March 17
IRAN----execution
Man Hanged at Tabriz Central Prison
A prisoner was hanged at Tabriz prison for a murder charge last Tuesday.
According to IHR sources, a prisoner was hanged at Tabriz Central Prison on the
morning of Tuesday, March 12. IHR could identify the prisoner as Eslam Farsi,
42.
Kurdistan Human Rights Network website has also reported that the prisoner was
arrested and sentenced to death 15 years ago for murdering his wife.
The aforementioned execution has not been reported by Iranian media so far.
According to the Iran Human Rights statistic department, the majority of
executions in 2017 and 2018 in Iran was for murder charges. At least 188
prisoners were executed for murder charges in 2018. Only 33% of executions were
announced by Iranian authorities in 2018.
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)
********************
Iran Had No Legal Reason to Detain Eco Activists
It has been over 400 days since a group of 9 environmental activists were
arrested and charged with espionage in Iran. Now, one has died under suspicious
circumstances in prison and 8 are facing trumped-up national security charges,
some of which result in the death penalty.
Back in February 2018, Iranian-Canadian professor Kavous Seyed-Emami, the
founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), was declared to
have committed suicide by the authorities, who refused to allow an independent
investigation and barred his wife Maryam Mombini, also a Canadian citizen, from
leaving the country. Mombini has never been given a reason for this ban.
Seyed-Emami’s 8 colleagues remain behind bars, without access to lawyers of
their own choosing, and suffering from very poor health, including Morad
Tahbaz, who has cancer and is not receiving medication and treatment despite
promises from officials.
This is despite the fact that the brother of defendant Amir Hossein Khaleghi
determined, following extensive studying of the case and the indictment, that
their lawyers have concluded that all 8 are innocent and must be released.
Four are charged with “corruption on earth”, which can carry the death penalty,
3 were charged with espionage, and one was accused of “cooperating and
collusion with a hostile country.
Katayoun Rajabi, the sister of defendant Sam Rajabi, said that the families
remained hopeful that their loved ones would be released, but advised that the
so called judiciary does not care about justice. She said that none of those
arrested had done anything wrong, reminding us that while two of them had
confessed under torture, they retracted their statements in front of the judge.
Rajabi said: “As we know, forced confessions are not legally valid and since
[Niloofar] Bayani declared in court that she had been forced to confess, then
there is nothing in the case to support charges against these detainees.”
Yet still, the 8 remain in prison and Rajabi does not think that the recent
appointment of Ebrahim Raeesi, known for his role in sentencing thousands of
dissidents to death in the 1988 massacre, as head of the Judiciary will help
matters.
Rajabi, who lives in Germany, said that the families of the defendants are
actively trying to raise awareness and lobby officials, but the government is
often ignoring them. She noted that her letters to President Hassan Rouhani and
member of Iranian parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi “received no answer”, so she has
contacted United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran Javaid
Rehman and Germany’s Green Party representative on foreign affairs Omid
Nouripour who have both promised to act in this case.
(source: iranfocus.com)
MALAYSIA:
Death penalty has no place in modern legal system
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is disappointed by the
government’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty only rather than a
total abolition of the death penalty across all laws as originally announced
following a cabinet meeting in October and during the Universal Periodic Review
in Geneva last year.
Although a good first step, a discretionary death penalty is still a barrier in
the upholding of human dignity and the right to life.
Suhakam is of the view that the death penalty is not an effective nor even the
best crime prevention mechanism within the system of justice. There is no
credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than a
prison term.
Furthermore, no justice system throughout the world is fool-proof. There always
remains the possibility that an innocent person is on death row due to any
number of reasons, which range from an inadequate defence to a misapplication
of forensic science.
The Innocence Project in the US has exonerated 364 death row inmates alone
through DNA evidence over 25 years. How many people in Malaysia would be freed
from death row if something similar were applied here? Capital punishment is
irreversible. Once someone has been executed, there exists no way to remedy
their death in the event of a miscarriage of justice.
As of October 2018, 1,279 people were on death row in Malaysia, about three
percent of the prison population of about 60,000 people. The majority of death
row inmates are incarcerated on drugs offences. Thirty-five executions took
place from 2007 to 2017.
