October 18
PAKISTAN:
Lahore: Zainab's killer hanged but the death penalty 'is not the
solution'----The execution took place this morning. In January, Zainab, a
7-year-old girl, was abducted, raped, tortured and dumped on a garbage heap. A
certain criminal mindset is "well rooted in society".
Imran Ali, the 24-year-old man convicted for the murder, rape and torture of
7-year-old Zainab, was executed this morning at the Central Jail Lahore (Kot
Lakhpat Jail).
The murder of the child, who was on her way to religious class and whose body
was dumped on a garbage heap, took place in early January in Kasur (near
Lahore).
The murder sparked outrage across Pakistan. Many Pakistanis reacted vehemently,
complaining pf police inaction. Many activists condemned the crime, noting its
relationship to a widespread "culture of rape" that allows crimes to go
unpunished.
The death sentence was carried our at 5.30 am (local time). The father of the
victim Muhammad Ameen, was among the witnesses of the execution.
For Human Rights Focus Pakistan president Naveed Walter, speaking to AsiaNews,
"hanging someone does not do justice and it is not the solution to the
problem".
In his Naveed's view, a "long-term strategy" is needed "to bring positive
changes in society and in the lives of the victims, children and girls. The
inhumane practice [of sexual violence] will not end with the hanging of the
guilty, until adequate security measures are adopted for all citizens."
Other human rights defenders, who consider capital punishment an appropriate
punishment for the guilt committed, disagree.
Samson Salamat, president of Rwadari Tehreek (inter-religious movement for
tolerance), believes that the punishment imposed on Imran Ali is the way that
Pakistan must follow to "increase the scope of justice in an infinity of
similar cases in which justice is denied."
For him, "It also demonstrates the power of the voice of the people: when the
people are on the side of justice, nothing can stop it."
Activist and writer Kashif Hussain agrees, noting that Zainab's rape and murder
is not an isolated incident.
"I have read the newspapers for 30 years and I always find the same crimes that
are deeply rooted in our society," he said.
"I am astonished when I see that the masses do not rebel. Sometimes I fear
going crazy. In our society there are many other Zainabs waiting for justice.
We must not stop; we must continue the fight against the evils that afflict
society."
The activist also points the finger at a certain religious mindset. "When we
ask for sex education courses, we clash with the reaction of religious groups".
(source: asianews.it)
***********************
Man gets death penalty in murder case
A trial court in Karachi on Wednesday convicted a man in a murder case and
sentenced him to death after a charge was proved against him.
Additional district and session judge (West) announced its verdict which was
earlier reserved after recording evidences and final arguments from both sides.
The court found Akhtar Perveez alias Babu guilty in murder of Shakeel Ahmed in
Orangi area on April 30, 2014.
The prosecution has stated that the convict had confessed to kill the deceased,
adding that witnesses, produced before the court, had also identified the
guilty. An FIR had been registered under Sections 23-1 (a) Sindh Arm Act 2013
at the Orangi Town police station on the complaint of Jameel Ahmed (brother of
the deceased).
In his statement, the complainant had submitted that in the day of the
incident, he was sitting outside a factory, wherein he was working, he heard
firing and when he reached to the spot, he saw that Babu was holding pistol in
his hand while his brother Shakeel was lying on the ground having injury on his
head.
Meanwhile, Babu also tried to fire on him, but bullet did not fire from the
pistol. So he ran away, while his brother Shakeeel succumbed to death on spot.
Thereafter, dead body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. According to the
written judgment, the convict was also found in possession of 1 pistol. He also
made judicial confession before magistrate. The prosecution had established in
the court that the convict fired on Shakeel Ahmed intentionally which hit him
on his head and caused his death. The order stated that there was also no
dispute as to identify of the accused, because it is also admitted by the
accused that they knew each other prior to incident.
After going through the perusal of FIR, one can misjudge that the fact of
dispute over water had been alleged as a motive, the court was fully satisfied
that the dispute of water tap did exist between the families of complainant and
accused.
Earlier, the defense counsel had submitted his arguments by stating that his
client was innocent and was falsely implicated in this case, but he failed to
produce any witness in the defense of his client.
The court also announced imprisonment of 7 years for possession of illegal
weapon case, and imposed fine of Rs 5,00,000, if the amount is deposed by the
accused, the same shall be paid to the legal heirs of the deceased as per
Shariah and in default of paying of fine, the accused shall further undergo
simple imprisonment for periods of 6 months.
