment. Among other
things, the Minister contended that South Africa needs a solid legal system if
it's ever going to consider reinstating the death penalty.
He expressed that innocent citizens might be hanged and, divulged that the
peace and stability commission came up with an alternative for the death
penalty.
It was agreed that heavier penalties be handed to those found guilty of heinous
crimes. In addition to that, the commission offered the country start
implementing international agreements that will enable it to repatriate some of
the 6,440 foreigners who are prisoners in South Africa's overcrowded jails.
Nonetheless, those guilty of serious and odious crimes will not be repatriated.
More so, it was proposed that the country's immigration policy be revised to
such that will ensure stricter border control.
"We need a reliable database to know who is in the country," remarked the
Minister.
That's not all, the Minister said it was further proposed that parole system be
revised, that military veterans be used to provide private security services,
and a separate department of military veterans established by 2018.
(source: buzzsouthafrica.com)
BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh accuses 13 of negligence, murder over garment plant blast
Police in Bangladesh have filed charges ranging from negligence to murder
against more than a dozen people after a boiler explosion at a garment plant
killed 13 people and injured dozens, officials said on Wednesday. Monday's
blast happened during maintenance work at a factory owned by Multifabs Ltd,
whose top buyers include fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finland's
Stockmann, German supermarket chain Aldi, and Rexholm of Denmark.
Police have blamed the accident on 3 boiler operators killed in the explosion
on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital, and 10 unidentified people.
"They have been accused of negligence and murder as they continued to operate
the boiler, ignoring safety concerns," said Aminul Islam, chief of the police
station investigating the incident.
Survivors found guilty could face punishments ranging from life imprisonment to
the death penalty, authorities said.
Preliminary investigations showed the license for the boiler had expired on
June 24, district administrator Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir told Reuters.
The company said it had applied to renew the license before the deadline,
however.
"We applied to the authorities for renewal on June 15," company chairman
Mahiuddin Faruqui told Reuters. "There was no negligence on our side."
The accident took place as the plant was being readied to resume operations on
Tuesday, following a 10-day closure for the Eid al-Fitr holidays at the end of
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A boiler warning light was flashing before the explosion, but the maintenance
team ignored it, said one survivor, Harunur Rashid, a worker in the garment
dyeing process.
"We heard strange sounds two or three times, but we were told it was nothing,"
Rashid, hurt in the head and legs by the blast, said from his hospital bed.
"Shortly after, it exploded."
The blast happened when workers sought to restart the boiler after servicing,
Faruqui said.
"We don't know whether it gave any warnings or not," he added.
Bangladesh's roughly $28-billion garment industry, the world's biggest after
China, employs 4 million people and generates about 80 % of export earnings.
It came under scrutiny after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory
complex that killed more than 1,100 people, and a 2012 fire at a garment
factory that killed 112 workers.
The Rana Plaza disaster sparked demands for greater safety and put the
responsibility to act on foreign companies sourcing clothing from Bangladesh.
(source: Reuters)
PAKISTAN----executions
Child molester, killer hanged
Qaiser Shah of Walghan Sakhian village who was convicted for killing a
7-year-old boy Hussain Haider after abducting and committing sodomy with him
about 11 years ago has been hanged in the Central Jail Gujranwala.
He was convicted by the District and Sessions Judge Hafizabad Ashtar Abbas and
after rejection of his mercy appeal by the President of Pakistan, the convict
has been hanged to death in the Central Jail Gujranwala.
Sukheki police have registered the case against him. He was awarded death
penalty by session court while his appeal was rejected by the Lahore High Court
and the Supreme Court and his mercy petition was also rejected by the
president. Dead body of the executed convict was handed over to his heirs after
legal formalities.
(source: The Nation)
*****************
Pakistan executed average of 3.5 prisoners a week since Dec 2014: JPP----At
present, 25 of 27 prisons in Punjab are significantly over capacity and the
highest number of executions take place in the most overcrowded prisons.
Pakistan's use of the death penalty has failed to deter crime, is not being
used to curb terrorism and is exceedingly used as a political tool, even
sometimes as an overcrowding solution, a report by the Justice Project Pakistan
finds.
The research finds that until May this year, a total of 465 prisoners have been
sent to the gallows since Pakistan lifted the moratorium on executions in
December 2014. This makes Pakistan the 5th most prolific executioner in the
world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Punjab has emerged as the overwhelming practitioner of the death penalty,
accounting for 83 % of executions, and 89 % of death sentences in Pakistan.
However, it has also witnessed only a 9.7 % drop in murder rates from
2015-2016. Sindh, on the other hand, has viewed a drop of nearly 25 % in the
same time period - even though it carried out only 18 executions compared to
Punjab's 382. In fact, murder rates in Pakistan were already in decline before
the moratorium was lifted, casting even more doubt on the already dubious
relationship between the death penalty and reducing crime.
