Sept. 4
SRI LANKA:
3 sentenced to death for hacking to death another at Egoda Uyana
The Panadura high court today sentenced to death 3 persons found guilty of
hacking to death another at the Egoda Uyana junction in Moratuwa on February 1,
2009.
While 7 suspects were accused of this incident, the high court judge Weeraman
Serasinghe acquitted and discharged 4 of the 7 suspects when the case was taken
up before the Panadura high court today (Sept. 2).
Panadura high court judge Weeraman Serasinghe imposed the death penalty on the
other 3 suspects found guilty of the offence.
(source: sundaytimes.lk)
PAKISTAN:
Christian mother Asia Bibi demands justice for blasphemy law victims: 'The
world should listen'
Christian mother Asia Bibi condemned Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and issued
an urgent call for reform in her 1st interview since being released from prison
after spending 8 years on death row on a false blasphemy charge.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Bibi thanked Pakistan’s supreme
court for acquitting her but said others also need fair trials. “There are many
other cases where the accused are lying in jail for years and their decision
should also be done on merit. The world should listen to them,” she said.
“I request the whole world to pay attention to this issue,” Bibi continued.
“The way any person is alleged of blasphemy without any proper investigation
without any proper proof, that should be noticed. This blasphemy law should be
reviewed and there should be proper investigation mechanisms while applying
this law. We should not consider anyone sinful for this act without any proof.”
Bibi’s ordeal began nearly 10 years ago when 2 Muslim farm laborers accused her
of drinking from the same container as them and refused to drink after her
because she's a Christian.
Bibi, also known as Asya Noureen and a mother of 5, was subsequently accused of
insulting the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Pakistan, where 97 percent of its
180 million inhabitants are Muslim, being charged with committing blasphemy
against Islam is punishable by death or life in prison.
After spending 8 years on death row, Bibi was acquitted by the Supreme Court of
Pakistan, which ultimately said there were many inconsistencies in the
testimonies against her. However, she was kept in custody for another seven
months as the government struggled with how to free her without angering
hardline Islamist groups.
Speaking about her time in a Pakistani jail, Bibi told The Telegraph that her
Christian faith had never faltered and also said she never cried in front of
her daughters when they visited her in jail. “I used to cry alone filled with
pain and grief,” she said.
Still, Bibi said she feared for her future. “Sometimes I was so disappointed
and losing courage I used to wonder whether I was coming out of jail or not,
what would happen next, whether I would remain here all my life,” she said. “My
whole life suffered, my children suffered and this had a huge impact on my
life.”
In May, Bibi was finally brought to Canada, through mediation by the European’s
Union special envoy on religious freedom, Jan Figel. Due to security concerns,
she was unable to say goodbye to her father or her homeland.
The University of Findlay was one of 159 schools named in the “Best in the
Midwest” college listing. Overall, The Princeton Review recognized 656 regional
colleges in 5 zones for its “2020 Best Colleges: Region by Region” accolades.
“My heart was broken when I left that way without meeting my family. Pakistan
is my country, Pakistan is my homeland, I love my country, I love my soil,” she
said.
Now 54, Bibi said that while she hopes to move to Europe with her family in the
coming months. They are currently living in Canada.
Figel told the Telegraph that Bibi is “an admirably brave woman and loving
mother” whose story “can serve as a base for reforms in Pakistan, which has
very outdated system of blasphemy legislation easily misused against neighbors
and innocent people.”
The U.S. State Department reports that there are an estimated 77 others in
prison in Pakistan under blasphemy laws. But Shaan Taseer, the son of late
Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, believes there are over 200 people jailed for
blasphemy. Lawyers and rights groups say blasphemy accusations are often false
and made to settle scores or silence rivals.
Over the years, thousands of Pakistani Christians, who make up just 2% of the
country's population, have fled to nations like Thailand, Sri Lanka and
Malaysia in hopes of being given asylum in a safer country.
Following Bibi’s case, the U.S. called on Pakistan to release more than 40
members of the religious minorities facing blasphemy charges. It also urged
Pakistani leadership to appoint an envoy to address the various religious
freedom concerns in the country.
