July 11
TUNISIA:
Democracy and Human Rights: Interview with Dr. Moncef Marzouki
Dr. Mohamed Moncef Marzouki served as the interim President of Tunisia between
2011 and 2014, following the Tunisian Revolution. He is best known for his role
in establishing the national Truth and Dignity Commission to investigate
violations of human rights and provide reparations to victims. Dr. Marzouki has
also founded and held leadership in several activist organizations, including
the African Network for Prevention of Child Abuse and the Tunisian League for
Human Rights.
Harvard Political Review: You were very critical of Western governments that
support authoritarian regimes. What do you think would be a more successful
approach to promoting democracy in the Middle East?
Dr. Moncef Marzouki: Looking at Iraq, the intervention destroyed the country.
Now, you have a fake democracy; you have a corrupt democracy; you have the
worst form of democracy in the world. The foreign intervention to impose
democracy is totally counterproductive. Democracy must come from within
society: even if it takes more time, it is not important. Give the population
the means to fight the dictatorship from the inside but never intervene from
the outside.
The idea that Western governments have about stability is completely wrong,
because they stick to the idea that supporting a dictator would lead to a kind
of stability and this is not important for them. In fact, the side effects of
this policy are extremely harmful, of course for the population living under
the dictatorship, but it is even harmful to the Western governments. You are
suffering from terrorism as we are suffering from terrorism. Terrorism is just
one of the side effects of this policy of supporting dictatorship. You cannot,
on one hand, pretend to fight against terrorism and, on the other hand, feed
the very reason that it happens. It is a counterproductive policy, and I would
say that it is a stupid policy.
HPR: During your time as President, what were your priorities as the interim
democratic leader after the revolution?
MM: Our main problem was the constitution. The constitution determines the kind
of state we want, what kind of society we want for the next generation. Of
course, the United States does not have this problem because its constitution
has existed for two centuries, but writing a constitution in a divided society
is an extremely complex task.
We had this divide between secularists and Islamists, a gap between
generations, et cetera. Reaching a consensus was extremely difficult, but
necessary because you cannot have a stable country without consensus about the
state. Our main objective was to promote job creation for young people,
economic growth, and so forth. However, you cannot have economic growth without
a stable country, and you cannot have a stable country without a good
constitution that everyone has accepted.
My priority during the 3 years I served as President of Tunisia was to reach a
consensus about this constitution, and I can assure you that we spent hours and
hours - months, even - in our discussion. My main obsession is to prevent the
new generation from having to suffer from dictatorship. When you say, "we don't
want more dictatorship," how can you implement a check-and-balance system so
you can prevent the next potential dictatorship? How should the president be?
We have decided that the president cannot run for more than 2 terms, whereas in
the old constitution, the president could run for as many terms as he wanted.
We put in the constitution that everything can be changed except this rule.
HPR: As a leader, how do you balance human rights priorities with national
security concerns and government stability?
MM: I have faced this problem many times, especially under the threat of
terrorist attacks. Even under these difficult circumstances, I used to tell the
military and the police to be very careful, because I did not want any kind of
human rights abuse, any kind of torture. This was not only for ethical reasons
but also for political reasons, because I believe that torture is one of the
main problems behind terrorist attacks. Imagine that you arrest 100 people, and
you submit them to torture, 90 % might give you some information, but the other
10 % become your worst enemy. They would become tough and determined to destroy
you. Even if by torture you can have some small benefits, the impact of
torture, not only on them, is extremely dangerous.
The other problem is the death penalty. I have always been opposed to the death
penalty. During my presidency, no one was hanged. I tried my best to ensure
that Tunisia would get rid of the death penalty in the constitution, but I
could not, because our society is still very conservative.
(source: Harvard Political Review)
MALAWI:
Ex-Malawi MP Kara will not hang for murder, resentenced and likely out in 2022:
Gets 'Kafantayeni' justice
Former parliamentarian for Dowa East, Wali Nasser Kara of the Malawi Congress
Party (MCP) who was sentenced to death in 2002 of killing his driver has had
his sentence reduced to 30 years in jail.
Kara , who is serving his jail term at Zomba Maximum Prison and is an inmate
with his former lawyer Ralph Kasambara convicted on conspiracy to murder,
appealed to the High Court in Blantyre under the Kafantayeni Resentencing
Project.
In 2007 the High Court of Malawi abolished the mandatory death penalty. In what
become known as the Kafanteyeni ruling the mandatory death penalty was deemed
by the bench as unconstitutional as it amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of
life, denies an accused the right to a fair trial and the right to be free from
inhuman and degrading treatment.
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) is running a 'Kafantayeni Project' which
aims at giving a 2nd chance to 170 prisoners on mandatory death sentence to be
reheard.
