regular news postings to this listserve will resume on December 30....Happy
Holidays to all!
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December 17
SRI LANKA:
List of inmates with death penalty sent to the President
A high ranking officer at the Ministry of Prison Reforms confirmed that a list
of 20 drug dealers sentenced to death, has been submitted to the Presidents
office once again.
The spokesperson further said that over eight of the listed inmates have
appealed against the death penalty. Among the 20 drug dealers are 2 Pakistan
nationals and a female inmate.
He added that a list with names of inmates sentenced to death had been
submitted to the Presidents office on a previous occasion as well.
(source: newsfirst.lk)
IRAN----execution
Prisoner Hanged at Mashhad Prison
A Prisoner was hanged on murder charges at Mashhad Central Prison last
Wednesday.
According to the Iranian website, Rokna, a 50 years old man was executed on the
morning of December 12, 2018. He was sentenced to death for murdering his wife
8 years ago. The plaintiffs were his daughters but he could not win their
consent.
According to the Iranian Islamic Penal Code (IPC) murder is punishable by qisas
which means “retribution in kind” or retaliation. In this way, the State
effectively puts the responsibility of the death sentence for murder on the
shoulders of the victim’s family. In many cases, the victim's family are
encouraged to put the rope is around the prisoner's neck and even carry out the
actual execution by pulling off the chair the prisoner is standing on.
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: Iran Human Rights)
KENYA:
Courts to review over 400 death sentences in 2019: CJ David Maraga
At least 400 inmates have applied for a review of their death sentences since
the Supreme Court did away with the penalty in December last year, Chief
Justice David Maraga has said.
Mr Maraga said that the Judiciary will embark on the process of resentencing in
2019 and give a chance to several inmates to persuade the courts to review
their sentences.
“I don’t have the exact numbers right here but they are quite many. There are
about 400 but we will deal with them. Even when we were making the judgment at
the Supreme Court, we knew that there will be quite a number,” said Mr Maraga
on Sunday during a visit at Kamiti Maximum Prison.
LANDMARK RULING
In a landmark judgment in December 2017, 6 judges of the Supreme Court found
that the mandatory nature of the death sentence as provided for under Section
204 of the Penal Code was unconstitutional.
The judges, led by Justice Maraga, said a person facing the death sentence
deserves to be heard in mitigation because of the finality of the sentence,
adding that during mitigation the offender’s version of events might evoke
pity, necessitating the court to consider an aspect that might have been
unclear during the trial.
Justice Maraga said that during the resentencing process they will take into
consideration other factors such as rehabilitation success of an inmate based
on reports from the prison management before finalizing the new sentencing.
“Resentencing is not a long process. It is a question of coming and one is
given an opportunity to say why his sentence should be reviewed,” he said.
'EXECUTION HISTORY'
Although Kenya has not executed anyone on death row since 1987 when Hezekiah
Ochuka was convicted and hanged for the 1982 attempted coup, the sentence is
still handed to offenders.
Documented reports indicate that from 1963 to 1987, 280 persons out of 3,584
people sentenced to death were executed in Kenya.
But since 1987, those on death row have been kept waiting for the hangman’s
noose. It was not until 2009 when President Mwai Kibaki commuted the sentences
of more than 4,000 convicts on death row to life.
According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, a total of 6,058 prisoners
have been sentenced to death since 2011 with the majority of persons on death
row mainly convicted for robbery with violence.
In March, the Attorney-General (AG) named a 13-member task force chaired by
Maryann Njau-Kimani, Secretary for Justice at AG’s office, to gather views from
Kenyans on life sentencing, and establish a framework to deal with the
resentencing of persons on death row as directed by the Supreme Court.
The task force will define life imprisonment and whether Parliament should come
up with minimum and maximum sentences for capital offences.
This followed a suggestion by lawyers that Parliament should come up with
minimum and maximum sentences for serious offences such as murder, robbery with
violence and attempted robbery with violence, which afford a prisoner a chance
for conditional release.
As the law stands, those serving life imprisonment or detention are released
after some years under the President’s prerogative of mercy.
