Feb. 9
JAMAICA:
Government senator wants hanging resumed
Government Senator Matthew Samuda is calling for the resumption of hanging amid
Jamaica's rising homicide rate.
He made the call during his contribution to the State of the Nation debate in
the Senate this afternoon.
Jamaica ended 2017 with more than 1616 murders.
The murder tally has continued to spiral in 2018, resulting in Prime Minister
declaring a state of public emergency in St James last month.
Citing crime statistics, Samuda said it was clear criminals have no regard for
life and were wantonly committing murders.
He said a strong message should be sent to murderers.
Although Jamaica has retained the death penalty, it is not being carried out
since February 1988.
This is because of the 1993 ruling by the United Kingdom-based Privy Council in
the Pratt and Morgan case.
The Privy Council ruled then that it was inhumane and degrading to hang an
inmate who had been on death row for more than 5 years.
With legal proceedings in such cases typically exhausting that time frame, it's
almost impossible to have death sentences carried out in Jamaica.
(source: Jamaica Gleaner)
IRAN:
Urgent Action: 21-Year Old Man Arrested at 16 at Risk of Execution (Iran: UA
28.18)
A 21-year old Iranian man Abolfazl Naderi is at risk of execution in Arak's
prison, Markazi province. Abolfazl Naderi was 16 years old at the time of his
arrest and was sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial, based on
"confessions" which he claims were made under torture.
TAKE ACTION----Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
Halt any plans to execute Abolfazl Naderi and ensure that his conviction and
sentence are quashed and he is granted a fair retrial in accordance with the
principles of juvenile justice, without resort to the death penalty and
excluding statements obtained through torture or other ill-treatment or without
the presence of a lawyer;
Conduct an impartial and transparent investigation into his allegations of
torture and other ill-treatment and bring those responsible to justice in
trials that meet international fair trial standards;
Amend Article 91 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code to completely abolish, without
any discretion by the courts or other exceptions, the use of the death penalty
for crimes committed by people below the age of 18, in line with Iran's
obligations under international law;
Establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the
death penalty.
Contact these 2 officials by 22 March, 2018:
Deputy Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights
Kazem Gharib Abadi
Esfandiar Boulevard
Tehran, Iran
H.E. Gholamali Khoshroo
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 687-2020 -- Fax: (212) 867-7086
Email: i...@un.int
Salutation: Dear Excellency
(source: Amnesty International USA)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Pakistani Met Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia
On Thursday Saudi Press Agency published the statement of interior minister who
confirmed the death penalty of four Pakistanis for their crime. These Pakistani
included Liaqat Hussein son of Ishaq Hussein, Sajid Ali son of Asqar Ali,
Muhammd Thaqib son of Muhammad Al- Warith Ali and Faisal Muneer son of Muneer
Hussein.
These men broke into a woman's house, raped both the mother and the son, stole
jewellery and cash and later murdered the woman, said the interior minister of
Saudi Arabia.
These men confessed their crime then these guilty men were executed on
Thursday. In the beginning of the year yet 20 men have been beheaded in Saudi.
Saudi Arabia is the country where world's most people are beheaded for their
crimes like drugs and human trafficking, rape and murder. Last year in July, a
Pakistani was found guilty in human trafficking crime and executed in Saudi
Arabia. Another Pakistani beheaded for drug trafficking and 5 Saudi citizens
were also executed for the conviction of murder.
Last year 141 people were beheaded with sword in public.
(source: christiansinpakistan.com)
***************************************
Trial begins of 4 Saudis linked to Hezbollah terror cell
The Special Criminal Court in Riyadh on Thursday began the trial of a terrorist
cell of 4 Saudis linked to Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
The court's 1st session revealed that 3 of the cell members coordinated with a
wanted fugitive in Iran.
They were convicted of joining a Hezbollah training camp to manufacture and
deploy C4 and TNT explosives for use in the Kingdom.
Their aim was to cause chaos, target security men, smuggle guns into Saudi
Arabia, finance terrorism via an organized gang, and smuggle fugitives from the
Kingdom to Iran by sea.
The prosecutor called for the death penalty. Failing that, he demanded the most
severe punishment (imprisonment and financial penalty) for having violated
border security and many other regulations.
Kalashnikov rifles, bullets, machine guns and money were seized. The convicts
are banned from traveling.
