[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

Fri Jul 24 08:27:04 CDT 2015

July 24

INDIA:

After 13 years, Godhra carnage accused held in Madhya Pradesh

An accused in the 2002 Sabarmati Express train burning incident has been 
arrested from Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh by the Godhra Local Crime Branch (LCB).

Hussain Suleman Mohan (35) was arrested by LCB from Jhabua on Wednesday based 
on a specific tip-off, Police Inspector of Godhra LCB D J Chavda said. "Suleman 
has been on the run after the 2002 Godhra train burning incident. Recently, we 
learnt that he is hiding in Jhabua, where he has settled and become an auto 
driver.

We nabbed him yesterday and handed him over to the Special Investigating Team 
(SIT) here today," Chavda said on Thursday. This is the 2nd wanted accused of 
train carnage case who has been nabbed by the Godhra LCB within a week.

On July 16, the LCB had nabbed Kadir Abdul Gani from Godhra town and handed him 
over to SIT, he said. 59 persons had lost their lives when the S-6 coach of 
Sabarmati Express was torched at Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002.

The incident had triggered large-scale riots in the state in which around 1,000 
people, mostly of minority community, were killed.

In February 2011, a special court had convicted 31 persons for the train 
burning incident. Out of the 31, eleven were awarded death penalty, while 20 
were given life term.

(source: Asian Age)

**********************

Yakub Memon does not deserve to be hanged, top intelligence office wrote

One of India's top intelligence officers, B Raman, who led the operation to 
bring 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon back to India from Pakistan in 
1994, had written that he did not believe that Memon deserved to hang. The 
article sent to website rediff.com in 2007, was however, not published at his 
request.

Yakub Memon was ordered to be sent to the gallows after the Supreme Court on 
March 21, 2013, upheld the death sentence awarded to him in the 1993 serial 
blasts that killed 257 people and left over 1,700 injured.

The Supreme Court will on Monday hear the petition of Memon against his 
hanging. Memon, the lone death-row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts 
case, had moved the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking a stay on the execution 
of his death sentence.

B Raman passed away on June 16, 2013. With Yakub Memon's execution scheduled 
for July 30, rediff.com secured permission from Raman's brother to publish the 
article.

Rediff editor Sheela Bhatt in her background introduction to Raman's 2007 
article writes, "When Yakub Memon was sentenced to death Mr Raman was in pain. 
He called me to share why it was very wrong on the part of the Indian 
establishment to allow Yakub Memon to die by decree of law."

Raman, who was heading the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing 
(R&AW) in 1994. wrote in the article he sent to rediff.com in 2007, "I have 
been going through a moral dilemma in my mind ever since I read in the media 
about the sentencing of Yakub Memon to death by the court, which tried the 
accused in the Mumbai blasts of March 1993, and his tantrums in the court after 
the death sentence was pronounced."

Yakub "cooperated with the investigating agencies and assisted them by 
persuading some other members of the Memon family to flee from the protection 
of the ISI in Karachi to Dubai and surrender to the Indian authorities," he 
added.

He went on to say, "The cooperation of Yakub with the investigating agencies 
after he was picked up informally in Kathmandu and his role in persuading some 
other members of the family to come out of Pakistan and surrender constitute, 
in my view, a strong mitigating circumstance to be taken into consideration 
while considering whether the death penalty should be implemented."

The top officer concludes his article with the following paragraphs. "There is 
not an iota of doubt about the involvement of Yakub and other members of the 
family in the conspiracy and their cooperation with the ISI till July 1994. In 
normal circumstances, Yakub would have deserved the death penalty if one only 
took into consideration his conduct and role before July 1994.

But if one also takes into consideration his conduct and role after he was 
informally picked up in Kathmandu, there is a strong case for having 2nd 
thoughts about the suitability of the death penalty in the subsequent stages of 
the case."

(source: The Times of India)

***********

Death penalty to Yakub Memon: Terror threat hangs over independence day

The security agencies have got a whiff of a terror plot being hatched to avenge 
the death penalty given to 1993 Mumbai blast accused Yakub Memon.

Communication intercepts from various terror groups have revealed that a major 
strike may be carried out during the Independence Day celebrations.

Memon is slated to be hanged on July 30.

In a bid to stop any such strike, the security forces have put in place a 
counter offensive to thwart the attack by launching what is being termed as 
"Operation Lal Quila". The intercepts of major terror groups such as the Indian 
Mujahideen (IM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Tehrik-e-Furqan (TeF), Lashkar-e-Taiba 
(LeT) and Pasban-e-Ahle Hadis (PAH) were received recently.

Some intelligence inputs have also been received on the possible involvement of 
ISIS (Islamic State).

During a meeting at the Prime Minster Security Unit of the Delhi Police, a very 
high threat perception was conveyed to the authorities.

Among many measures that are being put in place, the highly-trained sniffer 
dogs (K9) unit of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will be used to patrol 
the high-risk areas.

The ITBP sniffer dogs are among the best trained in India and have been 
earmarked for national security endeavours.