Resentencing hearings give prisoners the opportunity to present mitigating
evidence before the court so that a judge may be persuaded to hand down a
sentence other than death.
The project is also being implemented by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP),
Legal Aid Bureau and Paralegal Advisory Service International (PASI).
With his sentence being reduced, Kara might be released in 2022 to serve about
15 years imprisonment after he already spent 13 years on death row.
Dziko Ndianthu Malunda, the Desk Officerz of Kafantayenji Project in the
Ministry fo Justice and Constitutional Affairs said the State recommended a
life imprisonment but it Kara receives a 3rd reduction he will walk free in
2022.
The discovery of driver Alex Mbewe's body - stuffed in Kara's Mercedes Benz car
and pushed into a river - followed the mysterious disappearance of Kara's wife
Liwoli, and her friend, Chimwemwe Kanfonse, in February 2002.
Witnesses testified that Mbewe was killed because he had evidence incriminating
Kara in the women's disappearance.
The former MPs bodyguards Phillip Singo and Charles Kulemeka admitted in court
that they drove Mbewe to a remote area near Salima and beat him to death on
March 6, 2002, but they said Kara had forced them with threats and promises of
money.
Police produced a signed statement in which Kara admitted to ordering his
bodyguards to kill his wife, whom he accused of swindling him out of millions
of Kwacha and using the money to attract other men. Her friend was allegedly
killed because she was with Kara's wife at the time, police said.
Kara claimed at his trial that he was coerced into signing the statement
following his arrest last year after months on the run. He maintained his
innocence in court until the july found him guilty.
Charges were not brought in the womens' deaths because their remains by that
time had not been located. Under Malawi laws, a person is presumed alive until
7 years after their disappearance.
The abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Kafantayeni and the fact that
Malawi has not actually carried out an execution since 1992 puts the country in
good stead to abolish the death penalty.
Countries like Malawi that have made the transition to democracy increasingly
see abolition of the death penalty as a necessary step to signal their
commitment to human rights.
(source: Nyasa Times)
NIGERIA:
FG directs governors to execute death row inmates
In line with the directive of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), directing
state governors to sign the death warrants of death row inmates, some states
including Edo have allegedly concluded plans to execute some inmates on death
row at the Benin Prisons.
Inmates at the Benin Prisons last week were reportedly agitated seeing the
gallows being renovated and prepared for the executions.
It is on record that after a 10-year moratorium on execution of convicts for
capital offences, the then Edo State Governor, Mr. Adam Oshiomhole in line with
a similar directive of the Jonathan administration in 2012 signed the death
warrants of 6 convicts who were immediately executed at the Benin Prisons.
The 2012 Benin executions drew the ire of the international community, which
had commended the Obasanjo administration for unofficially observing a
moratorium on death penalty.
Last Friday in a swift reaction, the Nigerian Anti-Death Penalty Group, a
coalition of over 50 Civil society groups, lawyers, journalists and human
rights activists working towards the improvement of the criminal justice system
and in the long run the abolition of death penalty in Nigeria rose from an
emergency meeting in Lagos condemning in strong terms, the planned executions.
(source: guardian.ng)
**************
Governor wants death penalty for kidnappers
The Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, in Abakaliki on Monday said death
penalty as punishment for kidnapping was the way to deter people from the
crime.
The governor who spoke during an anti-corruption summit organised by the state
government with the theme 'Institutionalisation of Good Governance for
Sustainable Development' also said corruption accounts for the high rate of
kidnapping across the country.
The summit was organised in conjunction with the Independent Corrupt Practices
and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Anti-Corruption Academy of
Nigeria, ACAN, and the Foundation for Transparency and Accountability, FTA.
"What these people do is worse than death, imagine kidnapping someone,
blindfolding and chaining the person in one place for 6 months or more than
that, it is worse than death and people who indulge in such deserve to be
publicly executed to serve as deterrent to others," he said.
Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi
The Chairman of ICPC, Ekpo Nta, commended the state government for its
transparency and openness in governance and urged other states to emulate the
state.
He noted that good governance cannot be achieved in an atmosphere of systemic
corruption, non-existence or weak regulatory systems, inefficient and corrupt
officials and poorly executed physical infrastructure.
"Corruption thrives where all these processes are prevalent and corrupt persons
seize these opportunities", he said.
Mr. Ekpo said that prevention of corruption from being committed holds the key
to good governance arising from sound fiscal management and efficient/effective
government operation, which translate to good life for all citizens.
"ICPC relies heavily on promoting anti-corruption through robust prevention
strategies. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNAC strongly
recommends that most of our strategies be channelled into prevention processes.