(source: Arab News)
IRAQ:
Kurdistan Regional Government: Allegations of Mass Executions----Mass Grave
Located Near Bardiya Village
New evidence suggests that between August 28 and September 3, 2017, the
Kurdistan Regional Government's Asayish security forces from the West of the
Tigris branch carried out mass executions of alleged Islamic State (also known
as ISIS) fighters in their custody, which constitutes a war crime, Human Rights
Watch said today.
The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Peshmerga military forces detained
the men, both foreign and Iraqi, in a school in Sahil al-Maliha, a village 70
kilometers northwest of Mosul. Asayish forces bused them to a prison in
Shilgia, a village 45 kilometers away, according to a now retired security
force member, and from there they took them to 2 sites in the vicinity of the
town of Zummar, where they executed them. Human Rights Watch located an
apparent mass grave site where Asayish buried at least some of the bodies after
the executions, according to the retired security force member and 6 residents
of the neighboring village. KRG criminal justice authorities should investigate
the apparent war crimes and prosecute those implicated up to the highest levels
of responsibility.
"The evidence suggests that Asayish security forces conducted mass executions
of captured ISIS suspects night after night for a week, perhaps killing scores
or even hundreds of male detainees," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East
director at Human Rights Watch. "Iraqi and KRG authorities should urgently and
transparently investigate the allegations of mass executions and hold those
responsible to account."
Because the mass grave site is located within the flood zone of the Mosul Dam
reservoir, it is critically important to urgently allow international forensic
experts to conduct a detailed exhumation of the site before seasonal rains fill
the reservoir again later this year and submerge the grave site, complicating
the identification of bodies, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch was not able to speak with witnesses to the executions. But
other evidence suggest that Asayish forces executed the ISIS suspects. Human
Rights Watch spoke to a now-retired security force member, "Nadim," who was
regularly in contact with the Asayish members who told him they participated in
the executions. Researchers also analyzed video and photographic evidence,
including geotagged photos of bodies and satellite imagery showing the apparent
mass grave was created sometime between July 5 and September 3 by bulldozer,
and interviewed residents of a neighboring village.
Nadim went to 1 of the execution sites on August 29, where he said he saw
approximately 30 bodies hours after the 1st group of men are believed to have
been executed. Human Rights Watch visited a mass grave site where Nadim and
local villagers said bodies were buried on January 30, 2018, and a 2nd time on
February 6.
Nadim said that on August 29, a friend of his in the Asayish said that he and
other Asayish members, all part of the West of the Tigris Asayish branch, had
taken about 80 detainees suspected of ISIS affiliation from Shilgia prison the
night before and had executed about 50 of them outside the village of Tal Ahmed
Agha al-Kabir, and the others outside Bardiya village, which researchers
visited.
Nadim said that a few hours later he traveled to the site near Bardiya, which
he located based on information from locals who told him they discovered bodies
there. There, he counted about 30 unburied bodies, all shot in the head, and
took 3 photographs of them and 2 short videos. Human Rights Watch reviewed the
photos and videos and was able to confirm based on their metadata that they
were taken on August 29, 460 meters from a mass grave which was later created.
In total, the photos and videos show at least 20 bodies of men. The bodies did
not have visible injuries consistent with battle wounds or suicide attacks,
were dressed in civilian clothing, and did not appear to have their hands bound
or eyes blindfolded.
Nadim said that an Asayish security member also told him that in the evening of
August 30, and through the early hours of the following morning, he and a group
of other Asayish members loaded between 100 and 150 men into a large
refrigerator truck, keeping them there, in freezing temperatures, for 7 hours.
They transported the men to the site of the previous executions near Bardiya,
dumped the bodies of the men who had died in the truck from the cold or
asphyxiation in a ditch, and shot and buried alongside them any who were still
alive, he said.
Nadim's statements were partially corroborated by photographic evidence posted
on social media and another witness statement. A photo of what appears to be
the truck that transported the detainees surfaced on Twitter on September 2 on
at least 2 Twitter accounts, 1 of which has been suspended. One of the tweets
states that Kurdish Peshmerga forces executed 375 ISIS members captured since
August 27, northwest of Tal Afar. The other states that between August 27 and
September 1,375 ISIS fugitives from Tal Afar to Zummar and northwest
al-A'yadhia were executed.
The photo shows a white truck and a pile of bodies underneath, in a ditch. A
Bardiya villager also told Human Rights Watch that on an evening at the end of
August, he saw Kurdish forces drive through the area with two large white
refrigerator trucks.
