[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

Sat Jun 13 15:23:33 CDT 2015

June 13

PAKISTAN:

Pakistan to halt executions in Ramazan

The government on Friday imposed a moratorium on executions during the upcoming 
holy month of Ramazan.

A notification was issued by the Federal Interior Ministry and provincial 
governments have also been requested to comply with the order.

During the month of Ramazan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, and refrain from 
eating and drinking.

The federal government had lifted the moratorium on the death penalty on Dec 
17, 2014, in terrorism related cases only, in the wake of a Taliban attack at 
the Army Public School in Peshawar, which claimed 150 lives, most of them 
children.

Later, the government completely reinstated capital punishment for all offences 
that entail the death penalty.

Take a look: Death penalty moratorium lifted completely in Pakistan: Officials

The United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights 
Watch have urged the government to re-impose the moratorium on the death 
penalty.

Critics say the country's criminal justice system is marred by police torture, 
poor legal representation for victims and unfair trials.

In Pakistan, hanging is the only legal method of execution.

(source: Dawn)

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

Pakistan dismisses EU???s concerns over executions----Islamabad says it is not 
violating any international law

The Pakistan government on Friday dismissed European Union (EU) concern over 
the death penalty and execution of convicts in the country, saying it is not 
violating any international laws.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, talking to reporters, said the 
executions were carried out in accordance with the country's law and the 
constitution.

The EU on Thursday once again expressed concern over the increasing executions 
in Pakistan and urged the government to reimpose a moratorium on death penalty 
and fully respect all its international obligations.

Around 150 death prisoners have been executed since the government lifted the 
8-year moratorium on death penalty in December last year soon after a deadly 
terrorist attack on an army-run public school in northwestern provincial 
capital of Peshawar.

The interior minister regretted the EU reaction over the revival of capital 
punishment.

Khan said a propaganda campaign had been unleashed against the death penalty 
revival and clarified that no juvenile had been sentenced to death.

Pakistan respects the laws of other countries and expects the same from them, 
the minister said.

Separately, Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said at a media briefing 
that only those convicted of "heinous crimes" were hanged.

The awarding of death sentences comes under international laws and it is 
Pakistan's internal affair, the spokesman said.

(source: Gulf News)

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

Mass executions serve neither deterrence nor justice: Zeid

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed deep 
regret that Pakistan has executed more than 150 individuals, including juvenile 
offenders, since it cancelled its moratorium on the death penalty in the 
aftermath of the Peshawar school attack in December.

"I share Pakistan's outrage and grief at the senseless killing of 145 people, 
including 132 schoolchildren, by the Pakistani Taliban in December last year, 
but I am very disturbed that the response of the Pakistani authorities has been 
to execute just as many people in the 6 months that have passed since the 
massacre," Zeid said.

"Pakistan has gone from zero to 154 executions in just 6 months, making it the 
3rd most prolific executioner in the world."

"Yesterday's execution of Aftab Bahadur who was only 15 when he was convicted 
of a murder 23 years ago, and whose claims that he was tortured into confessing 
were unheeded, suggests a very troubling approach to the use of the death 
penalty in the country. Reports indicate that 2 witnesses who testified against 
Bahadur recanted their testimony, but were simply ignored," the high 
commissioner said.

More than 8,000 people remain on death row in Pakistan, of whom approximately 
800 were reportedly juveniles at the time of the offence. The government 
initially lifted the moratorium only for terrorism-related crimes but in March 
2015, lifted it generally.

"The idea that mass executions would deter the kinds of heinous crimes 
committed in Peshawar in December is deeply flawed and misguided, and it risks 
compounding injustice," Zeid said. "No justice system in the world is 
infallible. And even if it were, experience has clearly shown that the use of 
the death penalty cannot and does not debunk violent extremist ideologies. More 
often than not, the masterminds and financiers of such attacks remain at large 
- and may even use examples of possible miscarriages of justice as tools to 
recruit more individuals to their twisted causes."

Zeid acknowledged the massive challenges faced by Pakistan in combating 
terrorism but stressed that the country's response must be rooted in 
international human rights law.

"The best deterrents of serious crimes lie in ensuring respect for the rule of 
law and due process; ensuring that those suspected of such crimes are promptly 
and properly investigated and prosecuted; and in ensuring that the authorities 
engage closely with the communities affected by such violence," he said.

"Compromising on human rights may foster a sense of impunity and injustice, 
potentially leading to increased radicalisation towards violence and ultimately 
undermining the effectiveness of counter-terrorism measures."

The high commissioner urged the government of Pakistan to reintroduce its 
moratorium on the death penalty.

(source: Daily Times)

SINGAPORE:

2 arrested, more than 1.4kg of drugs worth $130,000 seized at Woodlands 
Checkpoint bust

2 people were arrested on Friday morning after they were caught with more than 
1.4kg of drugs at Woodlands Checkpoint, according to a joint media release from 
the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Central Narcotics Bureau 
(CNB).

A 52-year-old male Singaporean, who was driving a Singapore-registered taxi, 
was stopped by ICA officers for a routine check upon arrival. There was a 
female Malaysian passenger, 37, in the taxi with him.

The ICA officers found a bag placed under the front passenger seat of the car, 
which contained seven bundles wrapped with black tape. Suspecting the bundles 
to contain drugs, they contacted the CNB.

