[Deathpenalty] [SPAM] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 15




SRI LANKA:

Lanka maid on death row back home after pardon----Had battered her sponsor's 
wife with an ornamental pot


A Sri Lankan housemaid who was sentenced to death in 2006 returned home after 
being pardoned.

A 'Gulf News' report quoted a Sri Lankan Embassy statement as saying that 
38-year old Kanzul Maharifa Abdul Kareem was arrested on April 30, 2006, on 
charges of causing the death of her sponsor's wife by repeatedly hitting her on 
the head and face with an ornamental pot.

The Shariah Court issued her capital punishment in 2006.

The Embassy along with Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry had been closely 
working on the clemency plea.

She was sent to Sri Lanka on July 31, the embassy said.

Sarath Wijesinghe, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UAE, expressed his gratitude to 
the Rulers and the UAE judiciary.

"It is inevitable that these incidents do take place when people work in 
difficult conditions," the press release said.

Employees face problems mainly due to wrongdoings by unscrupulous agents, who 
cause rifts between employers, sponsors and workers, embassy said.

(source: Emirates 24/7)






UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Convicted murderers to face retrial----Cassation Court overturns duo's death 
sentences in case involving the death of a sex worker


2 Afghans on death row for premeditately stabbing a sex worker to death will 
face a retrial after Dubai's highest court yesterday overturned their sentence.

The Dubai Cassation Court yesterday overturned the capital punishment against 
the defendants, 40-year-old A.N. and 30-year-old I.H., and ordered the Dubai 
Court of Appeal to hold a new trial.

"The court has accepted the defendants' appeal and referred the case back to 
the Appeal Court for a new panel of judges to look into the case all over 
again," said Presiding Judge Mohammad Nabeel Riyadh in Courtroom 22 yesterday.

Prosecutors said A.N. and I.H. purchased 2 knives for Dh26 before they stabbed 
the Uzbek sex worker 23 times and stole her mobile phone.

The Courts of First Instance and Appeal sentenced the 2 to death after they 
were pronounced guilty of premeditated murder associated with a 2nd crime — 
theft.

The Afghans had pleaded not guilty and claimed that they didn't intend to kill 
the victim but had intended to rob her. According to the charge sheet, 
prosecutors said A.N. and I.H. premeditatedly killed the woman and stole her 
Dh600, two mobile phones, a DVD player and perfumes.

Accidental

"I intended to rob her. We fought and I unintentionally killed her. I did not 
preplan the crime," argued A.N. in court. I.H. denied the premeditated murder 
charge.

They also denied the charge of unlawfully locking up a 42-year-old Uzbek woman, 
N.A., in the washroom of the victim's flat and absconding.

According to the primary verdict, N.A. was jailed 6 months for working in 
prostitution. She has since been deported.

An Emirati police captain who questioned N.A. said she had claimed that the 
Afghans locked her in the washroom before running away.

"N.A. broke open the washroom door and when she discovered the murder she ran 
away. We arrested the Afghans in Sharjah after we identified them from the 
surveillance cameras of the shop where they bought the knives," the captain 
claimed.

The Appeal Court will schedule a hearing for the retrial soon.

(source: Gulf News)






INDONESIA:

Lawyers fear repeat of Bali 9 tip-offs Dylan Welch


AUSTRALIANS could still face the death penalty overseas as a result of tip-offs 
from federal police despite legal moves to prevent a repeat of the Bali nine 
controversy.

This concern was raised in submissions to a parliamentary committee created to 
examine changes to extradition and mutual assistance legislation after the 
public outcry over the case in which 9 young Australians were sentenced to 
death or life imprisonment in Indonesia.

Australian Federal Police were criticised for tipping off Indonesian police and 
providing evidence for the prosecution after the 9 were sentenced on heroin 
smuggling charges in 2006.

The incident prompted a review of Australian laws governing when people could 
be extradited from Australia, and when Australian law enforcement agencies 
could provide information to foreign agencies. The proposed changes have been 
in progress since 2005 and, despite broad support in some sections, have been 
criticised by justice groups.