The 2 tweets also included 2 other photos. One shows a man in what appears to
be an Asayish uniform, his face painted over to hide his identity, standing
over a pile of bloody bodies. The 2nd shows over 15 bloodied bodies in a pile
in an open grave. In both photos, the hands of some of the men appear to be
bound.
Local residents and foreign women married to ISIS suspects, who last saw their
male relatives in custody at the Sahil al-Maliha school, raised concerns that
some of those executed may have been children as young as 13. The family
members of one 17-year-old showed Human Rights Watch a video of him
surrendering to Peshmerga forces for screening alongside other foreign and
Iraqi male suspects. The video was posted on various media outlets on August
30. The relatives said that they have not been able to find him in any Iraqi
detention facilities since.
Nadim said that on the days that followed, three Asayish members told him they
were executing groups of men from Shilgia prison in the same area, temporarily
burying them before later unearthing them and finally burying all of the bodies
together in one mass grave using large digging equipment. The Asayish members
told him that over 7 days, they executed between 80 and 150 people each day.
About 20 days after the last executions, Nadim's Asayish friends told him that
a very senior security officer made a high-level visit to the Asayish office in
Zummar, he said. He said that several senior local Asayish officers have not
been seen in Zummar since the meeting, and his contacts in the Asayish have
told him they have been detained. Human Rights Watch has not been able to
verify if any officers were punished, and for what.
Human Rights Watch requested a comment from the KRG on the executions and in an
email to Human Rights Watch on February 5, Dr. Dindar Zebari, the KRG
coordinator for international advocacy, denied that the executions took place.
He stated that according to the chief of the Asayish forces, Peshmerga forces
were fighting on a 71-kilometer frontline with ISIS, as the group's members
attempted to escape to Syria. In the process of the battle many ISIS members
were killed, along with many Peshmerga forces, "and the corpses of the killed
ISIS members in this fighting were probably brought in one place to be buried."
The stretch of frontline that the response refers to is at its closest 40
kilometers from the site where researchers found the mass grave.
This explanation does not match the state the bodies were found in - shot in
the head, in clusters, in a solitary desert area, far from where any fighting
had occurred - according to Nadim and 3 Bardiya villagers.
The photos posted on social media on September 2 also show the hands of some of
the men bound. The Zummar and Bardiya areas were occupied by ISIS for less than
1 month during late 2014, and there was no fighting there after that date,
according to numerous security and military officers researchers interviewed.
According to the statement, the individuals at the school were considered
internally displaced persons, not detainees, and were all transferred from
there to camps for the displaced. International organizations present in the
reception centers of the camps that the displaced families were bused to
confirmed that no foreign adult men were among the arrivals and there were few
Iraqi men.
KRG criminal justice authorities should investigate all alleged crimes,
including unlawful killings, committed by any party in the conflict in a
prompt, transparent, and effective manner, up to the highest levels of
responsibility. Those credibly implicated should be appropriately prosecuted.
Extrajudicial executions and torture during an armed conflict are war crimes.
Authorities should also investigate the fate and whereabouts of the
disappeared, Human Rights Watch said.
"There have been months of silence, but the Kurdistan Regional Government needs
to be transparent about these deaths and punish anyone responsible for unlawful
killings," Fakih said.
From Sahil al-Maliha to Shilgia Prison
Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of Iraqi families and 27 foreign women
who said that between August 22 and 29, they and thousands of other Iraqis and
foreigners approached Peshmerga forces near Sahil al-Maliha for screening. A
video posted on various media outlets on August 30 shows Peshmerga forces
lining up men, foreign and local, and gathering women and children to the side
in a desert area.
Nadim and the families said that after the people approached, Peshmerga forces
moved everyone to a school in Sahil al-Maliha and detained them there. The
witnesses said the Peshmerga forces put the women, children, and elderly in 1
of the 12 rooms in the schoolhouse, and kept the men and boys over age 12 in
the yard.
An image posted on social media shows about 150 men sitting in the schoolyard.
Nadim confirmed that the image was taken at the Sahil al-Maliha school. In
addition, he showed researchers a clip of a video at the school, showing a
group of men, several of them wounded, sitting against a wall in a yard and a
photo of the same scene that was geotagged, verifying the date, August 29, and
location.
Human Rights Watch reviewed the photograph and identified uniquely matching
features in satellite imagery recorded on August 30 and 31, 2017, further
confirming both the approximate date and precise location of the photograph.