(source: The Nation)
MALAYSIA:
Will a New Malaysia Kill the Old Death Penalty?----The new government seems to
be entertaining the idea.
In a sign of potential reform, the Malaysian government of Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad appears to be moving toward abolishing the death penalty.
Though there is still some uncertainty around how things will eventually play
out, it has nonetheless sparked a conversation about potential alternatives the
country could adopt in this respect.
Malaysia is not alone in having the death penalty in Southeast Asia. While a
few countries have abolished the death penalty in recent decades, such as
Cambodia and the Philippines, it is still used in other countries like
Indonesia and Singapore and remains on the books in other places such as Brunei
and Laos. Despite variations in frequency of use, it has at times led to
unwanted tensions in diplomatic relations with countries opposed to the death
penalty.
In Malaysia, by one estimate, about 1,200 people are on death row for crimes
ranging from murder to drug trafficking. Charges like rape that causes death,
child rape, kidnapping, and terrorism also carry the death penalty.
Law Minister Liew Vui Keong has raised the possibility of Malaysia getting rid
of the death penalty and considering alternatives. Liew has cast this as part
of a wider promise by the new government in its election manifesto to get rid
of oppressive and cruel laws in the country.
The re-evaluation, which initially made headlines around the World Day Against
the Death penalty, has been tentatively welcomed by international rights groups
and was an obvious cause for celebration by those on death row. Amnesty
International led the chorus of human rights groups that are campaigning for an
end to the death penalty, saying the Malaysian decision was “a major step
forward” for what is “an ultimate cruel, inhumane, degrading punishment."
Despite the initial optimism, the exact path forward for Malaysia in this
respect remains unclear. The Law Minister has expanded on why a reconsideration
is necessary, pointing to the fact that there has been a government study
conducted indicating that there is no deterrent effect from the death penalty.
He also has ordered a halt on all executions until legislation is gazetted and
comes into effect.
"Since we are abolishing the sentence, all executions should not be carried
out... We will inform the Pardons Board to look into various applications for
convicts on the waiting list to either be commuted or released."
To address concerns among some, including lawmakers, Liew has also subsequently
said that Malaysia will approach any re-evaluation carefully, including making
sure that the death penalty is replaced by some version of life imprisonment or
longer jail terms, with a terms of 30 years being thrown out as an example.
But the Malaysian Bar has warned that death sentences should not automatically
be replaced by these alternatives, but rather be replaced by specific jail
terms in relation to the severity of their offences and other specific
circumstances.
"Only then will the punishment of imprisonment meted out be just and
effective," its president George Varughese said in a statement on October 16.
One thing is for certain: if Malaysia does get rid of the death penalty, it
will be in good company. Malaysia will emerge as the 107th country to rid
itself of state-sanctioned killing, compared with just 64 nations just 2
decades ago.
(source: The Diplomat)
************************
Brothers accused of drug trafficking walk free
Smiles and tears of joy filled a courtroom when 2 brothers were acquitted and
discharged of drug possession and trafficking charges due to technicalities in
the case.
Unemployed B. Gopi, 32, and lorry driver B. Sasitharan, 25, smiled and thanked
their lawyer as family members teared up after High Court Judicial Commissioner
Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh meted out the judgement.
JC Ahmad Shahrir said the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case
against the siblings.
"The prosecution did not prove that the contents of the car belonged to the
defendant (Gopi) although he led them to the car.
"They also did not produce the brother who owned the car in court.
"He had knowledge of the drugs but there is not enough evidence to show
possession.
"It is not uncommon for siblings to share things but it does not mean what was
found belonged to the accused," he said yesterday.
JC Ahmad Shahrir then said 2 other people, who were also caught during the
incident, were not produced in court as witnesses.
"The prosecution has failed to prove and provide sufficient and satisfactory
efforts to produce key witnesses," he said.
Gopi and Sasitharan were represented by Hussaini Abdul Rashid. DPP Mohammad
Khalid Ab Karim prosecuted.
The brothers were earlier accused of trafficking 42.14g of heroin and
monoacetylmorphines at a house in Taman Seri Kijang, Bukit Mertajam, Seberang
Prai at about 5pm on Aug 1, 2014.
The offence under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable
under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, carries the mandatory death penalty upon
conviction.
The duo were also charged with possessing 6.35g of methamphetamine at the same
location.
