May 18
NIGERIA:
Yul Edochie Proposes Death Penalty For Rapists
Nigerian actor and politician, Yul Edochie has mooted the idea of death penalty
for rapists, stating that commercial sex workers are also humans.
The actor, who is known for harbouring strong opinion on sundry issues,
expressed this view on Twitter a few weeks after 65 women were arrested in
night clubs in several parts of Abuja metropolis on allegations of
prostitution.
The incident drew widespread outrage from all over Nigeria when it was reported
that some of the policemen who carried out the raid raped some of those
arrested when they could not pay the money demanded in exchange for their
release.
Reacting to the issue, Edochie, in his Twitter handle wrote; “Ashawo na human
being. They do not take nor give by force, they are entitled to their rights.
Rape is rape. And there is absolutely no justification for rape. Rape victims
live with the trauma forever.I propose death penalty for rapists.”
In November 2017, Edochie contested the November 2017 Anambra governorship
election on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC), running
against 36 other aspirants.
(source: independent.ng)
BELARUS:
PACE calls on Belarus to urgently introduce death penalty moratorium
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has criticized the
decision of the Belarusian Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence handed
down to the murderer of 2 women in Bobruisk.
“This verdict is disappointing because it shows that, despite some abolitionist
signals, the Belarusian judiciary continues to apply the death penalty,” the
PACE said in a statement.
The PACE pointed out that it is planning to stand firmly against any death
penalty in Belarus.
“The death penalty is cruel and inhuman punishment, which is no longer
acceptable in Europe. We reiterate our call to the authorities of Belarus to
urgently establish a moratorium on executions and to de facto and de jure
abolish the death penalty,” the statement said.
On May 14, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence handed down to Alexander
Osipovich by the Mogilev Regional Court. During the consideration of his
appeal, Osipovich asked to requalify his case as murder in excess of
self-defense.
As reported, Osipovich, under the influence of alcohol, had an argument while
drinking with 2 young women whom he had met by chance and attacked them. The
women, fearing for their lives, locked themselves inside a bathroom, trying to
escape, but the man, armed with a hammer and a knife, managed to break in.
He hammered, stabbed, and punched 1 of them at least 77 times, striking her
head at least 48 times with a hammer. The 2nd woman was stabbed and punched at
least 16 times, with at least 2 stab wounds to the neck and head. Both women
died at the scene.
The Mogilev Regional Court handed down the death penalty to Osipovich in a
visiting session in Bobruisk on Jan. 9.
Belarus remains the only country in Europe and the CIS to maintain the death
penalty, which is intended as an exceptional measure of punishment for
especially grave crimes in accordance with the Constitution. Executions are
carried out by firing squad.
2 new death sentences were pronounced and f4existing ones were carried out in
2018.
The EU, the OSCE, and a number of international organizations have condemned
the death penalty in Belarus.
(source: kyivpost.com)
PHILIPPINES:
Rights body, Catholic church urge new senators to reject death penalty
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines (CBCP) have expressed concern that the new composition of the
Senate would just become a rubber stamp for President Rodrigo Duterte’s
legislative priorities, including the much-criticized revival of the death
penalty.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III no less has said that the revival of
the death penalty for those convicted of high-level drug trade seemed possible
with the incoming set of senators.
Among those poised to join the chamber is former police chief Ronald “Bato”
dela Rosa, who has a tough stance on drug-related crimes. He was clear during
his campaign that he plans to push for the reinstatement of the death penalty.
The Duterte administration has been waging a relentless war against drugs where
street-level pushers and users have been caught or killed, but major busts have
only netted contraband, not suspects.
CHR Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit said the body is now preparing to counter
any effort to revive the death penalty. It has already formed a coalition that
would educate people about the negative impact of such measure through forums
and dialogues.
In a Social Weather Stations study last year, Dumpit said 7 out of 10 Filipinos
are not in favor of imposing the death penalty on a number of serious crimes.
Their voices, she said, should be recognized as enough reason not to pursue
this anymore.
“We will engage Senate, we will engage Congress as a whole,” she told ABS-CBN
News.
"We will lay down all the studies to convince them that this is not the right
measure to implement the program of the administration to reduce or combat
criminality in our country."
Dumpit insisted it is not a matter of reaching an amicable agreement, pointing
out that the Philippines is a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolishment of the
death penalty.
“The Commission on Human Rights would not want death penalty on the table. And
that’s non-negotiable,” she stated.
She called on the public to stand against the death penalty.
“We have to strengthen our principles on human rights, on everyone’s right to
live, and let us see and examine our conscience regarding this."
For its part, the CBCP urged new senators to shelve proposals to reinstate the
death penalty, adding that it would never be a solution to criminality.
