May 10
PHILIPPINES:
Philippine polls could open door to death penalty return
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to strengthen his grip on
power in midterm polls next week, experts say, clearing a possible path to
restoring the death penalty and advancing his pledge to rewrite the
constitution.
Duterte has found international infamy for his foul-mouthed tirades, but
remains hugely popular among Filipinos fed up with the country's dysfunction
and elite politicians.
He has pledged to bring back capital punishment for drug-related crimes as part
of a deadly crackdown on narcotics in which thousands of alleged pushers and
users have already been killed.
Duterte's tough-on-crime platform—which also includes lowering the age of
criminal responsibility from 15 to 12—was key to his landslide election victory
in 2016.
Among the 18,000 posts up for grabs on Monday are 1/2 of the seats in the upper
house Senate, which has stopped cold some of Duterte's most controversial
policy initiatives.
Opinion polls suggest administration loyalists are strong favorites to capture
the Senate and keep control of the lower House of Representatives.
Duterte has also pledged to rewrite the constitution, which would open avenues
to prolonging his power beyond a legally-mandated single term that ends in
2022.
Any change of the nation's constitution, however, would require lawmakers'
backing as well as popular approval in a referendum, a high bar that has
stymied reform attempts by earlier presidents.
Capital punishment and constitutional reform bills have both sailed through the
lower house with little opposition since 2016, but were halted by the Senate's
mix of administration opponents and independents.
"The Senate has acted as some sort of institutional check on the worst
instincts of the president," political analyst Richard Heydarian told
AFP—warning, however, that could change in the midterms.
An opening for Duterte
Historically, the nation's 24 senators—who serve 6-year terms—have had a
reputation for being more independent-minded than the lower house.
The main opinion poll from Pulse Asia, based on face-to-face interviews with
1,800 likely voters, has key administration supporters taking the majority of
the 12 open Senate seats.
Imee Marcos, daughter of deceased dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is expected to win
one and thus extend the family's remarkable political return in the decades
since it was chased from power by a 1986 popular uprising.
The first enforcer of Duterte's drug war, former national police chief Ronald
dela Rosa, is also well positioned despite some of the crackdown's most
well-known abuses happening on his watch.
Duterte has thrown some of his strongest support behind former presidential
aide Christoper "Bong" Go, who could serve as a direct link between the
president and Senate if he wins a seat.
The death penalty has a twisting past in the Philippines, having been outlawed
in 1987, reinstated 6 years later and then abolished again in 2006.
A capital punishment bill that passed the House in 2017 allowed execution in
cases where suspects were caught with 500 grams (about 18 ounces) of marijuana,
or 10 grams of cocaine, heroin or ecstasy.
Steven Rood, an expert on Philippine elections, said even taking into account
the Senate's individualistic reputation, the current poll numbers point to a
runway for Duterte.
"I think it makes more likely that some of the president's ideas will get
through," Rood told AFP.
Duterte has pitched constitutional reform as a way to create a new
decentralised federal republic where regions would be empowered to fix local
problems and spur economic growth.
But the various initiatives launched under Duterte have also included proposals
dropping term limits, allowing the president to run for another term and
weakening checks on presidential power.
Critics have voiced concern the president could be aiming to extend his time in
office, although Duterte regularly says he has no desire to stay on past his
term.
(source: Philippine Star)
********************************
FALSE: Philippines is 'the only country in Asia' without death penalty----The
Philippines is one of 14 countries in Asia that have abolished the death
penalty
Claim: The Philippines is "the only country in Asia" that does not have the
death penalty.
Senatorial hopefuls Raffy Alunan and JV Ejercito made similar claims at the CNN
Philippines: #TheFilipinoVotes senatorial debate on April 27.
While explaining why he was for the death penalty, Alunan said, "We’re the only
country in Asia, I think, that doesn’t have the death penalty."
Ejercito, also explaining why he was for the death penalty, said, "We are only
1 of 2 countries in the – in Asia that repealed death penalty."