Gopi was also acquitted and discharged of a separate charge of trafficking
70.87g of heroin and monoacetylmorphines, found in a car at the same location
and time.
(source: thestar.com.my)
JAPAN:
Death penalty debate reignited by film starring late Ren Osugi
"Kyokaishi" (Chaplain), a new movie starring the late veteran actor Ren Osugi,
is currently inspiring conversations across Japan based on the classic moral
dilemma: Do you agree with the death penalty?
The film, which was released Oct. 6, is comprised mostly of conversations
between a prison chaplain and 6 inmates on death row.
Osugi, who died of heart failure in February, plays the chaplain.
Director Dai Sako, 46, also wrote the script of "Kyokaishi" based on interviews
with chaplains, former prison officials and others.
"As whether capital punishment is really appropriate is being discussed, I
would like people to contemplate the system after watching the movie," Sako
said.
"Kyokaishi" refers to those monks and men of the cloth who visit prisons and
detention houses so they can impart their religious teachings to inmates.
The chaplain system is said to have been introduced in 1872 in Japan when a
priest from the Otani school of the Shinshu sect of Buddhism delivered a sermon
at a prison.
Of the 1,848 chaplains of the Zenkoku Kyokaishi Renmei (National chaplain
association), 1,199 were Buddhist monks, 264 were Christian clergy and 222 were
Shinto priests as of January 2018.
In the film, the chaplain meets with 6 inmates, including a good-natured yakuza
boss, a middle-aged woman who talks volubly in the Kansai dialect and a former
homeless man who appears to have been falsely charged, at a special room in a
prison.
While the chaplain is sometimes embarrassed about what the convicts say, he
tries to comfort them by telling them, "Your soul will continue to exist."
A highlight of the movie is a scene where the protagonist talks with a young
man who displays a provocative attitude toward him.
The youngster says, for example, "It is unacceptable for the state to kill its
nationals." He also points out one "cannot decide whether or not to support the
death penalty, because no detailed information on the system is disclosed."
The chaplain is puzzled by the questions fired at him by the young man.
"I expected chaplains to provide assistance to convicts so they can return to
society," said Sako. "I became interested in the issue as I thought if so, what
is the meaning of the guidance chaplains offered to individuals who are just
waiting for death to come?"
After writing the script for "Kyuka" (Vacation), another movie released in 2008
themed on a prison officer involved in executions, Sako became increasingly
interested in capital punishment.
"Abolishing the death penalty is the current trend around the world, but 80 %
of Japanese still support it," Sako said. "I wondered why."
Trying to gain a deeper insight into the death penalty by better understanding
circumstances facing death row inmates, Sako decided to make a film focusing on
a chaplain for his next project, and so he interviewed chaplains and former
prison guards.
Based on the interviews and some real-life cases, Sako finished the script.
Shinzo Yamane, 74, a pastor at the Hiroshima Seibu Church of the United Church
of Christ in Japan, described the film as having "social significance."
"The work attempts to shed light on an aspect of the death penalty that is
rarely made accessible for the public," said Yamane.
As a chaplain himself, Yamane has talked with 3 death row inmates.
He even maintained a dialogue with 1 of the convicts once a month for more than
10 years.
Yamane held talks with the inmate repeatedly, telling him, "Anyone has desires,
and you and I are hardly different," and the convict began reading the Bible
and got baptized. But despite those signs of a change of heart, the inmate's
hanging proceeded.
"The convict said 'death row inmates lead public lives as well' and he was
totally right in that they provide lessons for society," Yamane said.
"Kyokaishi" depicts "what people who have done irreversible things do and how
they change before their deaths," according to Yamane.
"Covering the issue has great importance, as the state does not disclose such
information," he said.
"Kyokaishi" hit cinemas in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and elsewhere on Oct. 6, and
will be screened at 57 theaters nationwide eventually.
(source: The Asahi Shimbun)
SOUTH AFRICA:
Emotions run high as remains of 6 PAC members exhumed in Pretoria
Families of 6 members of Poqo - the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress
(PAC) - who were hanged in 1963 became emotionally overwhelmed on Wednesday as
their remains were exhumed at the Mamelodi West Cemetery.