Human Rights Watch also found in a time series of satellite imagery recorded
between August 23 and September 5, evidence consistent with the temporary
detention of potentially hundreds of people within the schoolyard. It included
the accumulation of extensive debris on the ground, heavy vehicle movement, and
the presence of seven large passenger buses parked immediately outside the
school on the morning of August 31.
Nadim said that once at the school, Asayish forces from the nearby town of
Zummar carried out daily security checks on the men, and then bused groups of
them away in large trucks each day. The families also described the daily
security checks and the busing, which they said they observed through the
classroom windows. Nadim said he saw Asayish forces bus some of the detainees
first to the Asayish center in Zummar, for another round of security checks,
and then on to another location. He said his Asayish contacts told him that
they were busing the men from Zummar to an Asayish prison in Shilgia. They told
him that in some instances they bused the men from the school directly to the
Shilgia prison.
Nadim showed Human Rights Watch researchers 4 photos that he said he received
from Asayish members on August 31. 2 of the photos show trucks arriving at a
destination with the detainees disembarking. Nadim said he recognized the
trucks as the same ones he saw the Asayish using at the Sahil al-Maliha school
to transport the detainees by the writing on the sides of the trucks. The other
2 photos show a large group of men being held in the yard of the prison, which
Nadim said he recognized based on a previous visit to the prison.
The Shilgia prison is the largest prison facility in the area and it is under
the same area of command as the Zummar Asayish branch.
The Mass Grave Site
Several sources, including Nadim, a Federal Police officer, and 6 Bardiya
villagers told Human Rights Watch the location of the mass grave. On January
30, researchers traveled to the site, where they found large piles of dirt in a
long row, with marks of excavation equipment on the side of some of the piles.
Human Rights Watch interviewed a shepherd next to the site who said he saw
Kurdish security forces bury the bodies there in early September.
Human Rights Watch analyzed a time series of satellite imagery of this site
recorded between July 5 and September 29 and identified evidence of the
movement of earth with heavy machinery on the dry lake bed consistent with the
construction of a large mass grave as alleged by local witnesses.
Because the site was fully submerged under the seasonal lake water in early
July according to satellite imagery, digging could not have started until the
water had receded later in July or August. Satellite imagery recorded on the
morning of September 3 shows ongoing digging activity along 2 linear sections
of raised earth, approximately 35 and 40 meters in length. Satellite imagery
recorded on the morning of September 29 shows evidence of continued digging
activity at the site, including extensive parallel vehicle tracks consistent
with the use of a wheeled or tracked bulldozer to pile additional soil onto the
2 earthen mounds.
A comparison of photographs Human Rights Watch took on January 30, 2018 with
satellite imagery recorded on September 29, 2017 suggests the site has been
undisturbed since.
(source: Human Rights Watch)
EGYPT:
Egypt must end death penalty: EU politicians
The European Parliament has condemned Egypt for its use of the death penalty
and called for all planned executions to be halted pending a review of the
cases.
Egypt is restricting "fundamental democratic rights", members of the European
Parliament (MEPs) said in a statement on Wednesday, adding Cairo should abolish
capital punishment.
"The European Parliament ... calls for the end to all acts of violence,
incitement and hate speech, reminding the Egyptian government that the
universal protection of human rights and long-term prosperity go hand in hand,"
it said.
A sharp rise in executions has taken place in Egypt since President Abdel
Fattah el-Sisi came to power in a 2013 coup, according to figures from Cornell
University's Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.
At least 97 people have been executed in Egypt since 2014, compared with 5
executions between 2010-2014, it said.
UN human rights experts have expressed concern that Egyptian officials are
using evidence obtained through torture or ill treatment, often during periods
of enforced disappearance, to sentence prisoners to death in military courts.
On January 2, 5 men were hanged in Alexandria after being sentenced to death by
an Egyptian military court, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, 4 of whom were convicted for an explosion in April 2015 that killed 3
military personnel and wounded 2 others.
15 men convicted on "terrorism" charges over the 2013 deaths of soldiers in the
Sinai Peninsula were executed on December 26 last year.
(source: Al Jazeera News)
LEBANON:
Death penalty demanded over killing of British Beirut embassy worker
An investigative judge has demanded the death penalty for the suspected killer
of a British embassy worker whose body was found near Beirut 2 months ago,
Lebanese judicial officials said.