CBCP’s Commission on Prison Pastoral Care executive secretary Rodolfo Diamante
said lawmakers should work on legislation for the welfare of the people, and
not to please the President.
“We urge them to study the bills thoroughly and determine if they will really
address the problems of our country,” he said. “Moreover, it is anti-life,
anti-poor and will enhance only the culture of violence that is now prevailing
in our country.”
In February, the House of Representatives withdrew its approval of a bill that
imposes the death penalty for drug offenses.
A separate bill reviving the death penalty hurdled the House under former House
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez but has languished at the Senate.
The Philippines was the 1st Asian country to abolish the death penalty in 1987,
but it was reinstated under President Fidel Ramos in response to increasing
crime rates. It was abolished again under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in
2006.
(source: abs-cbn.com)
SINGAPORE:
Singapore punishing mules but not drug lords, group cries as another Malaysian
waits on death row
Legal advocacy group Lawyers For Liberty today accused the Singapore government
of bulldozing through procedures to hang another Malaysian who was found to
merely be a drug courier and not a mastermind in illicit substances.
The group’s adviser N. Surendran said Pannir Selvam, 32, is scheduled for
execution in Changi Prison in the republic in just six more days, adding that
his family was only notified of it and told to make the necessary arrangements
to claim his body later yesterday.
“The execution by hanging is to be carried out at dawn on Friday 24th May
2019,” he said in a statement.
He said the 1-week notice is “oppressive and unjust to both Pannir and his
family”.
The last known Malaysian to be executed in Changi Prison on similar charges of
carrying drugs into Singapore was Prabu N. Pathmanathan, 31, in October 2018.
Like Pannir, Prabu was said to be just a drug mule.
According to Surendran, Pannir was convicted on June 27, 2017 by the Singapore
High Court of allegedly trafficking in 51.84 grammes of diamorphine at the
Woodlands Checkpoint on September 3, 2014 despite consistently pleading
innocence.
But the lawyer also asserted that there were several irregularities in the
Singapore legal process that will see the young Malaysian hanged next week even
though the latter has strong grounds to obtain clemency.
“Once again, Singapore is planning to execute a mere drug mule, whilst the drug
kingpins continue to ply their trade with impunity.
“More disturbingly, Pannir's final recourse of a clemency petition to the
President of Singapore has been tainted with illegality and unlawful acts by
the Singapore authorities,” Surendran said.
The former lawmaker highlighted that Pannir had aided the Singapore authorities
by providing critical information about one Anand, believed to be the
mastermind who had duped Pannir into carrying a package containing drugs to
Singapore.
However, he claimed the Singapore public prosecutor unreasonably denied the
certificate of assistance to Pannir that would have enabled the court to
sentence the Malaysian to life imprisonment instead of death.
He also highlighted irregularities in the Singapore President Halimah Yacob’s
rejection of clemency to Pannir and the notice of execution to the Malaysian’s
family in Kuala Lumpur.
“The letter from the President refusing clemency is dated 17 May 2019, but the
letter notifying family of the execution was posted out on 16 May 2019. How can
the prison proceed to execution prior to the date of refusal of clemency by the
President?” Surendran asked.
He said the irregularity suggests “executive interference” in the clemency
process as Halimah could not have given proper thought to the plea as she is
duty-bound to do under Article 22P of the Singapore Constitution.
“It is appallingly clear from the cavalier and irregular way in which the
President's office and the Prison Services dealt with Pannir's clemency that
they intended all the while to proceed with the execution come what may,”
Surendran said.
He also urged the Malaysian government to intervene in Pannir’s case and ask
the Lion City to drop the execution, reminding Putrajaya of its own move to end
the mandatory death penalty for drug offences and several other laws.
“Malaysia cannot stand by and watch as our citizen's rights are denied and
subsequently executed,” he said.
Despite all that, Surendran called on the Singapore government not to proceed
with the execution of Pannir but to commute his sentence to life imprisonment
instead.
“Singapore will not rid the Island of the drug problem by hanging low level
drug mules. Instead, Singapore will only gain the abhorrence of the civilised
world for its brutal and ineffective methods.”
A recent survey by the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs found only half of
its youths are for the death penalty for drug-related offences even as they
applaud their government’s tough stance against illegal substances.
The Malaysian Parliament passed amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 in
2017 and took effect in March last year.
No Malaysian convicted on drug-related charges were executed domestically last
year.
The Pakatan Harapan government is expected to table Bills to end the mandatory
death sentence at the next parliamentary sitting in July.
(source: malaymail.com)
IRAQ:
Iraq to handle foreign IS fighters' trials
Iraq so far is holding roughly a dozen French nationals who fought for the
Islamic State. France's response: Keep them.