The sombre ceremony which started off with the families retracing their slain
kinsmen's final steps before they were hanged at the gallows - in the now Kgosi
Mampuru II Correctional Centre on the outskirts of Pretoria CBD - was led by
the Missing Persons Task Team (MPTT) of the National Prosecuting Authority, in
conjunction with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) unit of the
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
A grateful retired major-general Daniel Mahato Mofokeng, former chief of the
Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), described the 6 as "martyrs of the
PAC".
"Today we are exhuming 6 of our martyrs ... who were executed. This is a
programme that the PAC has approved and the government is executing it through
justice [department]. We are very thankful that the government is giving
support to the families of the deceased who are martyrs of the PAC," Mofokeng
told journalists.
"The government is so giving support to the PAC. It has been a very painful
road. PAC activists were executed in large numbers from 1961 until we got our
democracy. Those who were executed at the maximum prison were almost 100."
He said numerous other PAC activists who opposed apartheid died in detention
while others were killed in combat.
"Those who can be accounted for, their names are there at the Kgosi Mampuru
maximum prison. What is happening is that today the government is releasing
these people [the remains of the combatants] because they had been convicted,
so they had been State property until today. Today, the government is exhuming
and giving the remains the people [families] and for reburial later on," said
Mofokeng.
"What must be understood is that when you were executed by the apartheid
government, you remained State property until the government releases you to
family. So, the families could not do anything about them because they belonged
to the State. That is why we are keen that this process must be done."
He said the burial of the convicted was also heart-rending as several bodied
were "thrown into a pit".
According to the NPA, the 6 PAC activists, who are better known as the
"Cofimvaba 6", are Modi Mbiso, 26, Zenzile May, 27, Goli Sonamzi, 27, Katzekile
Pilali, 28, Siqwayi Mhlaba, 27, and Nkosinam Ngalo, also aged 27.
"All 6 were members of the PAC's armed wing Poqo in Cape Town who were sent to
target a certain chief and headman in the Cofimvaba area in the Eastern Cape.
The group was provided with money, pangas and knives, and they travelled from
Cape Town to Banzi location near St Marks. There, they attacked and killed
headman Gwebindala Gqoboza on 19 October 1962," said a statement issued by the
NPA.
"The 6 were charged with murder, they were found guilty and were sentenced to
death on 7 February 1963. They were denied leave to appeal and all 6 were
hanged at the Pretoria gallows just three months later, on 9 May 1963."
The ongoing exhumations form part of the Gallows Exhumation Project launched by
Minister of Justice Michael Masutha in 2016, aimed at recovering the remains of
political prisoners who were hanged at the gallows prior to the suspension of
the death penalty in 1990.
The hanged political prisoners were given pauper burials at different areas
around Pretoria.
(source: iol.co.za)
IRAN----executions
A Prisoner Hanged in Maragheh, 2 Others in Isfahan
3 prisoners were hanged in Iranian cities of Maragheh and Isfahan on murder
charges.
According to the IHR sources, on the morning of Tuesday, October 16, Mowloud
Shah-Hosseini, 29, from the Iranian city of Divandarreh, was executed at
Isfahan Central Prison. He was convicted to death on both murder and
drug-related charges. However, the execution was carried out for the murder
charge.
On the same day, another prisoner, Behrouz Ansari Lenjan, was executed at
Isfahan Central Prison. A source close to the prisoner, told IHR, "Behrouz was
convicted to death for murdering a man whose name was Majid. Majid owed Behrouz
7 million Tomans. They fought and unfortunately, Majid was killed."
Another prisoner, Aslan Shirani, 33, was executed on Sunday, October 14, at
Maragheh Prison. He was from the Iranian city of Miandoab and was executed on
murder charges. A well-known source told IHR, "Aslan's business partner, Hatam,
owed him 45 million Tomans. They could not solve their financial disputes; they
fought and Aslan killed his business partner during the fight. This happened 3
years ago."
The Iranian media outlets have not published news related to the aforementioned
executions so far.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in
issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
**********************
Man Hanged at Ilam Prison----The Iranian media outlets have not published news
related to the aforementioned execution so far.
According to the IHR sources, the prisoner identified as Kourosh (Ali)
Behzadian. The source told, "Kourosh was married with two sons. He was addicted
to Methamphetamine. 6 years ago, Kourosh broke into a neighbour's house for
robbery. He killed the elderly neighbour woman and also hit her husband into
the head. The man went into a coma, however, he survived and told who was the
attacker."
The Iranian media outlets have not published news related to the aforementioned
execution so far.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in
issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
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