[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 5




AFGHANISTAN:

Farkhunda mob killing: Family's lawyer calls Afghan court "corrupt" for death 
sentence U-turn----Attorney Kimberley Motley has claimed the family of a 
27-year old woman beaten to death in March knew nothing about a 'secret' 
hearing to overturn the death sentences of 4 men found guilty of her killing


The lawyer who represented Farkhunda's family in court has spoken of her 
outrage over the decision to overturn the death sentences of four men convicted 
of killing her.

The 27-year old was beaten to death in March this year in a vicious mob killing 
in Kabul.

Kimberley Motley told the Telegraph that the decision was 'shocking' and had 
been handled in a 'corrupt manner.'

"I think it's ridiculous that the court would be so blatant in defying due 
process and the laws of Afghanistan," she said.

"It's shocking that it's been handled in such a corrupt manner. The first trial 
was so open and transparent, it makes no sense".

49 people were brought to trial in a case that made headlines around the world. 
Farkhunda was beaten, run over with a car and set on fire as a crowd chanted 
"God is greatest" and filmed the incident on their mobile phones and posted it 
on social media. The footage was later used as evidence in court.

She had been wrongly accused of burning a copy of the Koran.

(source: rawa.org)






PHILIPPINES:

Death penalty sought for child sexual abuse


A lawmaker on Sunday reiterated his call to impose the death penalty on those 
who sexually abuse children.

The government "should seriously address" the problem of pedophilia and child 
exploitation and sexual abuse by supporting the move to reimpose the death 
penalty, Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City (Metro Manila) said in a 
statement.

"It's about time that Congress reexamine the death penalty in light of reports 
on the gravity of pedophilia operations in the country. Convicted pedophiles 
deserve the death penalty because of their dastardly acts against Filipino 
children," he added.

Gatchalian made the pitch after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 
reportedly nabbed a 73-year-old Belgian in Bohol for allegedly molesting 25 
Filipina girls.

He said "arrested pedophiles" in the past were able to post bail and continue 
with their activities because of loopholes in existing laws and corruption in 
the judicial system.

The lawmaker cited the case of British Douglas Slade who, according to the 
lawmaker, has been repeatedly arrested for taking nude photos and molesting 
underaged boys in the Philippines.

"Slade is a notorious pedophile with a history of arrests. He repeatedly had 
child sex charges against him dropped and was caught on camera in an ITV 
documentary in 1995 boasting that he could avoid conviction by bribing 
prosecutors and the families of victims," Gatchalian said.

(source: Manila Times)






EGYPT:

Death penalty for attackers of public facilities: draft amendment


The State Council has approved draft amendments to toughen the penalty imposed 
on those who attack power, natural gas or petroleum plants to reach the death 
penalty, according to news reports Saturday.

The amended article in the recently approved anti-terrorism draft law 
stipulates that those who deliberately destroy electricity, petroleum and 
natural gas networks or seize facilities that belong to the said services will 
be jailed for at least 10 years.

Life in prison is a penalty possible for thosewho use force or violence in 
committing the said crimes, prevent experts from fixing the damages, or caused 
the suspension of petroleum, electricity or natural gas supply.

The assailant might face execution if the crime resulted in death. Tools used 
in the crime will be seized per a court warrant, and assailants will bear the 
repairing expenses.

The counter-terrorism draft law was approved by the cabinet Wednesday; the same 
day militants launched simultaneous attacks on several North Sinai 
checkpoints.The cabinet said in a statement that the anti-terrorism legislation 
would provide "rapid and just deterrence" against terrorism, according to 
Reuters.

The amendments in the new law include "acceleration in court procedures of 
terrorism-related crimes through shrinking the litigation period, enhancing the 
jurisdiction of police officers and prosecutors involved in terror crimes along 
with facilitating access to bank accounts of suspects," Ibrahim el-Heneidy, 
Transitional Justice Minister and head of the committee tasked with making the 
legal amendments told Youm7.

Attacks targeting electricity utilities, power transformers and transmission 
towers have been frequent since the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. 
Such attacks have inflicted huge losses on the government and caused temporary 
blackouts in different governorates.

Natural gas pipelines have also beenargeted since the January 25 Revolution in 
2011, especially the Arish gas pipeline that feeds Jordan and Israel. In May, 
the gas line was attacked for the30th time.

(source: Cairo Post)






SUDAN:

Christian pastors to face trial in Sudan, lawyer arrested


2 South Sudanese pastors in Sudan will face trial for espionage and their 
lawyer has been arrested.

A judge ruled on July 2 that Rev Yat Michael and Rev David Yein Reith's trial 
will continue, meaning that they could face the death penalty or life 
imprisonment if found guilty. A day earlier, July 1, their chief counsel - 
Mohaned Mustafa - was also arrested, along with Pastor Hafez of the Khartoum 
Bahri Evangelical Church where Michael spoke out against the persecution of 
Christians in Sudan.

According to the American Centre for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the church is 
involved in an ongoing land dispute with the government, and Hafez and Mustafa 
are accused of obstructing a public servant during the course of his duty. They 
have been released on bail, but will face trial in court.

Michael was arrested on 14 December 2014, and Reith in January of this year. 
They were both detained without charges, and without access to a lawyer or 
their families, until March 1. They are now being held on six charges including 
espionage, "offending Islamic beliefs" and undermining the constitutional 
system.