Recently, ITBP dog Sofia, a Malinois, detected an IED planted by Delhi Police 
on the Rajpath lawns within 60 seconds of deployment.

"ITBP Dogs are the only dogs in India to be trained following highly classified 
training module that certifies dogs only with 100 % accuracy with minimum 
target odour concentration," said sources.

Delhi Police and crack units of the ITBP will work in tandem for anti-sabotage 
sanitisation at Red Fort. They will look out for Improvised Explosive Devices 
(IEDs) and other explosives.

(source: seeandsaynews.in)

SAUDI ARABIA----execution

First Saudi execution after Ramadan pause

Saudi Arabia carried out its 1st execution in 5 weeks on Thursday after a pause 
for Ramadan, beheading one of its citizens convicted of a double murder. Sayir 
al-Rasheedi was found guilty of fatally shooting 2 Saudi brothers in a dispute, 
the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the interior ministry. 
Authorities carried out the sentence against him in the Qassim.

Sayir al-Rasheedi was found guilty of fatally shooting 2 Saudi brothers in a 
dispute, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the interior 
ministry.

Authorities carried out the sentence against him in the Qassim region.

SPA had reported no executions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the 
Eid al-Fitr holiday which followed.

The latest beheading brings to 103 the number of executions in the kingdom so 
far this year, a sharp increase on the 87 recorded during the whole of 2014, 
according to AFP tallies.

This year's figure is still below the record 192 which human rights group 
Amnesty International said were carried out in 1995.

Human Rights Watch has accused Saudi authorities of waging a "campaign of 
death" by executing more people in the first 6 months of this year than in all 
of last year.

Echoing the concerns of other activists, the New York-based group said it has 
documented "due process violations" in Saudi Arabia's judiciary that make it 
difficult for defendants to get fair trials even in capital cases.

Under the conservative kingdom's strict Islamic sharia legal code, drug 
trafficking, rape, murder, armed robbery and apostasy are all punishable by 
death.

The interior ministry has cited deterrence as a reason for carrying out the 
punishment.

(source: al-monitor.com)

IRAN:

Iran's 'staggering' execution spree: nearly 700 put to death in just over 6 
months

The Iranian authorities are believed to have executed an astonishing 694 people 
between 1 January and 15 July 2015, said Amnesty International today, in an 
unprecedented spike in executions in the country.

This is equivalent to executing more than three people per day. At this 
shocking pace, Iran is set to surpass the total number of executions in the 
country recorded by Amnesty International for the whole of last year.

"Iran's staggering execution toll for the 1st half of this year paints a 
sinister picture of the machinery of the state carrying out premeditated, 
judicially-sanctioned killings on a mass scale," said Said Boumedouha, Deputy 
Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"If Iran's authorities maintain this horrifying execution rate we are likely to 
see more than 1,000 state-sanctioned deaths by the year's end."

The surge in executions reveals just how out of step Iran is with the rest of 
the world when it comes to the use of the death penalty - 140 countries 
worldwide have now rejected its use in law or practice. Already this year three 
more countries have repealed the death penalty completely.

Executions in Iran did not even stop during the holy month of Ramadan. In a 
departure from established practice, at least 4 people were executed over the 
past month.

While Amnesty International opposes the use of the death penalty 
unconditionally and in all cases, death sentences in Iran are particularly 
disturbing because they are invariably imposed by courts that are completely 
lacking in independence and impartiality. They are imposed either for vaguely 
worded or overly broad offences, or acts that should not be criminalized at 
all, let alone attract the death penalty. Trials in Iran are deeply flawed, 
detainees are often denied access to lawyers in the investigative stage, and 
there are inadequate procedures for appeal, pardon and commutation.

"The Iranian authorities should be ashamed of executing hundreds of people with 
complete disregard for the basic safeguards of due process," said Said 
Boumedouha.

"The use of the death penalty is always abhorrent, but it raises additional 
concerns in a country like Iran where trials are blatantly unfair."

The reasons behind this year's shocking surge in executions are unclear but the 
majority of those put to death in 2015 were convicted on drug charges.

Iran's Anti-Narcotics Law provides mandatory death sentences for a range of 
drug-related offences, including trafficking more than 5kg of narcotics derived 
from opium or more than 30g of heroin, morphine, cocaine or their chemical 
derivatives.

This is in direct breach of international law, which restricts the use of the 
death penalty to only the "most serious crimes" - those involving intentional 
killing. Drug-related offences do not meet this threshold.

There is also no evidence to prove that the death penalty is a deterrent to 
crime and drug trafficking or use. Earlier this year, the deputy of Iran's 
Centre for Strategic Research admitted that the death penalty has not been able 
to reduce drug trafficking levels.

"For years, Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to spread a climate 
of fear in a misguided effort to combat drug trafficking, yet there is not a 
shred of evidence to show that this is an effective method of tackling crime," 
said Said Boumedouha.

Many of those convicted of drug-related offences come from disadvantaged 
backgrounds. Their cases are rarely publicized. In a letter circulated online 
in June, 54 prisoners held on death row in Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran 
described their plight:

"We are the victims of a state of hunger, poverty and misery, hurled down into 
the hollows of perdition by force and without our will ... If we had jobs, if 
we did not need help, if we could turn our lives around and stop our children 
from going hungry, why should we have gone down a path that guaranteed us our 
death?"