This is the practice adopted by countries that have successfully reduced
corrupt processes."
The Provost of Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, Sola Akinrinade in a brief
remark said the major purpose of the summit was to sensitise critical
stakeholders in the state to become viable partners in the war against
corruption.
(source: Premium Times)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi executes 6 for drug trafficking, homicide----Monday's executions bring to
44 the number of convicts put to death this year, according to an AFP tally of
government statements.
6 people convicted of drug trafficking and homicide were executed in Saudi
Arabia on Monday, the government said, the highest number of executions in a
single day this year.
A Pakistani citizen was executed for drug trafficking and 5 Saudi nationals for
homicide, the interior ministry said.
Monday's executions bring to 44 the number of convicts put to death this year,
according to an AFP tally of government statements.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest rates of
execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery
and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.
The kingdom is governed under a strict form of Islamic law.
Saudi Arabia reported 153 people executed last year, a number confirmed by
London-based rights group Amnesty International.
(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)
YEMEN:
Yemeni court sentences 4 Saudis to death for beheading soldiers
A court in the Yemeni capital Sana'a has handed down the death penalty to 4
Saudi nationals convicted of belonging to the al-Qaeda terrorist group and
decapitating 14 Yemeni troops some 3 years ago.
According to the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, the Specialized
Criminal Court said that the convicts had been members of the al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terror group and had beheaded 14 army soldiers of the
135th Brigade following an attack against a state security center in the city
of Say'un in Yemen's Hadhramaut region back in August 2014.
Judge Mohammad Mofleh further ordered for the Saudi convicts to be executed in
public and in the presence of the families of those killed, the report added.
The AQAP was established through the merger of the Saudi and Yemeni wings of
the Takfiri terrorist al-Qaeda organization in 2009, and since then it has been
responsible for numerous attacks on Yemeni army personnel, particularly in the
period preceding Saudi Arabia's full-scale war against Yemen in March 2015.
Since the beginning of the Saudi war on Yemen, which was carried out in an
attempt to crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstall the
former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, Saudi
warplanes have pounded the nation day and night, killing over 12,000 people,
including many women and children, and displacing over 3 million others.
The Yemen war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and
infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.
Furthermore, the chaos created by the Saudi war has given an advantage to the
AQAP and Daesh Takfiri terrorist group to secure a foothold in the Arab nation.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen has also dramatically deteriorated amid a
Saudi blockade, which has put the impoverished country on the brink of
widespread famine.
(source: presstv.ir)
IRAN:
Prisoner Taken to Solitary Confinement for Execution----A prisoner in
northwestern Iran is in imminent danger of execution on murder charges.
On Tuesday July 11, a prisoner in Urmia's central prison was reportedly
transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for execution. Close sources
have identified the prisoner as Borzou Sheikhi and say he is on death row on
murder charges.
13 prisoners in Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison are also in imminent danger of
execution on murder charges.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
PAKISTAN:
UN to review Pakistan for compliance with global human rights treaty
The Pakistani government is set to be reviewed on July 11 and 13, 2017 by the
United Nations Human Rights Committee for its compliance with the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Pakistan ratified the multilateral treaty of ICCPR in 2010 which stated that
the parties are to uphold and respect the right to life for all its citizens.
As Pakistan, in 2014, returned to being a state which has the death penalty,
this issue has been taken up by the Human Rights Council committee.
Pakistan is obligated to strive for the promotion and protection of the rights
recognized in the ICCPR. This is the 1st time that Pakistan will be reviewed
for its compliance with the requirements of the ICCPR since its ratification.
Pakistan ratified the ICCPR to qualify for its GSP+ scheme, a preferential
trade status that has seen its exports rise to 6.272 billion euros from January
- December 2016. Failing to comply with these requirements, that the GSP+
status is conditional upon, can put these economic advantages at risk, reports
the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP).
In its initial state report, submitted 5 years too late, Pakistan has
reinforced that "the death penalty is being imposed after due process and in
the case of most serious crimes only". It has also emphasised that the "death
penalty cannot be imposed on an individual below the age of 18."
On the contrary, only last week, requests were forwarded by jail authorities to
issue the execution warrants for a juvenile named Muhammad Iqbal. In just 1
year after the moratorium on capital punishment was lifted, Pakistan became the
3rd most copius executioner in the world.
Execution warrants for the mentally ill (Imdad Ali, Khizar Hayat), physically
disabled (Abdul Basit) and juvenile offenders (Aftab Bahadur) have been issued.
More and more cases of wrongful executions have come to light.
In October last year, the Supreme Court acquitted 2 brothers in Bahawalpur
after they spent 11 years on death row, only to find out they had already been
executed the year before, reports the JPP.