Hanna Breidi, a type of government prosecutor, issued an indictment on Thursday
demanding the maximum penalty for Tarek Houshi, accusing him of raping Rebecca
Dykes before strangling her with a rope, the officials said.
They alleged that Uber driver Houshi raped and killed Ms Dykes in Beirut, then
threw her body off a road east of the capital.
Ms Dykes was found dead on December 16 on the side of a road, strangled and
reportedly showing signs of sexual assault.
The 30-year-old was working in Lebanon as a programme and policy manager for
the Department for International Development.
Houshi, 29, was arrested days later.
Breidi referred Houshi to the criminal court.
(source: independent.ie)
CHINA----female gets death sentence
Nanny Sentenced to Death for Fire That Killed 4----Closely watched Hangzhou
court case reveals concerns of China's growing middle class.
A live-in nanny was sentenced to death on Friday for starting a fire last
summer that killed a mother and her three young children in eastern China's
Zhejiang province.
The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court announced the verdict on Friday in a
trial closely watched by domestic media.
In the early morning of June 22, 2017, 35-year-old nanny Mo Huanjing set fire
to the family's apartment by lighting a book in the living room. According to
the court's report, she had lost 60,000 yuan ($9,500) through online gambling
the previous night, and hoped that if she put out the blaze, the mother, Zhu
Xiaozhen, might lend her money out of gratitude.
But the fire quickly grew out of control, and Mo fled from the 18th-floor
residence, leaving Zhu and the children - a 7-year-old girl and 2 boys aged 4
and 10 - behind. All 4 died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
"Mo Huanjing deliberately started a fire in the high-rise apartment in the
early morning that led to 4 deaths and significant property losses," the
court's report said. "The criminal motivation is despicable; the results are
extremely severe and have seriously damaged public security and caused social
harm."
The family had hired Mo, who comes from southern China's Guangdong province,
through an agency in September 2016. Between March 2017 and the date of the
fire, Mo pawned jewelry and watches stolen from the family for more than
180,000 yuan, and had also borrowed 114,000 yuan from Zhu, but lost all the
money through gambling. According to her mobile phone records, Mo had searched
fire-starting techniques and "Will arson lead to prison?" online before
committing the crime.
The tragic case attracted attention nationwide as it highlights some of the
core concerns of China's growing upper middle class, such as increasing demand
for domestic help - typically migrant workers - and inadequate fire safety
management.
The family's apartment was one of the most expensive in Hangzhou, the capital
of Zhejiang, with a market value of more than 20 million yuan. Yet firefighting
infrastructure at the compound appeared to be lacking: After Zhu called the
police, it took more than 2 hours for firefighters to find them. Investigation
later revealed that the compound's water pressure was insufficient, and that
there was no suitable parking for fire engines that could reach the top floors.
Mo's defense lawyer argued that the property management company's negligence
was partly to blame for the fatalities, and the court's report also
acknowledged that the compound's poor emergency management had resulted in a
prolonged rescue time.
The victims' grieving husband and father, Lin Shengbin, has also become a
social media advocate for improved fire safety. "If the disaster had not
happened, I might never have discovered that our lives and happiness were so
vulnerable," he wrote in an open letter on Jan. 31. "We are living in an
extremely fragile emergency response system, with safety measures that are full
of loopholes."
In addition to the death penalty, the court sentenced Mo to 5 years in prison
and a 50,000-yuan fine for theft.
After Friday's verdict was announced, Lin posted on his Weibo microblog "Wife
and Kids in Heaven" that "the devil has finally received punishment by law,
death penalty." He added that he plans to file civil lawsuits against the other
parties responsible.
(source: sixthtone.com)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
8 on death row in PNG, no decision yet on execution date: Corrrection Services
Commissioner
8 men on death row in Papua New Guinea - including 1 still at large after
escaping from Bomana prison - will have to wait longer for a decision on their
execution, it has been revealed.
Correction Services Commissioner Michael Waipo told The National that while the
legal requirements in relation to the execution of the death penalty in the
country were in order, the capacities needed to execute it remained the
problem.
"It's a long process in relation to death row," Waipo said. "You need to have
facilities, followed by the training of our staff who will be responsible (for
carrying out the execution).
"The law part of it is in order. It is only the infrastructure, the set-up and
the capacity building of the staff to be able to deliver this arrangements
which is lacking."
Waipo said it would require the assistance of those (from overseas
institutions) who had the experience in carrying out the death penalty,
especially the execution of people on death row.
