[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----IRAN, S. ARAB., SING., MALAY., PAKIS., INDIA, UK
Nov. 3 IRAN: A Female Prisoner Sentenced to Death for Adultery A female prisoner detained in Khoy Prison, who was arrested on November 2016, was accused of adultery (sex outside marriage) after being sued by her husband and has been sentenced to death by the Criminal Court (Branch 1). This prisoner has been identified as Zahra Derakhshani, born in 1982, married and a resident of Khoy. She was arrested with another citizen from Khoy on November 2016, on charges of adultery. An informed source has told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that the husband of this prisoner, a veteran and a member of the Basij, has been present at the court hearing as a private plaintiff in the case. However, despite the fact that neither of the above 2 people have accepted the adultery charge and the Forensic Medicine Bureau has also rejected any sexual relationship between them, Judge Ali Hassanzadeh (the head of the Criminal Court/branch 1, who is also the chairman of the justice of the city of Khoy) has found them guilty of adultery solely based on what he has called as “Judge’s knowledge” and sentenced the female prisoner to death after she has spent a year in prison. The source further said that the man arrested along with Zahra Derakhshani was later released on bail and the Derakhshani case was referred to the Supreme Court after her lawyer appealed. However, the Supreme Court has not issued a verdict yet. It is worth mentioning that Derakhshani is currently imprisoned in women’s ward of Khoy prison. (source: kurdistanhumanrights.net) SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi execution spotlights domestic workers' vulnerable lives Saudi Arabia's decision to execute an Indonesian domestic worker has triggered a diplomatic row between the 2 nations. The maid's case highlights the dangers faced by foreign workers in Saudi households. The execution of an Indonesian domestic worker by Saudi authorities this week without even informing her family and consular staff drew strong condemnation from Indonesian officials. Tuti Tursilawati was executed on Monday in the city of Thaif, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry announced, seven years after she was sentenced to death in connection with a murder. News agencies Reuters and AFP reported that Tursilawati was found guilty of killing her employer in June 2011. Indonesian advocacy group Migrant Care was quoted as saying in September that Tursilawati had been defending herself from being raped. But the director for overseas citizen protection at Indonesia's foreign ministry, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying that Tursilawati did not commit the murder in self-defense against attempted rape. "It is true that Tuti had been harassed, but not when she committed the murder," Iqbal said. After the incident, she ran away from her employer but was raped by nine Saudi men before the police took her into custody. All of her rapists were processed separately, the newspaper reported. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as "Jokowi," on Wednesday criticized the Saudi decision to carry out the death penalty. He said the government had done everything it could to prevent the execution. "We have many times [requested to be notified about executions] directly to King Salman [bin Abdulaziz Al Saud] and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir," The Jakarta Post reported Jokowi as saying. "I have said it over and over again. Do not think that we are not taking political steps." Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also called her Saudi counterpart to express disapproval. "Tuti's execution was carried out without [prior notification]. I also summoned the Saudi ambassador [Usamah Muhammad Al Syuaiby] in Jakarta to meet me in Bali," she said. This is not the 1st time, however, that Indonesian citizens faced capital punishment in Saudi Arabia. In March, the Saudi authorities beheaded Indonesian national M. Zaini Misrin for murder despite Jokowi's repeated pleas to grant clemency. At the time, Saudi Arabia did not notify the Indonesian government beforehand about the execution. Between 2011 and 2018, 102 Indonesians faced death row in Saudi Arabia. Three were executed, 79 were freed from the execution, and 20 are still locked in a legal process for clemency. Observers say Indonesia would appear hypocritical if it criticized Saudi Arabia for carrying out the execution as the Southeast Asian country also has capital punishment on its books and implements it for certain crimes. Under Jokowi, Indonesia has executed 18 death row inmates convicted of drug-related offenses, including foreigners, since 2015. Jakarta's protests were based on the lack of consular notification before executing Tursilawati, rather than complaining about the execution. Wahyu Susilo, director of Migrant Care, criticized the Indonesian government's failure to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, IND., TENN., COLO., NEV., USA
Nov. 3 TEXASimpending execution/foreign national IACHR Urges the United States to Stay the Execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges the United States of America to stay the execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos, a Mexican citizen, which is scheduled for November 14, 2018, in the state of Texas, and to grant him effective relief. The United States is subject to the international obligations derived from the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man since it joined the OAS in 1951. Accordingly, the IACHR urges the United States, and in particular the state of Texas, to fully respect its international human rights obligations. On November 8, 2002, the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of Roberto Moreno Ramos, requesting that the United States take measures to preserve his life pending the Commission’s investigation of the allegations in his petition. The IACHR adopted Admissibility Report No. 61/03 on October 10, 2003. On January 28, 2005, the Commission adopted Merits Report No. 1/05 in which it concluded that the United States was responsible for violating the rights to equality before the law, to due process of law, and to a fair trial in respect of the criminal proceedings that led to the imposition of the death penalty against Roberto Moreno Ramos. In that report, the IACHR concluded that should the State execute him pursuant to the criminal proceedings at issue in the case, it would commit a grave and irreparable violation of the fundamental right to life guaranteed in Article I of the American Declaration. Further, the IACHR recommended to the United States that it provide Roberto Moreno Ramos with an effective remedy, including a new sentencing hearing in accordance with the equality, due process, and fair trial protections established in the American Declaration, including the right to competent legal representation. Despite having made this recommendation in 2005, the State has not taken actions to comply with it. The IACHR held a working meeting regarding Roberto Moreno Ramos'case between the United States and the petitioner on October 2, 2018, during its 169th Period of Sessions in which the Commission called on the State as a matter of urgency to halt his execution and to comply with the recommendations of the IACHR. The Inter-American Commission reminds the State that, in carrying out the execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos, it would commit a grave and irreparable violation of the fundamental right to life under Article I of the American Declaration. Further, it would mean that the State has failed to comply with the recommendations of the IACHR, an action which goes against the United States’ international human rights obligations as an OAS Member State under the OAS Charter and related instruments. The Commission also urges the United States to comply with the non-repetition measures recommended in the Merits Report. The United States should review its laws, procedures, and practices to ensure that foreign nationals who are arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial, or who are detained in any other manner in the United States, are informed without delay of their right to information on consular assistance and that, with the person's approval, the appropriate consulate is informed without delay of the foreign national's circumstances. Further, the United States should ensure that defendants in capital proceedings are not denied the right to effective recourse to a competent court or tribunal to challenge the competency of their legal representation on the basis that the issue was not raised at an earlier stage of the process against them. The Inter-American Commission has dealt with the death penalty as a crucial human rights challenge for decades. While a majority of the OAS Member States has abolished capital punishment, a substantial minority retains it. The IACHR reiterates the recommendation made in its report The Death Penalty in the Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition, that States impose a moratorium on executions as a step toward the gradual disappearance of the death penalty. In this sense, the Commission welcomes the abolishment of capital punishment in the state of Washington on October 11, 2018 following a decision of the Washington Supreme Court which ruled that the punishment was applied in an arbitrary and racially biased manner. The decision resulted in the commutation of the sentences of the 8 individuals currently on death row to life, and makes the state of Washington the 20th state to ban the death penalty in the country. This is a significant step, as the United States is currently the only OAS Member State that is carrying out executions under the death penalty. A principal, autonomous body of the