A closer look at the yearly trends of executions shows that anti-terrorism
courts (ATC) accounted for only 16 % of executions. In 2015, 65 people tried by
ATCs were hanged but only 8 from Jan 2016 to May 2017. The majority of death
sentences that have been carried out in that time have come from district and
sessions courts, which do not have jurisdiction over terrorism cases.
The government has sought to justify lifting the moratorium for all 27
death-eligible crimes by claiming it is necessary to deter terrorist attacks in
Pakistan. But the data indicates that the government is mostly hanging
terrorists through military courts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and through ATCs in
Sindh.
Another trend that has emerged is that the number of executions spike in the
wake of a terrorist attack (in Punjab) that kills over 5 people. This indicates
that the use of executions, like the lifting of the moratorium, are often a
reactionary step.
In Punjab, there is another worrying trend that indicates that executions are
being used as a means to make room in prisons that are facing overcrowding.
Currently, 25 of the 27 prisons in the province are significantly over capacity
and the highest number of executions take place in the most overcrowded
prisons.
Pakistan heads for its 1st UN review under the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) on July 11, that obligates it to uphold and
respect the right to life for all its citizens. Pakistan's return to an
executing state has been taken up in the list of issues framed by the Human
Rights Council committee.
In just 1 year after the moratorium was lifted, Pakistan became the 3rd most
prolific executioner in the world. During that time, execution warrants for the
mentally ill, physically disabled and juvenile offenders have been issued. More
and more cases of wrongful executions have come to light since then. In October
last year, the Supreme Court acquitted 2 brothers in Bahawalpur after they
spent 11 years on death row, only to find they had already been executed the
year before. Another prisoner was found innocent a year after he had been found
dead in his cell. There are likely many more cases like this, considering a
condemned prisoner will spend an average of 11.41 years on death row.
JPP Executive Director Sarah Belal, adds: "Pakistan's troubling and continued
use of the death penalty has continuously fallen short of meeting its
international human rights commitments and fair trial standards, as well as our
own domestic laws. The death penalty is not an effective tool to curb militancy
and crime, as the data clearly shows, yet has been increasingly used for
political gain. It is time for the stakeholders to commit to genuine reform in
our criminal justice system, and until it does, to restore the moratorium on
the death penalty."
JPP, a human rights organisation established in December 2009, provides
pro-bono legal representation to the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing
the harshest punishments.
(source: Reuters)
*******************
465 prisoners sent to gallows since 2014, says report
Until May this year, a total of 465 prisoners have been sent to the gallows
since Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014 in the
wake of a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, a report by
the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) has revealed.
According to the data gathered by the JPP, Pakistan has become the fifth most
prolific executioner in the world after China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Punjab, in this period, emerged as an overwhelming practitioner of the death
penalty, accounting for 83 % of the executions, and 89 % of death sentences in
the country.
The province witnessed only a 9.7 % drop in murder rates during 2015-2016, said
the JPP report.
Sindh, on the contrary, had a drop of nearly 25 % in the same time period -
with only 18 executions as compared to Punjab's 382.
Rights body urges authorities to prevent juvenile executions
Anti-terrorism courts in the country, the report said, accounted for only 16 %
of the executions.
In 2015, 65 people tried by ATCs were executed. However, from January 2016 to
May 2017, only eight people tried by ATCs. The majority of death sentences that
were carried out during that time were awarded by district and sessions courts,
it added.
The government sought to justify lifting the moratorium for all 27
death-eligible crimes, claiming it was necessary to deter terrorist threats in
Pakistan. But the JPP report says it was mostly hanging terrorists through
military courts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and through ATCs in Sindh.
10% of death row convicts children
Another trend that emerged was the number of executions spike in the wake of a
terrorist attack that killed more than five people in Punjab. The trend
indicated that the use of executions, like the lifting of the moratorium, was
often a reactionary step.
In Punjab, another disturbing trend showed that executions were being used as a
means to make room in prisons that faced overcrowding. Currently, 25 of the 27
prisons in the province are significantly over capacity and the highest number
of executions takes place in the most overcrowded prisons, according to the
report.
(source: The Express Tribune)
IRAN----executions
Execution of 21 Prisoners, Including a Woman and 2 Executions in Public
The anti-human regime of mullahs sent 21 people to the gallows during the days
of 1 to 5 July. At least seven prisoners were hanged on July 5 at Gohardasht
Prison in Karaj. Among the executed was Omid Rostami, 28, and Abbas Yusefipur
was previously severely beaten by the agents of prison, and was taken to the
hospital by the order of Dariush Amiriyan, the interior director of the prison.
A number of prisoners were executed on the basis of confessions that were
forcefully taken from them under torture. The gathering of the executed
families in protest against the execution of their children and their relatives
outside Gohardasht Prison was attacked by oppressive forces. Police agents were
trying to disperse the victims' families by air firing.