(source: nation.co.ke)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan Executes 56 Terrorists in 4 Years Since School Attack
Military courts in Pakistan have handed down death sentences to 310 people
convicted of terrorism in the last four years, and 56 of them have been
executed. 15 of the death penalties were approved by the military chief Sunday,
according to an official announcement.
The army released the details as the country observed the 4th anniversary of
the December 2014 massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an
army-run public school in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
The militant attack outraged Pakistanis and prompted the then parliament to
permit the military to try civilians linked to terrorist groups or
organizations instigating violence in the name of religion.
717 cases
The military courts have since received the cases of 717 people accused of
terrorism from the civilian administration and concluded trials for 546 of
them.,P> “Out of 310 sentenced to death, 56 terrorists have been executed after
completion of legal process beyond military courts’ decisions, which included
their appeal in superior civil courts and rejection of their mercy petition
both by the army chief and the president of Pakistan,” the army said in its
statement Sunday.
It added that executions of remaining 254 are pending completion of legal
process in the civilian courts. It said that 234 people were awarded “rigorous
imprisonment” of varied duration ranging from life imprisonment to a minimum
duration of 5 years, and 2 accused were acquitted.
“Those who have been awarded death penalty included masterminds, executors and
abettors/ facilitators, inter alia, of major terrorist incidents” in Pakistan,
the military noted.
Convicts are allowed to challenge the sentences awarded by the military
tribunals in Pakistani civilian courts, though none has been overturned to
date.
Military courts under fire
Human rights groups remain critical of Pakistan’s military courts, saying the
trials are not open to the public and do not meet international standards of
justice.
Lawyers and families in appeal proceedings in civilian courts have questioned
evidence in some cases and alleged their relatives were coerced into
confession.
The Pakistan army and civilian officials reject the charges and maintain the
legislation allowing the trials binds the special tribunals to conduct “fair
and transparent” hearings.
Political parties have backed the military courts, noting Pakistan’s regular
judicial system does not offer protection to witnesses. Moreover, judges and
attorneys prosecuting suspected hardcore militants have complained of receiving
death threats, or have come under attack.
Judicial reforms urged
Critics have long urged successive governments to carry out much needed
judicial reforms to strengthen the civilian justice system in Pakistan.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), advocating for justice and human
rights, has denounced the military trials in Pakistan.
“The secret military trials of civilians charged with terrorism-related
offenses are a continuing breach of Pakistan’s international human rights
obligations,” the ICJ said in a recent statement.
“Pakistan should end the role of military courts in such cases, and instead
strengthen the ability of ordinary courts and law enforcement to ensure
investigations and trials that are both fair and effective, in line with its
domestic law and international human rights obligations,” it said.
Intensified military operations since the school attack have also killed
thousands of militants mainly linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,
commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the
massacre of schoolchildren.
(source: voanews.com)
INDIA:
Delhi: At fast-track court 304, four convictions in 2 years----On January 2,
2013, court number 304 was designated as a fast-track court to ensure swift
justice in cases of sexual offences against women.
The court is presided over by a woman judge, and disposes of around 10 cases
per month. It has held accused guilty in four cases in the last 2 years.
“Zero tolerance towards sexual harassment” is written on a notice board outside
court number 304 at Saket district court complex, which had 6 years ago ordered
the hanging of four adult convicts for raping and murdering a 23-year-old woman
on December 16, 2012.
The death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, which stated that they had
committed a “barbaric crime” that had “shaken society’s conscience”.
On January 2, 2013, court number 304 was designated as a fast-track court to
ensure swift justice in cases of sexual offences against women.
So far, the December 16 case is the only one in which it has handed out death
penalty. In January 2017, it had awarded life term to a domestic help for
allegedly raping and murdering an 82-year-old woman, but the Delhi High Court
acquitted the man, saying medical and forensic evidence ruled out sexual
assault.
The court is presided over by a woman judge, and disposes of around 10 cases
per month. It has held accused guilty in 4 cases in the last 2 years.
A court staff said: “The rest have been acquitted for lack of evidence or
because victims turned hostile.”He said that around 200 cases are pending in
the court at the moment.
(source: indianexpress.com)
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