"Maybe they can guide us in the standard operating procedures," he said. Waipo
said the Correctional Services would be making a submission to Government on
the matter which would include "the scope of work and the cost".
Waipo told The National that out of the 12 prisoners on death row in February
2015, 2 had died in custody and 2 were recently acquitted by the Supreme Court
in Port Moresby last December.
Father and son Selman and Misialis Amos were acquitted by the Supreme Court on
Dec 11 of the murder charges against them, citing errors by the trial judge who
convicted them.
Both have since rejoined their families in ENB and New Ireland.
The 2 who died while in custody were:
*Gregory Kiapkot, 41, from Lokanai in New Ireland, convicted of murder and sea
piracy; and
*Martin Pigit, 39, from New Ireland, also convicted of murder and sea piracy.
The prisoner who escaped from Bomana about 3 years ago and still on the run is
Ambrose Lati, 49, from Wabag. He was convicted in 2009 for murder.
The remaining 7 on death row are either at the Kerevat prison in ENB or at
Bomana in Port Moresby. They are:
*Peter Taul, 39, from Pilapila, ENB
*Tobung Paraide, 43, from Pilapila, ENB;
*Bochea Agena, 44, from the Duke of York Islands, ENB;
*Kenny Wesley, 38, from the Duke of York Islands, ENB;
*Sedoki Lota, 21, convicted of wilful murder in 2007 and detained at Bomana
Prison.
*Ben Simakot, 30, from Yangkok in West Sepik, convicted for murder and detained
at Bomana Prison;
*Mark Poroli, 33, from Koroba in Southern Highlands, convicted for wilful
murder and detained at Bomana Prison.
(source: onepng.com)
INDONESIA:
Indonesian MP wants to introduce the death penalty for LGBTI people
An Indonesian politician has grabbed headlines in that country after saying he
believed LGBTI people should be sentenced to death or at least life in prison.
Muslim Ayub is a member of the Islamist National Mandate Party (PAN) and made
the controversial comments earlier this week.
Ayub was asked about the debate in the House of Representatives around proposed
amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP).
Last week a House Commission set up to review the KUHP submitted its proposed
amendments, one of which included criminalizing same-sex relations.
But Ayub and his party, PAN, want to take things further and impose harsh
punishments on LGBTI people.
He told JurnaliaIndonesia that intense negotiations around the criminalization
of LGBTI people had occurred, but his party was not happy with them.
'We were not satisfied. We want a death sentence or a lifetime jail sentence to
have a deterrent effect on the LGBT (community),' he said.
Ayub who is known to make controversial comments represents the Aceh province,
which follow Islamic Sharia Law. It is the only province in Indonesia where it
is illegal to be gay.
Ayub also wanted to impose penalties on people for 'promoting LGBTI' behavior.
Will the law pass?
Observers expected the KUHP amendments to pass the House of Representatives by
February 14, but it looks like that will be delayed as MPs debate a number of
amendments.
Ayub's colleague in PAN, Hanafi Rais, said the debate around criminalizing
homosexuality was all but agreed upon by most Indonesian political parties.
'It's almost final now, regarding the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender] issue,' he told media last week.
The debate around the LGBTI community comes during a crackdown on the LGBTI
community who have faced increasing persecution in the last 2 years.
Only last week the Indonesian Health Ministry declared homosexuality a mental
disorder.
(source: Gay Star News)
AUSTRALIA:
Boxer says death penalty would 'deter' people from being gay
A former boxer suggested today that the death penalty would make people
'reconsider' being gay.
Anthony Mundine made the comment in an interview this week after he left the
Australian 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' jungle.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he said: 'If we were to live in a society,
just like in Aboriginal culture, that homosexuality is forbidden and you do it
and the consequences are capital punishment or death, you think you are going
to do it?'
He later made another comment stating gay people 'shouldn't be allowed on
television' because they were influencing young children.
The former boxer was later branded a 'vile human' by gay former NRL player
Casey Conway on Twitter.
He said: 'Anthony Mundine is a vile human and his comments should be condemned.
'Using our culture as a basis for his harmful opinions is disgraceful.
'Women and LGBTI people are your equal Anthony, you're not better than anyone.
Educate yourself.'
Also in the interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mundine discussed LGBT
equality.
He suggested that paedophiles 'would eventually want their own rights' because
people are 'pushing gay rights so much'.
(source: Metro.co.uk)
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