Rating: FALSE
The facts: The Philippines is 1 of 14 countries in Asia that have abolished
death penalty, contrary to claims by Senate bets Raffy Alunan and JV Ejercito
in an April 27 CNN Philippines debate.
Amnesty International as of July 2018 lists the following Asian countries
having abolished capital punishment for all crimes since 1976:
Armenia (repealed in 2003)
Azerbaijan (repealed in 1998)
Bhutan (repealed in 2004)
Cambodia (repealed in 1989)
Cyprus (repealed in 1983 for ordinary crimes; 2002 for all crimes)
Georgia (repealed in 1997)
Kyrgyzstan (repealed in 2007)
Mongolia (repealed in 2017)
Nepal (repealed in 1997)
Philippines (repealed in 2006)
Timor-Leste (repealed in 1999)
Turkey (repealed in 2004)
Turkmenistan (repealed in 1999)
Uzbekistan (repealed in 2008)
This list does not include Hong Kong, which abolished the death penalty in
1993. It became a special administrative region of China in 1997 but has
remained abolitionist.
7 more Asian countries are “abolitionist in practice” and have not executed
anyone in the past 10 years despite retaining capital punishment, according to
Amnesty International:
Brunei Darussalam
Laos
Maldives
Myanmar
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Tajikistan
The 1987 Constitution, which prohibits “cruel, degrading or inhuman
punishment,” says “neither shall the death penalty be imposed, unless, for
compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides
for it.”
Republic Act No. 7659 enacted in 1993 imposed death penalty for certain heinous
crimes, including treason, kidnapping, murder, rape and plunder. Republic Act
No. 9346 in 2006 subsequently prohibited death penalty.
In 2017, a bill seeking to reimpose capital punishment was approved by the
House of Representatives and was transmitted to the Senate where it remains
pending.
(source: Rappler.com----This fact check was written by the University of the
Philippines Journalism Department. Rappler counter-checked their findings and
agree with their rating)
MALAYSIA:
1 year in, law minister concedes legal reforms still only in the works
Nearly a year in office, Datuk Liew Vui Keong acknowledges that Pakatan
Harapan’s pledged legislative reforms will take time to realise but pointed out
the complexity of the task.
The minister in Prime Minister’s Department in charge of legal affairs noted
that some traced back to British colonial days and, in all, there were over a
hundred individual pieces of legislation that would be affected by the pledge
in some way.
Despite the size of his undertaking, Liew said they were making progress.
“To date, we have identified 126 Acts that need to be amended or repealed so
the process will take time as many of these laws belong to their respective
ministries so we need to get the policies from the ministers, whether they want
to repeal or amend specific Acts
“This is a starting point for us when we took over the government in May and
when I was appointed in July,’’ he said in a special press interview
commemorating PH’s first anniversary at his office here on Tuesday
Liew added that it will take from 1 to 5 years for each ministry to either
repeal or amend laws under their purview.
Doing away with irrelevant and oppressive laws
Liew said among the priorities of the PH administration was to repeal or amend
oppressive laws that were either enacted during the colonial era or under the
Barisan Nasional government.
These include the Sedition Act, the Anti-Fake News Act, The National Security
Council Act, Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, Prevention of Crime Act
(Amendment) and abolishing the death penalty.
“It became our first agenda to abolish laws that are not relevant in accordance
with the aspirations of the PH manifesto," he said.
Liew said they had attempted to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act through
Parliament in July last year but noted that this was defeated by the
Opposition-dominated Senate later.
Liew also said the government will prioritise the National Security Council
(Amendment) Bill in the next parliamentary session since this already had its
first reading on April 9.
Another major milestone in legislative reform was the Cabinet’s decision to
abolish the mandatory death penalty for 11 offences under two laws: nine under
the Penal Code and 2 under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971.
“We have taken the steps to abolish mandatory death sentences from all laws
whereby we give the courts the authority to decide whether to sentence out
executions or life imprisonment to those who are guilty," he said.