On July 4, 6 prisoners were hanged. 2 prisoners, 24 and 27, were executed in
public in the Abshar Street in Torbat-e-Heidarieh in Khorasan-e-Razavi
province. Omid Rajabi, the deputy to the general prosecutor of
Torbat-e-Heydarieh, threatened that "the judiciary will execute the sentences
with certainty, and will treat anarchists with no tolerance." A 24-year-old boy
was executed in the central prison of Kerman, 2 detainees in the central prison
of Orumieh and another prisoner in Qa'emshahr Prison.
The day before, 4 prisoners were hanged in Isfahan and Zahedan. On July 2, a
38-year-old married prisoner was hanged in Zanjan's central prison. On 1st of
July, 3 prisoners, including a woman, were hanged in Rasht Central Prison.
On another occasion, on the July 3rd, a 30-year-old prisoner was hit by 74
lashes in Khayyam Street in Malayer, Hamedan Province.
Khamenei, the supreme leader of the mullahs' regime, in defense of all such
repression and crimes, called the leader of the regime's judiciary, mullah
Larijani, "a prominent figure, and praised ???the important and valuable work
of the judiciary". Mullah Larijani too called the disgraceful record of the
regime's judiciary in repressing and suppressing especially brutal punishments
as "an attempt to revive Islamic human rights".
As long as the evil system of Velayat-e faqih is in power, the people of Iran
will not gain anything but oppression, torture or execution. The Iranian
Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations to take
immediate and effective action to stop the death penalty in Iran. Any relation
with religious fascism ruling in Iran should be conditional upon ending the
human rights abuses in Iran.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)
*******************
8 Prisoners Hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison
On the morning of Wednesday July 5, 8 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Rajai
Shahr Prison. According to close sources, the prisoners were likely executed on
murder charges.
Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of four of these prisoners: Ghahreman
Abbaspour, Abbas Yousefi, Nasser Avangah and Omid Rostami.
The 8 individuals were among a group of 11 prisoners who were transferred to
solitary confinement on Sunday July 2 in preparation for their executions. The
execution sentences of 3 of the 11 prisoners were not carried out, and they
were returned to their cells.
The human rights news agency, HRANA, had reported that Ghahreman Abbaspour was
sentenced to death for murder based on Qasameh (a testimonial given under oath)
and despite the lack of evidence against him.
Qasameh is one way, within the Islamic jurispudence and criminal law in Iran,
to prove crimes related to murder and physical injuries without enough evidence
against the suspect. Qasameh is used when a judge recognizes a testimony as
louth, when the judge believes the testimonial to be true despite lack of
evidence.
**********************
Man Hanged on Drug Charges
An unidentified man was reportedly hanged on drug related charges at Qaem Shahr
Prison (Mazandaran province, northern Iran).
According to close sources, the execution sentence was carried out on Tuesday
July 4. The identity of the prisoner is not known at this time.
Iranian parliament members had formerly requested from the Judiciary to stop
drug related executions for at least 5,000 prisoners pending further
investigation. However, the request has not stopped the Judiciary from carrying
out death sentences for prisoners with drug related charges.
Iranian official sources, including the media and the Judiciary, have not
announced this execution.
(source for both----Iran Human Rights)
SAUDI ARABIA:
NIGERIAN AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN SAUDI ARABIA
Nigerian national Suliamon Olufemi remains at risk of execution in Saudi
Arabia. On 19 April, 11 of his co-defendants were released from prison and
deported to Nigeria, having completed their 15-year sentences. Suliamon Olufemi
was sentenced to death in 2005 after an unfair trial and has exhausted all of
his appeals.
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
* First Urging the Saudi Arabian authorities to quash the conviction of
Suliamon Olufemi, and order a retrial in line with international fair trial
standards without recourse to the death penalty;
* Calling on them to order an independent investigation into his allegation of
torture and other ill-treatment;
* Urging them to grant him regular access to a lawyer of his choice.
Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of
forwarding this one!
Contact these two officials by 14 August, 2017:
King and Prime Minister
His Majesty Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King, Royal Court, Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: (via Ministry of Interior) +966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying)
Twitter: @KingSalman
Salutation: Your Majesty
Ambassador Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
601 New Hampshire Ave. NW,
Washington DC 20037
Fax: 1 202 944 5983
Phone: 1 202 342 3800
Email: i...@saudiembassy.net
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source: Amnesty International)
BELARUS:
Lukashenko calls for Europe not to push Belarus towards decision on death
penalty
Belarus will solve the death penalty issue, but it needs time and understanding
of the European states, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said,
speaking at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
"Time is needed to abolish death penalty. So, please, do not push us. We know
what it is about and what your demands are. And, I'm sure, we will gradually
approach the solution to this problem," Lukashenko said, addressing the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly members.
The Belarusian leader stated that the republic heard of the proposal
(source: tass.com)
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