Their chief concern is amendments that give the attorney-general discretion to 
override prohibitions on providing information, or extraditing people, to 
countries where the death penalty is used.

Australian Lawyers Alliance president Greg Barns told The Age: ''I would have 
thought we ought to have been saying that any country with the death penalty on 
its books and with a record of using it in the last decade, we should just say 
no.''

He said while the AFP had revised internal guidelines on providing information 
to overseas agencies, the proposed legal changes did not preclude a repeat of 
the Bali nine situation.

''There's really nothing in [the new legislation] that would stop the AFP doing 
what they did in the case of the Bali nine,'' he said.

The Law Council and the Human Rights Commission have also expressed concerns on 
so-called ''assurances'' by countries that people extradited would not face the 
death penalty.

(source: The Age)






INDIA:

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa24611.pdf

UA 246/11
Issue Date: 15 August 2011
Country: India

INDIA: THREE MEN FACE IMMINENT EXECUTION
Two Sri Lankans and an Indian national convicted for the assassination of 
India’s former Prime
Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, are facing imminent execution in Vellore prison in 
Tamil Nadu, India. This
follows the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President of India. If 
carried out, these
would be the first executions in India since 2004.

Murugan and Santhan, both 41, and Arivu alias Perarivalan, 37, were sentenced 
to death in January
1998 by a Special Anti-Terrorist Court on grounds of involvement in the 
assassination of India’s
former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Their sentence was confirmed by the Supreme 
Court of India in
May 1999. According to information received by Amnesty International and 
reports in the Indian
media, their mercy petitions were rejected by the President in August 2011, 
following the advice of
the Government of India.

The three men were amongst 26 people sentenced to death by a special court at 
the Poonamallee jail
complex in Tamil Nadu, under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities 
(Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA) –
a law that contained provisions that were incompatible with international 
standards for fair trial.
On appeal, a three-judge Supreme Court bench confirmed the death sentences of 
Murugan, Santhan,
Perarivalan and a woman, Nalini, while acquitting 19 persons of the murder 
charges and commuting the
death sentences of three others. In April 2000, the Governor of Tamil Nadu 
commuted Nalini’s
sentence to life imprisonment, but rejected the mercy petitions of the three 
men. A mercy petition
for the three men was sent to the Government of India in April 2000 and 
eventually only decided upon
at the beginning of August 2011.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate 
cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment. The eleven-year delay in announcing the verdict of the 
mercy petition and the
resultant stay on death row may further amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment. The
Supreme Court of India has itself commuted death sentences in a number of cases 
due to prolonged
delay in deciding mercy petitions.

Please write immediately in English or your own language:
- Urge that the death sentence of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan be commuted;
- Acknowledge the seriousness of the crime, i.e. assassination of former Prime 
Minister Rajiv
Gandhi, but raise concern that their stay on death row, since the mercy 
petition was kept pending
for eleven years, may further amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment;
- Reiterate the call of ttr he UN General Assembly to establish a moratorium on 
executions with a
view to abolishing the death penalty, and pointing out that India’s decision to 
resume executions
after a seven-year gap goes against regional and global trends towards 
abolition of the death
penalty.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 26 SEPTEMBER 2011:

Prime Minister of India
Dr. Manmohan Singh
South Block
Raisina Hill
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA
Fax: 011 91 11 23019545
23016857
Email: (via form)
http://pmindia.nic.in/feedback.htm
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

President of India
President Pratibha Patil
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi 110 004
INDIA
Fax: 011 91 11 23017290,
23017824
Email: (via form)
http://helpline.rb.nic.in/GrievanceNew.aspx
Salutation: Dear President

And copies to:
Minister of Home Affairs
P Chidambaram
104, North Block,
Central Secretariat
New Delhi 110001
INDIA
Fax: 011 91 11 23094221
Email: hm at nic.in

Also send copies to:
Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Arun K. Singh
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 1 202 939 7000
Fax: 1 202 265 4351
Email: indembwash at indiagov.org or info2 at indiagov.org

Please check with AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the above 
date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This is the third set of mercy petitions to be rejected since June 2011. No 
executions have taken
place in India since 2004. The move to resume executions after a seven-year 
hiatus would put the
country against the regional and global trend towards abolition of the death 
penalty.