Advocacy group Harm Reduction International lists Malaysia among six countries
with a "high" rate of applying the death penalty in drugs cases, the others
being China, Iran, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. However, according to a
United Nations resolution of the Economic and Security Council in 1984, capital
punishment may be imposed for only the most serious crimes, which excludes
drugs offences.
Today, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty in recognition that it is
cruel and inhumane, and that it does not rehabilitate criminals nor address
root causes within society which may lead to the enactment of serious crimes.
Suhakam would like to reiterate its position that the death penalty has no
place in a modern legal system as it violates the right to life which happens
to be the most basic of all “human rights for all”.
Malaysia is a country that respects the sanctity of life and the right to life
is guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.
We, therefore, urge the government to take concurrent steps towards total
abolition of the death penalty and move towards ratification of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(UNCAT).
More engagement is also required by the government and relevant stakeholders
with civil society in order to address key areas of opposition to the
abolishment of the death penalty and other punishments deemed to be cruel and
unusual in order to uphold international human rights standards.
(source: Letter to the Editor; RAZALI ISMAIL is chairperson of Human Rights
Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam)----malaysiakini.com)
*******************
Suhakam dismayed by govt’s decision to maintain death penalty
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today expressed
disappointment with Putrajaya’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty
instead of doing away with the punishment altogether as previously promised.
“Although a good first step, a discretionary death penalty is still a barrier
to upholding human dignity and the right to life,” its chairman, Razali Ismail,
said in a statement.
Razali said there was always the possibility of an innocent person being on
death row due to several reasons, including an inadequate defence and a
misapplication of forensic science.
Citing a US-based initiative that has exonerated more than 300 death row
inmates through DNA evidence, Razali wondered how many people in Malaysia would
be freed from death row if a similar initiative was undertaken in the country.
“Capital punishment is irreversible. Once someone has been executed, there
exists no way to remedy their death in the event of a miscarriage of justice.”
Razali went on to reiterate Suhakam’s position that the death penalty has no
place in a modern legal system as it violates the right to life, which is the
most basic of all human rights.
He then urged the government to take concurrent steps towards total abolition
of the death penalty and move towards ratification of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).
Earlier this week, it was reported that the government plans to abolish the
mandatory death penalty and replace it with discretionary death sentences for
11 offences under 2 acts.
Rights group Lawyers for Liberty slammed the move as “shocking, unprincipled
and embarrassing” and described it as a “complete U-turn” from the announcement
made by the Cabinet last October, in which it decided on a total abolition of
the death penalty and gave a public undertaking to this effect.
(source: Free Malaysia Today)
**********************
DAP can't have human rights and death penalty, says lawyer
Lawyer Latheekfa Koya today lashed out at DAP several leaders for caving in to
calls to retain the death penalty.
Latheefa took DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to task for issuing a
statement today on his party's commitment to human rights, despite supporting
the death penalty.
"Words are cheap! Human rights? Isn't it true that key DAP leaders did not
support abolition of death penalty – the ultimate denial of human rights?
"As a result, the government did a U-turn on abolishing it after promising to
do so in Oct 2018," the lawyer said on Twitter.
Latheefa also criticised Kepang assemblyperson Dr Ko Chung Sen for refuting
claims that DAP walked back its opposition to capital punishment.
"Not surprised by this obscure DAP Adun's fanatical support for hanging people.
I understand that DAP stalwarts/top leaders did not support abolition, leading
to the U-turn by the government.
"They were worried about backlash from Chinese voters, who some claim support
the death penalty," she tweeted.
Ko argued yesterday that Pakatan Harapan did not renege on its pledge to
abolish capital punishment because it was never listed in its election
manifesto, which only promised to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
Legislative changes affecting 11 laws are expected to be passed by Parliament
soon.
According to Latheefa, however, DAP should make their stand clear and not
"hide" behind cabinet decisions.
"If DAP argues hanging people is a deterrent punishment – then they have no
moral standing to object to PAS' hudud bill, because PAS relies on the same
justification!" she wrote.
(source: malaysiakini.com)
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