However, Liew explained the proposal to abolish the death penalty is still work
in progress as they must consider the views of all stakeholders, given the
complexity and sensitivity of the issue.
Reviewing the Malaysia Agreement of 1963
Liew, who is federal lawmaker for Batu Sapi, said the PH administration is
working hard to honour the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63) that is the basis
for the formation of the country with three equal partners, namely the
Federation of Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak.
“We have successfully formed a Cabinet Committee to oversee the execution of
the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 and this coincide with Tun Dr Mahathir’s
statement that Sabah and Sarawak is an equal partner,’’ he said, referring to
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
On April 4, Liew tabled The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 in Parliament
that sought to undo a previous change to the Federal Constitution that put
Sabah and Sarawak on par with an individual peninsular state.
However, it fell short of the two-thirds support required to alter the Federal
Constitution.
Despite the failure, Liew said he is not giving up. “I think the most important
thing is that we returned to this article 1(2) of the Constitution. The
significant implication is the recognition that Malaysia is made up of 3
entities.
“This recognition of equal entities is quite significant because at this moment
the present Constitution talks about the Federation of Malaysia where Sabah and
Sarawak is just part of the 13 states," he said.
New anti-stalking law
Among new laws the government is considering is one against stalking, the
minister said.
The proposed law would punish those who stalk, peep or pry upon another person,
he explained.
Currently, authorities use laws related to criminal intimidation or assault for
which they must prove an offender either made physical contact or threatened
their victim, making convictions challenging.
“Before it will become a problem, we need to ensure that legal action can be
taken against the stalker and this is one of the law that we are looking at but
of course there are many other laws that we are looking at as well," he said.
(source: malaymail.com)
*************************
2 arrested for drugs in PD, may face death penalty
2 individuals, both with previous a record of drug-related offences, may face
the death penalty after they were arrested for allegedly being in possession of
drugs.
Port Dickson OCPD Supt Aidi Sham Mohamed said cops arrested the first suspect,
a 39-year-old male, at the Lukut Industrial area at around 2pm on Thursday (May
9).
"Acting on a tip-off, a police team went to the area and saw the suspect on a
motorcycle.
"He tried to escape while they were frisking him but he was arrested
immediately," he said.
Police found what is believed to be a packet of heroin on him weighing some
43.2g as well as 0.52g of syabu in a sling bag.
A urine test conducted on the suspect, a labourer, came back positive for
methamphetamine.
Supt Aidi Sham said the 2nd suspect, a 29-year-old man, was detained in Pasir
Panjang at around 1am on Friday morning (May 10).
"We found four packets of what is believed to be heroin weighing 20.8g in his
back pocket after conducting a search on him," he said, adding that the man,
who was also a labourer, was detained outside a house in Kg Sg Sekawang.
Supt Aidi Sham said a urine test on the suspect also turned up positive for
drug use.
He said the 2 cases, which are not related, are being investigated under
section 39B Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the death penalty and
section 15(1) of the same Act for drug use.
(source: The Star)
PAKISTAN:
2nd Christian woman and her disabled husband fighting death row conviction for
committing 'blasphemy' in Pakistan----Pakistani Christian couple Shafqat
Emmanuel and Shagufta Kauser – who are still waiting for their appeal to be
heard by the Lahore High Court (LHC) – were tried and put on death row in
April, 2014. Shagufta is the 2nd woman after Bibi to be ordered capital
punishment.
Christian woman Asia Bibi may have finally safely exited Pakistan after years
on death row after being falsely held on blasphemy charges, but the fight for
justice is far from over.
Bibi’s very prison cell is now home to another impoverished Christian woman,
and the same Lahore-based attorney, Saif-ul Malook, is representing both the
woman and her Christian husband. The pair have been sentenced to death under a
questionable conviction of insulting Islam.
“They did not get a fair trial,” Malook told Fox News. “They are innocent.”
Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kauser – who are still waiting for their appeal
to be heard by the Lahore High Court (LHC) – were tried and put on death row in
April 2014. Shagufta is the second woman after Bibi to be ordered capital
punishment.
The couple, believed to be in their late 30’s, hail from the city of Gojra in
the Punjab province in Pakistan’s east, and were living with their four young
children in a church compound. Shagufta was tasked with making ends meet,
working as a cleaner and servant at the church school. Her husband is paralyzed
from the waist down, having fractured his spine in a 2004 accident.
But in the summer of 2013, their simple lives were upended.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News, fellow Gojra resident
Muhammad Hussain stated that on July 18, 2013, he was undertaking prayers at a
mosque when he received a text from an unknown mobile number, which contained
blasphemous remarks.
He allegedly showed the text to mosque clerics Muhammad Shabbir and Khalid
Maqsood and then approached his counsel for legal proceedings. Then, he and his
lawyer claimed they both then received more inflammatory messages, even though
the texts were alleged to have been written in English, and both Shafqat and
Shagufta are illiterate and neither have a knowledge of English or its
alphabet.
“A copy of Shagufta’s National Identity Card was available within human
resource files. It is believed that a known friend of the complainant who was
also working there stole a copy of her National Identity Card (NIC),” explained
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, which
advocates on behalf of Christians in the Muslim-majority nation. “He then used
the stolen document to purchase the alleged SIM card in her name and later
misused the SIM card to implicate Shagufta and her husband – colluding with
Muhammed Hussain.”
However, local police registered the blasphemy case following the complaint of
the cleric and the Christian couple was arrested on July 21, 2013, under
charges of both “insulting the Koran” and “insulting the Prophet.” The
prosecution then claimed that the SIM was purchased by Shagufta along with her
husband from a local JAZZ franchise.
Yet according to Malook, there is no evidence that they either sent the texts
nor purchased the incendiary chip. He also contends that Shafqat was forced
under torture into making a bogus confession ahead of the trial.
“To save my wife, I confessed,” he said in a statement to his attorney.
Christian woman on death row in Pakistan acquitted
The accused couple have additionally vowed that the motive behind the
registration of the case was simmering anger over a minor quarrel that took
place between their children and their neighbors 6 months prior to the
blasphemy charges.
Furthermore, concerns have also been raised that Judge Mian Amir Habib, who
sentenced the couple to capital punishment, was intimidated by hardline lawyers
and religious leaders in the community.
“5 years on, the imprisoned couple are praying for their release and awaiting
the relisting of a previously poorly administered appeal,” said Chowdhry. “The
simple fact that the couple could not possibly have written the blasphemous
text messages due to being hyper-illiterate should result in their immediate
release, however in Pakistan primary evidence can often be ignored and worse
still manipulated by powerful and wealthy people intent on doing malice.”
Malook also underscored that there are grave concerns for the health of both
husband and wife as they languish behind bars, their lives in limbo.
“Shagufta needs help from the world, she is constantly weeping that she cannot
spend any more time there,” he said, having seen her last month. “And Shafqat
is disabled on the bed, he can’t move. The latest doctor’s report indicates
that his whole back is almost destroyed from the bed sores. He may die in
prison."
Shagufta is being held at Multan prison while her husband is imprisoned about
150 miles away at the Faisalabad District Jail. They have not seen each other
since before their sentencing. Their 4 children, aged between 9 and 15, are now
in the care of a paternal aunt and fear for their own lives.
There are said to be “reporting errors” that caused the appeals case to get
lost in the system, yet Malook is confident it will be re-listed and brought
before the Judge as soon as next month.
And while the overturn of Bibi’s sentence has brought with it some light and
hope for others falsely accused, there are almost 200 cases of Pakistani
Christians charged with blasphemy, withering away behind bars.
“They are innocent,” Malook added. “I won't let Christians die here in our
prisons. It is better I suffer than them.”