UN bodies and mechanisms have repeatedly called upon Member States to establish 
a moratorium on
executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, most recently through 
the adoption of a
third UN General Assembly resolution on the matter in December 2010. In a 
general comment on Article
6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India 
is a State Party, the
UN Human Rights Committee stated that Article 6 "refers generally to abolition 
[of the death
penalty] in terms which strongly suggest... that abolition is desirable. The 
Committee concludes
that all measures of abolition should be considered as progress in the 
enjoyment of the right to
life... ".

Other national and regional bodies have also recognized that prolonged 
detention on death row can
amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. This is in addition to 
international law and
standards which make clear that prisoners under sentence of death have the 
right throughout the
process to make maximum use of the judicial and clemency processes available, 
including by
petitioning international bodies.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, regardless of the 
nature of the crime,
the characteristics of the offender, or the method of execution.

Name: Murugan (m)
Santhan (m)
Arivu alias Perarivalan (m)

Issue(s): Imminent Execution


---------------------------------

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and 
defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact 
information and stop action
date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/uan
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------





JAMAICA:

PNP: Homosexuality, death penalty serious issues; Dealing with cultural 
diversity a major task for the PNP


ANTHONY Hylton recognises that dealing with cultural diversity issues such as 
the death penalty and homosexuality will continue to prove ticklish for 
Jamaica’s relationship with its international partners.

However, he believes that how the dialogue is managed will make a big 
difference.

Hylton, chair of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) Policy 
Commission, is so convinced of the importance of how the country deals with 
cultural diversity that he gave the matter specific attention during an 
interview with the Observer last Friday to discuss the party’s longawaited 
Progressive Agenda.

The document, which the PNP is scheduled to launch this Wednesday — the 124th 
anniversary of the birth of National Hero Marcus Garvey — acknowledges the 
difficulties associated with the issue, pointing out that “these differences 
may heighten cultural contradictions to such an extent as to challenge deeply 
embedded cultural values, norms and practices in the Jamaican society”.

With that in mind, the PNP has committed in the Agenda to embrace the 
principles of dialogue, tolerance, education, respect for human rights and 
human dignity in addressing controversial issues relating to cultural 
differences.


“No political party before has ever frontally sought to address the issue,” 
Hylton told the Observer, then cautioned that if we don’t address it “we’re 
going to have problems with some of our bilateral partners who are helping us 
with development”.

Capital punishment and homosexuality have been two of the most controversial 
issues in Jamaica for many years. The country’s bilateral partners in Europe, 
where many countries have abolished the death penalty, have been encouraging 
Kingston to do the same.

While Jamaica receives millions of dollars in aid annually from the European 
Union (EU) in particular, EU officials insist that their assistance is not tied 
to the death penalty issue.

Locally, opinion polls have for years shown that the majority of Jamaicans are 
in favour of capital punishment, and in 2008 legislators voted 34-15 to keep 
the death penalty. There were 10 abstentions in that vote.

On the issue of homosexuality, international rights groups and gay lobbyists 
have often accused Jamaicans of intolerance and have even blamed homophobia for 
a number of murders of gay men here. However, the majority of those cases have 
turned out to be crimes of passion.

On Friday, Hylton said there was no consensus in the PNP, or in the country for 
that matter, on any of these issues.

“It’s not that we’re endorsing any particular position on anything,” he said. 
“We’re simply saying that it requires leadership, because in the other sphere 
of working with our development partners elsewhere in a globalised space we’re 
going to have problems with these difficult situations which, for them, are 
conditional on their continued assistance and support. The people in Europe are 
saying what kind of people are we, why are we so hostile to homosexuals, for 
example, and yet we know why, because we have a different cultural perspective, 
but we have to manage that dialogue with them, otherwise they’re going to say 
why are our taxpayers’ money going to these brutish people?”