Pakistan was listed in January as No. 5 on Open Doors USA's World Watch List of
countries where Christians face the most severe persecution for their faith,
with blasphemy accusations cited as one of the major sources of oppression.
(source: christianpost.com)
BANGLADESH:
2 to die for Manikganj murder
2 persons were awarded death penalty by a Manikganj court for killing a man in
Manikganj Sadar upazila on March 9 of 2010.
Judge Shahana Haque Siddiqi of additional district and sessions judge’s court
of Manikganj delivered the verdict on Tuesday (September 3).
Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Mathur Nath moved for the state while lawyer
Anwar Hossen stood for the state.
The convicts were—Masud, son of Mozafar, who hails from Charhizuli village of
Manikganj Sadar upazila and Sanowar, son of Badiuzzaman of Tarakandi village of
Bogura.
Masud and Sanowar called Ratan outside of home over a phone call on the night
of March 9 in 2010.
Ratan--aged 22, son Bishu Miah— was a resident of Hizuli village under
Manikganj Sadar upazila.
They took Ratan on the bank of Dhaleshwari River at Dergram village of the
sadar upazila. Out of personal enmity, both of them strangled Ratan to death
with a towel and left the body in a maize field. They also snatched Ratan’s
mobile away.
Bishu Miah, father of the deceased, filed a case with sadar police station on
March 10-the following day.
(source: banglanews24.com)
MALAYSIA:
Death row inmate maintains innocence in video plea from jail
A video plea by a death row inmate who was convicted of murder 17 years ago is
making the rounds on social media.
In the clip believed to have been recorded on Monday, a man identifying himself
B Anand Nambiar pleaded with the public to help him escape the death penalty,
saying he is innocent of the charge.
“This is my only chance to say this. I swear by Allah, these hands never
murdered anyone.
“If I am hanged over something I never did, I will never be satisfied. I hope
my case will be reviewed,” said the man in the clip, one of two he recorded
from what appears to be a prison cell.
Now 36, Anand, who said he was only 19 when the incident occurred, said he is
currently an inmate at the Pengkalan Chepa prison in Kelantan.
When contacted, a source in the Prisons Department confirmed that Anand was a
prisoner on death row.
Checks by FMT also found that Anand was charged alongside three others under
Section 302 of the Penal Code for the murder of Heng Pang Kiat on Feb 21, 2002,
in Kluang, Johor.
The 4 were sentenced to death by hanging. They were also separately sentenced
to 20 years’ jail for attempting to murder Heng’s friend, Chong Chiew Nam.
The Federal Court upheld the decision in 2015.
According to court documents obtained by FMT, Chong, a business partner at a
legal firm, was allegedly sought by a lawyer to fix a case at the appeals
court.
The lawyer, who was involved in a suit brought by a consultant firm, was said
to have sought a favourable outcome in the appellate court through the
selection of a quorum in his favour.
The lawyer allegedly paid Chong RM500,000 to fix the case, but Chong and his
friend Heng gambled the money away.
Chong and Heng were then abducted by the four men and kept in an apartment in
Pasir Gudang, Johor, before being murdered.
Heng died on the spot, but Chong survived, according to testimonies in court.
The court also heard testimonies from shopkeepers who sold the men the weapons
used in the murder.
While it was not established exactly who killed Heng, the court relied on
Section 34 of the Penal Code where all persons involved in the crime had a
common intention and were charged with murder.
(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)
TURKEY:
Turkish women’s rights groups launch campaign against death penalty
Women’s groups in Turkey have started a campaign warning that capital
punishment is the wrong approach to tackle violence after the murder of a woman
by her husband sparked calls for the return of the death sentence.
Prominent figures in Turkey, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, backed
the return of the death penalty after footage of the killing of Emine Bulut by
her ex-husband spread on social media in August, provoking an uproar over
Turkey’s grave gender violence problem.
But leading women’s rights groups have rejected the idea, warning that systemic
violence against women would not be solved with more violence.