(source: Fox News)
INDIA:
Time has come for India to kill death penalty----Death row prisoners are the
poorest and most marginalised and can’t afford proper legal representation
In a country where people die of heat waves, extreme cold, homelessness,
hunger, malnutrition and extrajudicial executions, abolishing the death penalty
is going to be a challenge because life is so devalued. Loss of life is
normalised and an attendant rationalisation process masks a tragic
inevitability. In such a context, getting our society to appreciate the moral,
political, and constitutional case against the death penalty is a task with
many hurdles.
Deterrence and “just deserts” are considerations that dominate arguments in
favour of the capital punishment. At the heart of the deterrence argument lies
the belief that harsher punishments will reduce crime. But, criminology
research shows that it is the certainty of punishment, not harshness, which is
a better deterrent. The National Academy of Sciences, in the US, after going
through several such studies, made the suggestion that deterrence be omitted as
a consideration in discussing the death penalty.
From the perspective of “just deserts”, individuals deserve a punishment as
harsh as the death sentence for the crime they have committed. However, taking
away of life as a punishment is based on the view that crime and criminality
are solely the concern of an individual and in doing so, exonerates society of
any responsibility. The creation production and perpetuation of crime are
complex sociological phenomenon and it is inaccurate and too simplistic to
reduce it to purely questions of individual will and morality. Society must own
up to its share in crime and in that context, extinguishing life as a
punishment is morally unjustified.
The recent spurt in death penalty orders in India is on account of concerns
surrounding sexual violence. All four executions since the turn of the
millennium have involved such offences and it speaks of the political nature of
the punishment. The Delhi gang rape case and the Kathua rape case saw death
penalty being extended to non-homicide offences amid a clamour for harsher
punishments. When faced with such incidents, governments find the death penalty
a convenient political response. It is evident that in a society like ours,
punishments like the death penalty will not reduce sexual violence. It requires
a layered and nuanced approach that is not politically expedient.
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the death penalty in
1980 and has not since revisited the question. The death penalty in a criminal
justice system like ours is unconscionable and fraught with danger. The Death
Penalty India Report (May 2016) shows that death-row prisoners belong to the
poorest and most marginalised sections, which can’t afford proper legal
representation.
Our criminal justice system is violent and corrupt and it is the poorest and
the marginalised who pay the heaviest price.
In a system that routinely relies on investigative and prosecutorial
malpractices to achieve convictions, there is always the danger of wrongful
convictions. It takes an unacceptable level of callousness to retain the death
penalty in such a system. If ever an example was needed, the acquittal of the
Shindes by the Supreme Court almost 10 years after it had upheld their
conviction is a proof of the danger we are flirting with.
No country in the world has abolished the death penalty with a majority of its
population supporting such a move. It takes tremendous political and judicial
leadership to go down that road. It will take introspection and the boldness to
acknowledge that democracy also has a serious counter-majoritarian function.
(source: Opinion; Anup Surendranath is an assistant professor of law and
executive director, Project 39A, Delhi’s National Law
University----firstpost.com)
IRAN:
UN Calls on Iran to Stop Executing Juvenile Offenders
UN human rights experts* called on Iran to immediately halt the practice of
executing child offenders, citing serious concerns for up to 90 individuals who
were all under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged offences and are on
death row.
“The executions of two 17-year-old boys last week underlines our concerns that
the Iranian authorities continue to give scant regard to international law
which forbids executions of minors,” said the experts. “These executions must
stop.
“The Iranian judiciary should ensure that the circular requiring judges not to
sentence children to death is implemented, and order retrials for all child
offenders on death row without recourse to the death penalty in line with
international law.”
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Javaid Rehman published a report** in March that presented in-depth
research on the execution of child offenders in Iran, including a number of
targeted and detailed recommendations addressed to the Iranian Parliament,
judiciary and other key stakeholders, outlining the steps to bring this
practice to an end.
On 25 April 2019, Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat were executed for the
alleged crimes of rape and robbery in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, Fars Province.
The two were reportedly forced to confess under torture and were also flogged
prior to their executions in clear violation of international law.