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.
The JPP has submitted a shadow report evaluating Pakistan's compliance to the
ICCPR, and their findings unveil Pakistan's violation of the Covenant, and how
the most vulnerable members of our society, like the poor, juvenile offenders
and mentally ill are the most likely to be hanged.
In 2017 alone, Pakistan has had to and will have to answer for its use of the
death penalty and the manner in which it executes before 3 UN treaty bodies as
well as undergo its Universal Periodic Review.
The ICCPR review is the second of these reviews for Pakistan, the 1st being the
Convention Against Torture Review in April.
The HRC will also be making recommendations aimed at promoting and protecting
human rights in the country on 28 July.
ICJ stays Jadhav's hanging till it makes final ruling
"Pakistan has previously committed to reducing the scope of the death penalty,
as the ICCPR commits them to do so. Last year, death sentences went up by 300
%, and we saw some very troubling execution warrants being issued," JPP
Executive Director Sarah Belal said.
"We hope that this review provokes some much needed introspection about the
dire need for reform in our criminal justice system, particularly when
institutional flaws have led to wrongful executions," she added.
(source: The Express Tribune)
SINGAPORE:
ngapore to execute Malaysian man for trafficking 22g of diamorphine
Despite claiming he was an unknowing driver and condemnation of the case by
rights groups, the defendant is scheduled to be killed this week
Singapore will execute Malaysian national Prabagaran Srivijayan on Friday for
attempting to smuggle 22.24g of diamorphine into the city-state, the latest
high-profile incident spotlighting the country's draconian drug laws.
The 29-year-old was sentenced to the death penalty in 2012 for trying to bring
drugs, a medical version of heroin, into the country hidden in the armrest of a
borrowed car.
Srivijayan has consistently maintained that he was unaware the drugs were there
- a claim he says could be supported by 2 witnesses that authorities have
refused to call upon.
However, under Singaporean law, unlawful substances found in a vehicle are
automatically presumed to be in the possession of the driver at that time.
Consequently, the burden of proof is on the defendant, which rights group
Amnesty International says violates the presumption of innocence and the right
to a fair trial.
"The death penalty is always a violation of the human right to life, and the
circumstances around this case make the Singaporean authorities' eagerness to
go ahead with the execution even more disturbing," Amnesty's director for South
East Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez, said in a press statement.
"Not only has Prabagaran Srivijayan's legal team highlighted serious flaws in
his trial, there is also an appeal on his case pending in Malaysia. Singapore
would be flaunting [sic] international law if this execution is carried out."
In July 2014, Tang Hai Liang, 36, and Foong Chee Peng, 48, were hanged for
trafficking heroin in the first 2 executions carried out in the city-state
since 2012. Their deaths marked the end of a moratorium on the death sentence
that had been established in July 2012 to give parliament time to review the
country's death penalty laws.
Despite enacting an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act in November 2012 that
allows Singaporean judges to spare someone of the death sentence if they offer
"substantive cooperation to the authorities" and are proven to have only acted
as a courier, the country has executed at least 10 others since the moratorium
ended, with a further 38 still on death row as of 2016.
(source: sea-globe.com)
******************
Urgent Action
SINGAPORE SETS EXECUTION OF MALAYSIAN MAN
The family of Prabagaran Srivijayan, a Malaysian national, have been informed
that his execution has been scheduled in Singapore for 14 July 2017. Against
international law and standards, he was convicted of and sentenced to the
mandatory death penalty in 2012 for drug-related offences. He has an appeal
pending before the courts of Malaysia.
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
* Urge the authorities of Singapore to immediately halt plans to execute
Prabagaran Srivijayan and grant him clemency, while reminding them that
international safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing
the death penalty unequivocally state that the death penalty must not be
carried out while appeals are pending, and that litigation in his case is still
ongoing in Malaysia, his country of origin;
* Call on the authorities to immediately re-impose an official moratorium on
all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, and commute all
existing death sentences;
* Recall that drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of the "most
serious crimes" to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under
international law, and that the imposition of the death penalty as a mandatory
punishment is also prohibited.
Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of
forwarding this one!
Contact these 2 officials by 14 July, 2017:
President of Singapore
His Excellency Tony Tan Keng Yam
Office of the President of the Republic of???Singapore
Orchard Road
238823 Singapore
Fax: +65 6735 3135
Email: istana_feedb...@istana.gov.sg
Twitter: @govsingapore
Salutation: Your Excellency
Ambassador HE Ashok Kumar Mirpuri
Embassy of Singapore
3501 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 537 0876
Phone: 1 202 537 3100
Email: singemb_...@mfa.sg
Twitter: @SingaporeEmbDC
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source: Amnesty International)
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