The hashtag #idamçözümdegil – the death penalty is not the solution – spread on
social media this month after it was shared by the women’s groups in posts
offering solutions to the problem.
“Countries which have the death penalty also have among the highest rates of
violence against women,” Women for Women’s Human Rights said in a tweet on
Monday.
Other posts demanded that existing laws to prevent violence were implemented
instead of introducing the death sentence.
“The solution is shelters that can be accessed by all women, women’s solidarity
centres, a 24-hour emergency counselling line, and rape crisis centres,” said
another of the posts shared under the hashtag by the Foundation for Women’s
Solidarity.
Turkey was the first signatory of the Istanbul Convention, groundbreaking
Council of Europe legislation addressing domestic and gender violence.
However, there has been much opposition to the convention from religious
conservatives and men’s rights groups, who say it harms family values and
leaves men at a disadvantage by requiring alimony payments in divorce cases.
Women’s activists say the existing laws in Turkey are sufficient to tackle
abuse, but the government has dragged its feet in properly implementing them.
The latest calls for the return of the death penalty aim to distract the public
from the issue, said Canan Güllü, the head of the Federation of Women’s
Associations of Turkey.
“The last 6 or 7 times there was an incident that caused an uproar, the
government said it would sign off on a law bringing back capital punishment.
For the death penalty to come to parliament would be a backward step away from
modernity,” Güllü told the Hürriyet newspaper.
The calls for the return of the death sentence are “an attempt to take the
momentum away” during periods of uproar about Turkey’s femicide problem, she
said. “That’s why we wanted to start our campaign to show people why we don’t
need to death penalty.”
Women’s rights groups last month reported that 245 women had been murdered in
domestic violence since the beginning of the year.
Nearly 40 % of Turkish women face physical or sexual violence from a partner,
according to the United Nations, while 409 Turkish women were murdered by a
partner or family member in 2017, a 75 % increase from 2013, according to the
watchdog group We Will Stop Femicide.
(source: ahvalnews.com)
UGANDA:
200 PRISIONERS ON DEATH ROW FOR OVER 20 YEARS AS WARRANTS AWAIT SIGNATURE
Canon Dr. Johnson Byabasaija, addressing the press in Gulu
“We have not carried out any execution since 1999. There are currently 200
prisoners on death row. Once they finish their appeal warrant, we shall execute
them, but as you already know death penalty is no longer mandatory in the
judiciary. The scuffle for executions is functional. The executioner and his
assistant are present. Once the President signs their death warrant, we shall
execute them within 72 hours”
“I came specifically to Lugore Prison Farm which is located some 33 kilometers
north of here. We want to develop it into a real commercial farm that has
automatic system capable of handling 1200 acres of maize per season, to feed
our prisoners and staff. Before the confusion in Uganda in the sixties and
seventies, Lugore had very good infrastructures. We want to restore Lugore to
that level again”
GULU-UGANDA:There are currently 200 prisoners in civil prison in Uganda on
death row where 51 prisoners have been executed from a civil prison since
independence. Uganda executed the last bunch of 28 prisoners on death row in a
civil prison on April 29, 1999 as Uganda’s Dictator of thirty-three years;
General Yoweri Museveni has not signed any death warrant since then.
This was revealed by the Commissioner General of Uganda Prison services, Canon
Dr. Johnson Byabasaija, on Thursday, August 29, 2019 during a meeting with the
media fraternity from Bomah Hotel in Gulu.
Under the military court martial, 2 prisoners were executed by firing squad in
2002, three executed in 2003 and the last recorded execution by the military
took place in 2005.
He revealed that death penalty in Uganda is ‘no longer mandatory’ according to
Supreme Court ruling of 2009. The delay between sentence and execution are
often seen to constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
and is unconstitutional.
“We have not carried out any execution since 1999. There are currently 200
prisoners on death row. Once they finish their appeal warrant, we shall execute
them, but as you already know death penalty is no longer mandatory in the
judiciary. The scuffle for executions is functional. The executioner and his
assistant are present. Once the President signs their death warrant, we shall
execute them within 72 hours”, says Canon Dr. Byabasaija.