Now that the Islamic State (IS) is considered largely contained, the next
challenge is what to do with the thousands of jihadis captured and awaiting
trial, many of them in Iraq.
In addition to thousands of its own people imprisoned for fighting for IS, Iraq
is under pressure to receive and try some 1,000 foreigners in the hand of
Syrian Kurds. It would seem expedient to try the detainees there, rather than
shipping them back to the roughly 50 other countries involved. Paris doesn't
want these fighters back and French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, thinks
the trials should be conducted in Iraq — except for the strong possibility Iraq
will sentence many of them to death.
The Iraqi judiciary often issues death sentences against IS members. France
outlawed the death penalty in 1977. In January 2018, French officials
threatened to intervene should death sentences be issued against two extremist
French nationals. Yet Macron now says French IS fighters who were captured in
Iraq and Syria must be tried in the countries where they face charges.
A judicial source told Al-Monitor that Baghdad is preparing to try French
nationals "who fought alongside IS in Iraq and Syria and who were arrested by
the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria a few weeks ago.” So far there are about
a dozen, but more are expected.
Watheq al-Hashemi, president of the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies, told
Al-Monitor that Iraqi President Barham Salih also thinks the trials should take
place in Iraq. However, Iraq is concerned with the financial burden of handling
1,000 prisoners and is seeking about $2 billion from the other countries to
cover the costs.
Iraqi officials also worry about Iraqi prisons becoming recruiting ground for
IS or other terrorist groups.
Former Iraqi parliament member Rezan Sheikh said she fears IS will restructure
itself inside Iraqi prisons.
“Our prisons have many problems and are not correctional facilities. And they
can easily lead to the creation of a new terrorist organization, which is why
Iraq should not accept this deal,” she told Al-Monitor.
Al-Monitor received information that in Iraq, overcrowding in prisons and
detention centers exceeds 120%. Iraq doesn't have new prisons and detention
centers that match the international standards France and other countries will
want Iraq to meet.
Hisham al-Hashemi, a researcher at al-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies,
also warned that Iraqi prisons could become like Bucca Camp, where terrorist
organizations were born.
“It's not in Iraq's interest to try [foreign IS] members inside Iraq. Issuing
death penalties against such members will lead international human rights
organizations to side against Iraq, and keeping them in prison will give them
an opportunity to shuffle their cards,” he told Al-Monitor.
Razaw Salihy, an Amnesty International campaign leader, concurred, telling
Al-Monitor, “We met many families who said that their male relatives had joined
IS after being held in prisons such as the Bucca Camp.”
The French government is facing pressure from several media outlets and human
rights organizations that question the fairness of the Iraqi judiciary and
reject the death penalty. So, even though France wants Iraq to keep French
nationals, the public wants Macron to pressure Iraq to not sentence them to
death.
“Based on what we have seen in recent years, the death penalty is very likely,"
Salihy added. "Iraq remains among the countries that resort to the death
penalty the most. Authorities [there] often respond to terrorism-related
attacks by announcing executions."
The concerns of human rights organizations seem justified, given Salih’s
statements during a Feb. 25 visit to Paris that the convicted in Iraq may face
execution. The prisoners "will be tried according to Iraqi law," he said.
(source: al-monitor.com)
IRAN:
Iran gives death penalty for American woman’s murder
Iran’s state-owned newspaper says the country’s Supreme Court has upheld the
death sentence for an Iranian man accused of murdering an American woman during
a robbery.
The Saturday report by the “Iran” daily identified the accused only by his 1st
name, Siamak.
The report says the accused killed an American citizen, Teresa Virginia, while
attempting to rob her belongings and car in 2012.
It added that an accomplice in the armed robbery has been sentenced to life in
prison.
The victim, who was a mother of 3, was in Tehran visiting relatives of her
Iranian husband.
Iran remains one of the world’s top enforcers of the death penalty. Amnesty
International says Iran executed more than 250 people last year, 2nd only to
China.
(source: Arab News)
BAHRAIN:
Bahrain Regime Court Upholds Death Penalty against 2 Citizens
Bahrain regime court of Cassation, the country’s court of last resort, upheld
the death sentence against 2 men on May 6, 2019.
A court had convicted the 2 men, Ali Al-Arab and Ahmad Al-Malali, of alleged
terror offenses in a mass trial on January 31, 2018.
Acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch Lama Fakih said, “Despite its
rhetoric on reform, Bahrain is moving in the wrong direction by reinstating the
death penalty.”
“This irreversible punishment is cruel in all cases, but all the more so here
amid evidence that the accused were tortured and denied fair trials.”
(source: almanar.com.lb)
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