The offences allegedly occurred when they were 15 years old. Neither the
children nor their families were reportedly even aware of the death sentence.
Held at a Shiraz child correction centre from 2017, the two boys were
transferred to Adelabad Prison on 24 April 2019 and received a visit from their
families. The next day, Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization reportedly informed
the families that the two boys had been executed, and asked them to collect
their bodies.
“We are particularly disturbed by reports that one of the alleged child
offenders, Mehdi Sohrabifar, had an intellectual disability and had spent
nearly 10 years in a special education centre,” said the UN experts.
“Although evidence of the child’s disability was presented during his trial,
the Courts failed to use their discretion to request an assessment of the
maturity of the child, in line with article 91 of Iran’s amended Penal Code, in
clear breach of his right to a fair trial.”
(source: iranhumanrights.org)
***********************
Sister of executed Kurdish activist summoned, interrogated In Sanandaj
The sister of Kurdish political prisoner Ramin Hossein Panahi who was executed
in September 2018, was summoned by the Intelligence Department of Sanandaj and
interrogated on April 29, 2019.
Parvaneh Hossein Panahi has been apparently summoned because she was trying to
find out the place of burial of her brother. Agents of the Intelligence
Department have threatened her to stop looking for the grave of her brother.
Parvaneh Hossein Panahi has already received a suspended sentence of 5 years in
prison on charge of “propaganda against the State,” for giving interviews to
the foreign media.
The 25-year-old daughter of Parvaneh Hossein Panahi, Nishtman, committed
suicide on May 1, 2018, after an intense campaign of fear and intimidation
launched against her family by the Intelligence Department of Sanandaj and upon
learning of her uncle’s imminent execution.
She had been summoned to the offices of the Intelligence Ministry and the
Revolutionary Guards in Sanandaj numerous times to cooperate with them against
her own family.
They summoned her husband and pressured him to divorce Nishtman. But the couple
refused to cooperate with the Department of Intelligence. Nishtman’s husband,
Ahmad Hossein Panahi, is serving a 5-year prison sentence.
The Department of Intelligence of Sanandaj also pressured the Hossein Panahi
family to refrain from disseminating this information and hold Nishtman’s
funeral in silence.
Kurdish political prisoner Ramin Hossein Panahi, 24, was executed on September
8, 2018, along with 2 other political prisoners, Zaniar Moradi, 30, and Loghman
Moradi, 32, without saying goodbye to his family and was buried in secret.
The 3 political prisoners had been on dry hunger strike for several days before
their execution.
UN Special Rapporteur on arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard and UN Special
rapporteur on human rights in Iran Javaid Rehman had asked the authorities in
Iran to “immediately halt” these executions and annul all 3 death sentences due
to credible concerns that they did not receive a fair trial and that they had
been tortured into making false confessions.
(source: Iran Human Rights Monitor)
ZIMBABWE:
Hanged by the state but icons to the youth
A recent review of Richard Wrangham’s The Goodness Paradox: The Strange
Relationship between Virtue and Violence asks: “Did capital punishment create
morality?” It’s an ages-old polemic that continues to occupy the minds of many
and, in Zimbabwe, there are renewed calls — especially after the fall of Robert
Mugabe — for the abolition of the death penalty.
Only weeks before his November 2017 ouster, Mugabe expressed a yearning for
executions because of what he saw as in increase in callous murders across the
country. This makes the aforementioned question even more compelling.
One of the leading lights in the campaign against the death penalty is none
other than the man who ousted Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
According to sometimes apocryphal lore, a young Mnangagwa was charged with
treason back in 1965 and sentenced to hang.
(source: Mail & Guardian)
GAMBIA:
Government Commutes All Death Sentences To Life Imprisonment
Abubacar Tambadou, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice said on Tuesday
7th May 2019 the government of The Gambia is committed to removing the death
penalty in the laws of the land.
He said as far as the CRC public consultations are concerned, there is a
divided public opinion with regards to the death penalty in The Gambia where
some believe it should be maintained whereas others are of the opinion that it
should be revoked from the laws of the land. He said the government is awaiting
the report by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).