He says Uganda currently has 59,300 inmates. Out of this, 47.2% are on
remand-the major cause of congestion in prisons while 52.8% are convicts. He
explains that the reason why cases are not disposed of quickly in courts of law
thereby causing backlog of cases are majorly slow investigation and poor
prosecution.
“Once investigations and prosecutions are done properly and professionally,
judges will have no cause to delay cases. These are the major causes of backlog
of cases and congestion in prisons. There will always be congestion because
prisons are not a priority of government like schools and hospitals”, he
explains.
He revealed that government is planning to set up a Mini Maximum Security
Prison at Kitaliya in Wakiso district, to accommodate at least 2000 inmates who
are long term convicts as a measure to ease congestion at Luzira Maximum
Security Prison in Kampala.
The Commissioner General of Prison was in Gulu on a three-day monitoring visit
to Uganda’s largest prison farm, Lugore Prison farm, which is located some 33
kilometers north of Gulu City. This is where prison authorities intend to
develop into a real commercial farm with mechanized machines capable of drying,
cleaning, storage and post-harvest handling.
This year, the Prison authority have planted 1200 acres of maize, 40 acres of
grafted mangoes, 20 acres of oranges and are also keeping some 300 Boran cattle
for breeding purpose at Lugore. The Prison has 890 inmates (all male convicts)
and 100 prison staffs.
“I came specifically to Lugore Prison Farm which is located some 33 kilometers
north of here. We want to develop it into a real commercial farm that has
automatic system capable of handling 1200 acres of maize per season, to feed
our prisoners and staff. Before the confusion in Uganda in the s60s and 70s,
Lugore had very good infrastructures. We want to restore Lugore to that level
again”, he assured journalists.
He revealed that prison authorities want to increase the production of cotton
as a major crop in some prisons like Orom in Kitgum district, Kaabong, Dokolo,
Loro, Adjumani, Ragem and Mobuku prisons.
On the question of female inmates who have babies with them in prison, Canon.
Dr. Byabasaija says there are some inmates who do not want their babies removed
from them by relatives. He however says the maximum year a child can stay in
prison with their mothers is three years. He says prison authorities have set
up day care centers for such children.
(source: blackstarnews.com)
SOUTH AFRICA:
This is what it would take to get the death penalty reinstated in South Africa
Justice and Correctional Services minister Ronald Lamola says that the question
of whether South Africa could reinstate the death penalty will be taken to
cabinet for further discussion.
It is just one of the many topics that will be discussed by the government
relating to what has been dubbed a ‘femicide’ in South Africa.
South African citizens, civil rights groups and political representatives have
called on government to take action, following a string of reports detailing
brutal and violent crimes against women in the country.
The latest report, of the rape and murder of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana at
the hands of a South African Post Office worker, spurred public outrage,
underpinning police statistics such as the 3,000 women who are murdered each
year, and 50,000 more who are victims of sexual offences.
Talk of the death penalty entered the picture through a Change.org petition,
which drew over 500,000 responses, calling for the capital punishment to be
reinstated for those convicted of violent crimes, including crimes against
women and children.
What it would take to get the death penalty back
The abolishment of the death penalty in South Africa was not only a government
decision, but also a path rooted in law.
Following a 5 year moratorium on the death penalty between 1990 – 1995, the
issue was finally dealt with in the constitutional case of S vs Makwanyane.
The judgement was unanimous with all 10 judges giving different reasons as to
why the death penalty should be abolished. These included issues such as
possible mistakes made during the investigation process, as well as the right
to life under the Constitution.
According to director at legal firm Norton Rose Fulbright, Patrick Bracher, the
only way to reintroduce the death penalty in South Africa is by way of
legislation which passes constitutional muster.
“In 1995 in State v Makwanyane the Constitutional Court declared the section in
the Criminal Procedure Act that allowed for the death penalty to be
inconsistent with the Constitution and accordingly invalid,” Bracher said.
“It is unlikely that the Constitution will be amended because it sets the
principles and not the specific requirements in relation to the death penalty.”