54 prisoners held on death row in Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran.

Among those executed in Iran are also members of ethnic and religious 
minorities convicted of "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" 
including Kurdish political prisoners and Sunni Muslims.

Currently, based on monitoring work done by Amnesty International and other 
human rights organizations, several thousand people are believed to be on death 
row in Iran. The Iranian authorities have said that 80% of those awaiting 
execution are convicted of drug-related offences. They have not, however, 
provided an exact number.

"It is especially harrowing that there is no end in sight for this theatre of 
cruelty with Iran's gallows awaiting thousands more death row prisoners," said 
Said Boumedouha.

Prisoners in Iran are often left languishing on death row, wondering each day 
if it will be their last. In many cases they are notified of their execution 
only a few hours beforehand and in some cases, families learn about the fate of 
their loved ones days, if not weeks, later.

Background

Each year the Iranian authorities acknowledge a certain number of judicial 
executions. However, many more judicial executions are carried out but not 
acknowledged.

As of 15 July 2015, the Iranian authorities had officially acknowledged 246 
executions this year but Amnesty International has received credible reports of 
a further 448 executions carried out in this time period. In 2014, 289 people 
were executed according to official sources but credible reports suggested that 
the real figure was at least 743.

Each year Amnesty International reports both the number of officially 
acknowledged executions in Iran and the number of executions the organization 
has been able to confirm took place, but which were not officially 
acknowledged. When calculating the annual global total number of executions 
Amnesty International has, to date, only counted executions officially 
acknowledged by the Iranian authorities.

The organization has reviewed this approach and believes it fails to fully 
reflect the scale of executions in Iran, about which the authorities must be 
transparent. In its 2015 annual report on the death penalty, and all other 
reporting on the death penalty in Iran, Amnesty International will use the 
combined figure of officially acknowledged executions and those executions not 
officially admitted but which the organization has confirmed took place.

(source: Amnesty International)

PAKISTAN:

Pak to resume executions after 'Ramzan hiatus'

Pakistan is set to resume execution of death row prisoners almost a month after 
suspending the practice during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.

After the hiatus, a district and sessions judge in Lahore handed down the 1st 
death penalty to 2 convicts, who are scheduled to be hanged at Kot Lakhpat Jail 
on July 28 and 29 respectively, reported The Express Tribune.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asked authorities to suspend executions during 
Ramzan to respect the 'sanctity of the holy month'.

(source: The Siasat Daily)

**********

Don't Execute Man with Mental Disability ---- Looming Execution Would Violate 
International Legal Protections

The Pakistani government should grant an immediate reprieve to death row 
prisoner Khizar Hayat because of his psychosocial disability, Human Rights 
Watch said today. On July 23, 2015, a court in Lahore scheduled Hayat's 
execution for July 28. Putting to death an individual with psychosocial or 
other mental disabilities would violate Pakistan???s international legal 
obligations, Human Rights Watch said.

"Executing people with mental health conditions is a barbarous affront to 
decency and serves no criminal justice purpose," said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia 
director at Human Rights Watch. "It's a victory of vengeance over respect for 
the rights of all people."

Police arrested Hayat, a former policeman, in 2001 for allegedly killing a 
colleague. A court sentenced Hayat to death in 2003. Prison doctors later 
diagnosed Hayat with paranoid schizophrenia in 2008 and prison officials have 
dispensed him antipsychotic medication ever since. According to his lawyers, by 
2012 Hayat had become so delusional that prison authorities isolated him from 
the general prison population by moving him to the prison hospital, where he 
has spent the last 3 years. The human rights law firm Justice Project Pakistan 
called for a reprieve for Hayat in a background brief because of his 
psychosocial disability.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee and UN special experts have 
determined that the execution of a person with a psychosocial disability would 
be in violation of the right to be free from cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
punishment. The UN Commission on Human Rights adopted resolutions in 1999 and 
2000 urging countries that retain the death penalty not to impose it "on a 
person suffering from any form of mental disorder." Pakistan is also a party to 
the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which affirms 
fundamental protections for people with psychosocial disabilities.

Hayat's scheduled execution would also mark the end of the 1-month pause in 
executions implemented by the Pakistani government during the holy month of 
Ramadan. Pakistan's government has executed 176 death row prisoners since 
December 2014. On April 21, 2015, the government executed its highest number of 
people in single day by executing at least 15 people that day. Those executions 
are part of a state response to the horrific December 16, 2014 attack by the 
Pakistani Taliban splinter group Tehreek-e-Taliban on a school in Peshawar in 
northwestern Pakistan that left at least 148 dead - almost all of them 
children.

"Pakistan's president should immediately commute Khizar Hayat's execution and 
prevent a ghastly infringement of basic rights," Kine said. "The Pakistani 
government should take this opportunity to reaffirm its human rights 
commitments and explicitly reject the odious practice of executing people with 
psychosocial disabilities."

(source: Human Rights Watch)