He told the press that the government of the Gambia as part of fulfilling its
international obligation is willing to revoke the death penalty. He said 22
death sentences have been commuted life imprisonment sentences.
“There is no longer any person on death row,” the Minister explained, adding
that their death sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment.
On the reforms, Tambadou said his office will ensure that there is no culture
of impunity in the Gambia. He added that The Gambia would no longer tolerate
human rights violations or impunity.
Arrests of TRC Witnesses
Minister Tambadou said the TRRC process is a victim-centred process, –
therefore witnesses appearing the before Commission must ensure that they speak
the truth and help victims in their truth-seeking process.
Tambadou said in most of his public consultations for the past 2 years on this
matter, he always encouraged witnesses to come forward, to tell the truth.
“Come forward with the truth, potentially benefit from an amnesty or do not
come forward with the truth and you will face the consequences in terms of
prosecution.”
“We have learnt the challenges of the other truth commissions around the world
and we don’t want to repeat the same mistakes. We should always have the
victims at the forefront of our mind. We are satisfied when victims find
pleasure – we are satisfied when victims find the truth about what happened to
their loved ones and we are satisfied when victims in the spirit of
reconciliation forgive the perpetrators,” he said.
He said the perpetrators are required to speak the truth and help the
government in dealing with the victims. He said they should be truthful in
order to help the victims find the truth about events.
“When I conclude that a particular witness has been outrageously dishonest, the
consequence is prosecution,” he said.
He said the three persons arrested following their testimonies before the TRRC
were outrageously dishonest. He challenged the perpetrators who will be
appearing before the TRRC to be truthful in order to help the victims find
closure and the whereabouts of their loved ones, adding that Sanna Sabally was
a perpetrator who has confessed to his crimes.
“If they cannot help the victims then I’m sorry we cannot help them too. I will
not change that attitude. I will not change my mind about it. I will continue
with that policy with aggressiveness and rigour. There is no compromise on it.
They have had 2 years to think about it. They have been reminded constantly to
tell the truth,” he said.
Minister Tambadou outlined some of the dynamics that he uses to test the
testimonies of witnesses before making a decision over whether or not he or she
should be arrested.
“I have decided that the test of outrageous dishonesty will be based on a
number of factors. It will be based on the evidence adduced so far before the
TRRC, the nature or gravity of the human rights violations, the alleged role of
the perpetrator, and the materiality of the dishonesty.”
He said as the Attorney General, he has the discretion to initiate prosecution
which the TRRC has no control over. He said his decision to arrest and
prosecute such witnesses is meant to complement the work of the TRRC.
Tambadou in responding to a question regarding last week’s revelation by
Amnesty International that there were up to 15 juveniles in Gambian jails
detained with adults, saidhe has no knowledge of the issue prior to Amnesty’s
revelation.
“My team is working on finding out the circumstances surrounding these concerns
expressed by Amnesty on the 15-year-olds and I am hoping to get a response from
my team by Friday,” he said.
About the TRRC
He said the TRRC has now commenced public hearings and they are doing
remarkably well.
“It shows the level of planning, organization and preparation and all the other
efforts we have put into the set-up. I am pleased that they have now taken off
the ground. The Government, through my Ministry, in particular, will continue
to provide the required support to them so that they can execute their mandate
and attain their objectives in accordance with the TRRC Act,” Tambadou said.
Reform in the Laws Criminalising Speech
He said his Ministry has been working closely with the Ministry of Information
and Communication Infrastructure, and Article 19 for a comprehensive reform of
the media law regime in the country.
“These involve the promulgation of a Media Services Act that will consolidate
and modernize a variety of currently disparate and often obsolete media-related
laws such as the Newspaper and Broadcasting Stations Act of 1944, or the
Telegraph Stations Act of 1913,” he said.