The court in Makwanyane established the important constitutional principle
(followed ever since) that public opinion (eg a referendum) is “no substitute
for the duty vested in the courts to interpret the Constitution and uphold its
provisions”, Bracher said.
“As the court said, there would be no need for constitutional adjudication if
public opinion were decisive. The purpose of the Constitution is to protect
vulnerable individuals and minorities not to implement majority public
opinion.”
Regarding the death penalty, the Constitutional court found that the punishment
was cruel, inhuman and degrading, prohibited by the Bill of Rights.
The State did not prove that the death penalty would be materially more
effective to deter or prevent murder than the alternative sentence of life
imprisonment and justifying the State taking a life as well.
“Retribution by death penalty, the court said, smacks too much of vengeance to
be justified for taking life in an enlightened constitutional democracy. Two of
the judges (Mahomed DJ and Langa J) also referred to African culture which
respects life and treatment that is cruel, inhuman or degrading is ‘bereft of
Ubuntu’.”
The death penalty also infringes the right to dignity, equality,
proportionality of sentencing and other values which are the core of our Bill
of Rights, Bracher said.
“Unless the State can prove that the death penalty is undoubtedly a significant
deterrent for the crime of murder, that justice will operate evenly for rich
and poor and that the incidence of murder is such that the death penalty is
required as a proved deterrent, there is no possibility of the Constitutional
Court reversing its previous decision, in my opinion,” Bracher said.
“On the contrary, since the 1995 judgment the death penalty has been abandoned
in many more democratic societies.”
Is the death penalty a good idea?
While there appears to be strong public desire for the death penalty to be
introduced, human rights and legal experts advise against it.
Speaking to eNCA, human rights lawyer Kelly Stone said that calls for the death
penalty are a “visceral response to our collective anger” over the lack of
response from the state to take the matter seriously, as well as general
frustration over inaction.
However, Stone said that it’s also short-sighted, and likely won’t achieve what
people want it to achieve. She said that the real solution lies in finding the
underlying causes of violence against women, and letting that inform the
collective response.
Countries around the world are abolishing the death penalty, finding that crime
levels – including those against women and children – have not dropped.
According to Stone, 27 states in the US still use the death penalty, and these
states have violent crime levels that range between 48% and 101% higher than
states that do not. “So we know it doesn’t work,” she said.
In South Africa, Stone says violence has been normalised as a way of
communication and an expression of masculinity, which is playing out in a cycle
of trauma that has seen no intervention.
Thus the solution, she believes, needs to be a social effort and collective
responsibility – not just something done by the state, police, courts or prison
systems.
This sentiment has also been echoed by government, with Minister for Women,
Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, saying that all
South Africans need to play a role in ending the violence towards women.
“To end violence against women and girls we must educate men and women and
change gender stereotypes, attitudes and beliefs that condone violence and
harmful constructions of masculinity. We must also promote gender equitable
norms and behaviours and women’s participation in decision-making,” she said.
(source: businesstech.co/za)
***************
Cabinet will discuss calls for return of death penalty: Ronald Lamola
Justice minister Ronald Lamola has promised to take calls for a referendum for
the return of the death sentence to the cabinet.
The calls have been made amid the background of rising violence against women
in the country, particularly in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of
student Uyinene Mrwetyana, which brought the question of gender-based violence
and femicide back into the spotlight.
Lamola and minister for women in the presidency Maite Nkoana-Mashabane were
addressing the media on Tuesday.
Lamola said he could not decide alone whether or not to bring back the death
penalty, but that all he could do was to take the matter to cabinet for
discussion - and then for approval or disapproval.
“Whether we are open to referendum or not, at this stage I cannot say... It is
something we can take further as a discussion to the cabinet,” said Lamola.
According to him, the NPA and the court could never alone halt gender-based
violence if society at large, particularly men, did not play their part.
“The NPA does take these matters seriously when they are brought before them,
and when you look at their stats it shows they have 74% conviction rate. But it
is not enough," said Lamola.