According to Hylton, if we don’t deal with the issues, “we are going to be 
marginalised economically”.

(source: Jamaica Observer)






EGYPT:

Mubarak trial TV broadcasts to stop


The judge in the trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who is 
accused of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters during the 
uprising that ousted him, has decided to stop live TV broadcasts of the 
proceedings, which have been adjourned until Sept. 5.

Judge Ahmed Rifaat adjourned the trial after wrapping up Monday's proceedings. 
Earlier, Mubarak arrived on a stretcher at the Cairo courtroom. His older son, 
Alaa, covered a state TV camera as it filmed his father, wearing a blue prison 
jumpsuit, being wheeled out of the ambulance and into the trial venue.

Alaa Mubarak, the former president's other son, Gamal, former interior minister 
Habib el-Adly and 6 top security officials are also on trial.

Brief scuffles between Mubarak supporters and opponents broke out outside the 
trial venue inside a Cairo police academy.

The first day of the trial, which also saw clashes between the two sides, was 
taken up by procedural moves.

"Yes, I am here; I deny all these accusations completely," Mubarak said into a 
microphone. As it was Monday, the bed was placed inside a cage of mesh and iron 
bars, an effort to separate him from relatives of some of the 850 protesters 
killed in the uprising earlier this year.

About 600 people attended that 1st court appearance.

On Monday, victims' relatives could be heard arguing over where they would sit, 
to which presiding Judge Ahmed Rifaat told their lawyers, "The case needs 
effort, not protests or talking."

The family lawyers asked to separate the corruption charges and the killing of 
the protesters so the trial wouldn't be delayed.

The prosecution of the former president is unprecedented in the Arab world, the 
first time a modern Mideast leader has been put on trial fully by his own 
people.

The closest event to it was former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's trial, but his 
capture came at the hands of U.S. troops in 2003 and his special tribunal was 
set up with extensive consultation with American officials and international 
experts.

Tunisia's deposed president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has been tried and 
convicted several times since he fell several weeks before Mubarak, but always 
in absentia. He remains in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Mubarak, el-Adly and others are charged with murder and attempted murder in 
connection with the protesters who were killed. All could face the death 
penalty if convicted.

Separately, Mubarak and his 2 sons — one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy 
businessman Alaa — face charges of corruption.

(source: ca.news.yahoo.com)






IRAN:

Abdolreza Ghanbari’s wife speaks up about husband’s imminent execution


According to an interview conducted by Rooz Online with Abdolreza Ghanbari’s 
wife Sakineh Jabeiee, there is no confirmed news on the status of the case file 
for the teacher on death row and the family has not been contacted by the 
Amnesty and Clemency commission. She added that the family is still hopeful 
that Abdolreza Ghanbari will be pardoned.

Abdolreza Ghanbari’s death sentence order has been sent to the Revolutionary 
Court’s Implementation Division.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that the Amnesty and Clemency 
Commission has rejected Ghanbari’s clemency request and has sent the case to 
the Implementation Division.

Ghanbari with a PhD in Literature and Persian Language was a high school 
teacher in Varamin when arrested during Ashura protest on December 27, 2009.

He was charged, convicted and sentenced to death for video taping the protests 
and sending them to opposition groups.

About a month after his arrest, without access to a lawyer, or knowing his 
legal rights, Ghanbari was put on trial on January 30, 2010. He was found 
guilty of all charges and was sentenced to death in the court room of Judge 
Salavati.

In an illegal act, the death penalty verdict issued by Branch 15 of the 
Revolutionary Court was sent to Judge Zargar’s Branch 36 Appeals Court instead 
of being sent to the Supreme Court. Judge Zargar upheld Ghanbari’s death 
sentence.

His wife filed an appeal and requested a new hearing which was rejected. She 
then sent a letter to the Amnesty and Clemency Commission. One year after her 
request for clemency, the case has now been sent to the sentence Implementation 
Division.

(source: Persian2English)