He indicated that they have also embarked on a comprehensive amendment of the
Information and Telecommunications Act with the aim of removing all the bad and
unconstitutional media laws enacted by the previous administration, and also to
provide for laws that will facilitate the exercise of the right to freedom of
expression.
“We are at the final stages of review and I hope very soon the Honourable
Minister of Information will present these bills to the National Assembly for
enactment. A Freedom of Information Act is also being considered as part of
these reforms,” he said.
On reform of the criminal justice legislative framework, he said with the
support of UNODC and UNDP, and the gracious funding from the Korean
International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a team of local Gambian consultants
have now been engaged by the UN following competitive recruitment process to
conduct a holistic review of our criminal laws and procedure. They are Mr
Antouman Gaye, Ms Jannet Sallah-Njie and Mr Gaye Sowe.
“The aim of this review is to sanitize our criminal justice system by
modernizing our criminal laws and procedure and bringing them in line with the
practice in modern democratic States. They have, in principle, up to the end of
this year to complete the exercise,” he said.
Reforms of Electoral Laws
On reform of the electoral laws, he said they are aware that the ongoing
constitutional review process will likely address the fundamental aspects of
elections in the country. Notwithstanding, they have initiated the process of
electoral reform at the level of legislation with a view primarily to review
and amend the Elections Act of 1996 which had its genesis from the Elections
Decree No. 78 of 1996, in order to reflect modern democratic practice and
ensure a transparent, credible and level playing field for all actors in the
political arena.
“To this end, I convened a meeting of registered political parties here at the
Ministry in February this year as the first step towards a consultative,
inclusive and consensus-seeking approach. It was agreed that all political
parties will conclude internal party consultations on the provisions of the
current Elections Act by 31 March 2019; that they should convene under the
auspices of the Inter-party Committee to identify common positions by 30 April
2019; and then a final joint workshop will be convened under the auspices of
the Ministry of Justice by 31 August 2019 to finalize the process,” he said.
Prison Reform
On Prisons, he said a comprehensive review of the Prisons Act of 1954 is
already underway led by the Ministry of the Interior and again, with funding
from KOICA and in partnership with UNODC. An international consultant is being
recruited to assist in this exercise.
“We are now at the final review stage of strengthened anti-corruption
legislation following comments we received from the UNODC. We have also
initiated contact and requested the assistance of Parliamentarians for Global
Action for the promulgation of an International Crimes Act to include the
crimes contained in the Rome Statute of the ICC among others,” he said.
He said he led a delegation to the 64th Ordinary Session of the African
Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Egypt where The Gambia formally
presented its combined State report on human rights in the country for the 1st
time in 25 years, since 1994. He said the report was prepared in consultation
with government ministries and departments, civil society organizations
including national and international NGOs.
“The report was comprehensive touching on many issues in respect of civil and
political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights. We also presented
The Gambia’s initial report on the protocol to the African Charter on the
rights of women otherwise known as the Maputo protocol,” he detailed.
He said the session was a milestone for The Gambia in its historical
relationship with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights because
finally, after 25 years, The Gambia was able to fulfil a fundamental treaty
obligation of submitting our periodic report to the African Commission. He
stated it is yet another concrete demonstration of the commitment of this
Government to uphold the highest standards of the values enshrined in the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights otherwise known as the Banjul
Charter.
Nonetheless, he said the occasion also allowed them to reflect on the missed
opportunities occasioned by the inexcusable failure to uphold this fundamental
treaty obligation and all the attendant consequences in terms of the lack of
accountability at the continental level for human rights violations in The
Gambia since 1994.
“It is indeed sad that such an important accountability mechanism was
deliberately ignored to the detriment of many in our country,” he said adding
that they recognized the great strides The Gambia has made as a country
regarding human rights over the past two years and commended The Gambia for
this as well as the fulfilment of its treaty obligations in submitting the
report.
“The Commission also encouraged The Gambia to continue efforts in addressing
challenges in some areas of concern to the Commission,” he detailed.
(source: foroyaa.com)
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