“It needs more of a societal work and needs us men in particular to be more
sensitive and responsive to the calls of the nation. NPA and the judiciary may
not be able to do all the work, we need men to do their part.”
Lamola said there were various interventions that government was undertaking to
curb the scourge of gender-based and femicide in the country.
Chief among these was a consideration for the amendment of the Criminal
Procedure Act to “ensure that it is effective, responsive and enables us to
prevent the scourge”.
Furthermore, said Lamola, government would accelerate the establishment of 92
special sexual offences courts, 11 of which would be built in the current
financial year.
Lamola added that it was high time that the justice system treated cases of
gender-based violence and femicide with the sensitivity and speed they deserved
- to the satisfaction of the victims.
Nkoana-Mashabane said her ministry had declared Sunday September 8 as a
national day of prayer and silence to mourn women who have died at the hands of
men.
“Enough. We are sick and tired of hearing how women get killed in their homes,
in their churches and as they walk along the streets,” she said.
Nkoana-Mashabane further revealed statistics of the conviction rate of
gender-based violence and femicide cases.
According to her, between July 1 and December 31 2018, the courts sentenced
1,357 people to 371 life sentences - a total of 4,629 years' imprisonment.
“This includes 6 serial rapists who were sentenced to a combined sentence
imprisonment.”
She said much more was being done by government.
“In 2018, the government signed a declaration of gender-based violence and
femicide with various civil society organisations.
“We are working toward the establishment of the gender-based violence and
femicide council and national strategy plan that will guide all of us wherever
we are in our efforts to eradicate this national scourge," she said.
(source: heraldlive.co.za)
KUWAIT:
Expat doctor killing his wife murder case has come to ‘haunt’ again
The famous murder case in which an expatriate doctor was accused of killing his
wife has come to haunt again after it went viral in the social media last week,
reports Al-Anba daily.
In this regard, Fahd Al-Haddad – the lawyer representing the accused – said
that the public should not rush and give judgments saying the case is still
with the Kuwaiti judiciary. He added that he did not rule out the overturning
of the death sentence against the accused.
Al-Haddad stressed that the appeal made by the accused in the Court of
Cassation includes reasons which could lead to overturning the death penalty
related to the rules of sentencing as prescribed in the Code of Criminal
Procedures and Proceedings.
Al-Haddad pointed out that such cases may gain the sympathy of the community
lead to cause hatred for the accused and prejudge him, while the files of such
cases may contain conclusive evidence that the accused is not responsible for
the incident or denies his connection with it.
The attorney added his client suffers from rare disturbances as the case papers
have revealed. Add to this the good relationship between the accused and his
wife for 10 good years without any differences, but the disturbances suffered
by the accused in recent weeks before the incident changed the course of the
life of the accused.
The lawyer has also submitted reports confirming that the murderer’s brother
had a mental disorder similar to that of the accused. Al-Haddad also pointed
out that the reasons for the appeal raised before the Court of Cassation are
valid, but there is no place for speculation in the verdict of the judiciary.
He stressed that he is fully confident of the Kuwaiti judiciary, and that
everyone should be patient and wait for the verdict of the Court of Cassation.
(source: arabtimesonline.com)
VANUATU:
Tanna chiefs petition Vanuatu govt to introduce death penalty
The Nikoletan Council of Chiefs of Tanna and over 200 Tannese have petitioned
the Vanuatu government to introduce the death penalty after a recent killing.
This week a funeral march took place through Port Vila with the coffin of a
Tannese person who was allegedly killed by people from Ambrym.
Ten years ago, there were tensions between the two groups which saw a number of
deaths and the torching of houses belonging to the people of Ambrym by an angry
mob from Tanna.
A custom ceremony was held in which both parties agreed that there would be no
more killings.
However, the latest incident has challenged that agreement and the Tannese have
asked the government to amend the law to make sure that anyone who takes a life
must also lose their life.
They said this would be a strong deterrence against brutal behaviour.
The Minister of Home Affairs Andrew Napuat, who is also from Tanna, has said
the government will look into the petition.
(source: Radio New Zealand)
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