The men maintain they have not committed any crime. Michael recently told CBN 
news from his prison cell that he didn't know why he had been arrested: "We 
just go to to out ministry training in our church".

Their next hearing has been scheduled for July 14, and Mustafa will only be 
allowed about 15 minutes with his clients to brief them ahead of the meeting. 
"Sudanese law grants sole discretion for visitation rights at the prison to the 
prison directorate, who in this case has previously denied requests for 
access," said the ACLJ.

The pastors have also been denied regular visits from relatives, which is 
illegal under the Sudanese constitution. "This is meant to put more 
psychological pressures and warfare on the arrested pastors," a legal 
representative told World Watch Monitor.

"The serious criminal charges against Michael and Yen have been levied solely 
on the basis of their religious convictions and outspoken criticism of the 
ruling party, and as such, that their continued detention and criminal 
proceedings are discriminatory and in violation of constitutional and 
international legal guarantees of equality," a statement from the African 
Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said.

Yat Michael has told the Sudanese authorities: "I am a pastor. I must speak the 
Word of God."

"There is also speculation that the trial of the two men is intended to send a 
message to other Christian leaders in Sudan to refrain from criticising the 
treatment of Christian minorities in Sudan and the policies of the ruling 
party".

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide said, "We are 
disappointed to learn that the judge has decided to uphold the extreme and 
unwarranted charges against Rev Michael and Rev Reith. We continue to call for 
their immediate and unconditional release. The ongoing restrictions on their 
legal and family visits are not only distressing for the pastors and their 
families, but also constitute yet another hurdle for their legal team to 
overcome and a violation of fair trial principles, as articulated by Article 14 
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sudan is 
a party.

"Moreover, the harassment and assault on Pastor Hafez is wholly unacceptable, 
and typifies an ongoing, discriminatory policy targeting religious and ethnic 
minorities that is officially sanctioned. The international community, and in 
particular the African Union, must impress upon Sudan its obligation to protect 
and promote freedom of religion or belief and the right to a fair trial."

(source: Christian Today)






ETHIOPIA:

UN demands release of British activist jailed in Ethiopia amid torture fears 
---- The Foreign Office has pushed for consular access to Andargachew Tsige 
with no tangible results, since the British citizen was abducted in Ethiopia a 
year ago

The UN has demanded the immediate release of a Briton held on death row in 
Ethiopia for more than a year, an intervention that campaigners say exposes 
Britain' poor diplomacy towards the case.

Experts from the UN Human Rights Council have advised Ethiopia to pay 
Andargachew Tsige "adequate compensation" before sending him home to London, an 
abrupt hardening of its position on the case at a time when Britain pursues a 
softly, softly approach with no tangible reward.

Internal Foreign Office emails, disclosed for the 1st time, reveal that even 
before Tsige was kidnapped and jailed in an unknown location in June 2014, 
British officials had voiced fears at "the real risk of torture if [Tsige is] 
returned to Ethiopia???, along with "fair trial concerns".

An 8-page judgment from the UNHRC's working group on arbitrary detention handed 
to Ethiopia suggests such fears have been realised, saying that there is 
"reliable evidence on a possible situation of physical abuse and mistreatment 
which could amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."

Tsige, 60, a father of 3 from London, and known to friends as Andy, was 
arrested in Yemen's main airport while in transit and forcibly removed to the 
Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

He is prominent in Ethiopian politics, having been leader of opposition party 
Ginbot 7, which has called for democracy, free elections and civil rights. The 
government has accused him of being a terrorist and in 2009 he was tried in his 
absence and sentenced to death.

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond has refused to demand his urgent release, 
preferring to push for consular access, a request rejected by Ethiopia. Tsige's 
partner, Yemi Hailemariam, also a British national, who lives in London with 
their children, has spoken to him just once by telephone since his abduction.

Another internal government email from the UK ambassador to Ethiopia to 
Laurence Robertson MP, who heads the all-party parliamentary group on Ethiopia, 
describes the Ethiopians as "obdurate".

Hammond recently attempted to harden up the UK's position on Tsige, calling for 
rapid progress in the case, but campaigners say this remains significantly 
short of what is required. Another recent Foreign Office statement made no 
mention of Tsige, but welcomed the "generally peaceful environment" of the 
recent Ethiopian elections, which saw the government locking up political 
opponents and journalists.

Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at legal charity Reprieve, said: 
"Despite the injustices that have been - and continue to be - committed against 
this British national, the foreign secretary refuses to ask for Andy's release 
and his return back home to his family in Britain.

"The UN is right to be taking action and demanding Andy's immediate release 
from his unlawful detention. The UK's refusal to do the same is an unacceptable 
abdication of responsibility to one of its citizens."

Kevin Laue of the human rights organisation Redress, which helps torture 
survivors, said: "The UK government should be outraged by this behaviour and 
should be responding in the strongest possible terms." A Foreign Office 
spokesman said: "The foreign secretary has raised this case with the Ethiopian 
foreign minister on 13 separate occasions, most recently on 29 April 2015. The 
minister for Africa raised this again on 11 June. We will continue to lobby at 
all levels, conveying our concern over Andargachew Tsige being detained without 
regular consular visits and access to a lawyer."

(source: The Guardian)