The seized bundles were found to contain a total of about 1.4kg of heroin, 
about 149g of 'Ice', 140 tablets of Ecstasy and 100 Erimin 5 pills. The total 
estimated street value of the drugs is about $129,500.

Investigations on the 2 persons arrested are ongoing. Under the Misuse of Drugs 
Act, drug traffickers face the death penalty if the amount of pure heroin 
trafficked exceeds 15g.

(source: The Straits Times)

AUSTRALIA/INDONESIA:

Sukumaran and Chan families deserve more help, says wife of death row man ---- 
Sabine Atlaoui has recalled a terrible three months that began when her husband 
Serge was named on a list of convicts to face the firing squad

The families of 8 people executed in Indonesia in April deserve continued 
support, as capital punishment means a life-long sentence for them, says the 
wife of a man still on death row.

Sabine Atlaoui has recalled a terrible three months that began when her husband 
Serge was named on a list of convicts to face the firing squad alongside 
Australians Myuran Sukumaran, Andrew Chan and others.

As they were given 72 hours notice of their executions, the Frenchman was 
removed from the list and able to pursue legal appeals.

Atlaoui and her family, including a 3-year-old child, had spent the weeks 
before in Cilacap along with the Australian families and lawyers, desperately 
campaigning to halt the executions.

She told the Asian Regional Congress on the Death Penalty the burden of capital 
punishment falls to innocent families, who must endure a lifetime of suffering.

"In this context that???s highly political, at the end of the day you have to 
wonder, who is punished?" she said.

"Those on death row who are executed are gone, but what about their families? 
"Their parents, their brothers and sisters and cousins, they have to live with 
the torture and the pain and they have done nothing."

The conference earlier heard about the questionable investigations and trials 
of the 8 people executed, including some who weren't given translators or legal 
representation, and the case of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, who was mentally 
ill.

Atlaoui said their families must not be forgotten.

"We've been through the same fate, we suffered the same anxiety, the same 
fears, the same doubts," she said.

"Today I think of them and I want them to be remembered."

Her husband, 51, has protested his innocence since being arrested in a 2005 
raid on a factory that was producing ecstasy.

His appeal in the administrative court continues next week.

Australia's ambassador, Paul Grigson, recalled in protest of the executions of 
Chan and Sukumaran, returned to Jakarta this week, after about 40 days absent.

(source: The Guardian)

CHINA:

Sieren's China: The tiger lives on----China's former security chief Zhou 
Yongkang has been sentenced to life in prison - not to death, as many observers 
had anticipated. There's a reason for that, writes DW columnist Frank Sieren.

The anti-graft campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping has reached a 
high point. Yet Zhou Yongkang, once one of the most powerful people in the 
Chinese Republic, did not receive the harshest of verdicts, which came as a 
surprise. Many observers assumed that the 72-year-old former member of the 
powerful Politburo Standing Committee would be tried in public. And most of 
them were certain that the outcome would be the death penalty.

Afterwards, a period of uncertainty was to be expected. In China, it's possible 
for the court to hand down the sentence of a death penalty with 2 years' 
probation, the greatest punitive measure apart from the death sentence 
outright. After 2 years, the sentence can be reduced to life in prison.

But Zhou was spared all this. The judges in Beijing's neighboring city, 
Tianjin, sentenced the former national security chief - dubbed "the Great 
Tiger" by Xi Jinping, to life in prison. Zhou has already pleaded guilty and 
accepted the sentence.

Verdict based on compromises?

With this outcome, the Chinese people now probably suspect that the president 
sets different standards when it comes to punishing the big and little fish 
he's set his sights on. But Xi must be cautious. He can't afford to make too 
many enemies with the people responsible for China's national security, as he 
needs allies to support his plans for reform. In the long run, fear and terror 
will not allow him to rule the nation. That's why compromises were apparently 
made in Zhou's trial: it was not public, and he was spared the death penalty. 
Not only that, but a life sentence can discreetly become simple house arrest, 
with enough time.

In addition, it's quite probable that Zhou's network will continue to operate 
from inside prison: Xi must expect that. Two years ago, when Zhou vanished from 
the public eye and was expelled from the party, anything seemed possible. But 
then, he was arrested last July and about two months ago charged with 
corruption, abuse of power and leaking national secrets.

Concerns over exposure

As head of China's national security agency, which has a larger budget than the 
Chinese army, Zhou Yongkang is said to have pocketed more than $21 million 
(18.6 million euros) in bribes. Jiang Jiemin, his old friend and the former 
head of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), allegedly gave him several 
hundreds of thousands of dollars. He's also on trial.

In addition, Zhou's wife and son from a previous marriage have allegedly 
benefitted from his power, in the form of business contracts. Both of them have 
already admitted to having accepted some $20 million in bribes, and have 
consequently been arrested. Zhou's family fortune is estimated at around $14 
billion, but his private assets have now been confiscated.

It took an astoundingly long time to come to a verdict - a sign that 
negotiations and the political balancing act were complex. Zhou's case was 
likely resolved by the Politburo Standing Committee, which probably decided to 
take care of things in private instead of running the risk of Zhou misbehaving 
and shaming the party in public - like former party leader Bo Xilai.

But the images released on Thursday were enough to humiliate Zhou. High-ranking 
Chinese politicians traditionally dye their hair black to convey youthfulness 
and potency. Yesterday, however, another Zhou stood in the courtroom, one with 
white hair and dressed in a wrinkled worker's jacket. The great tiger looked as 
if he'd aged decades during his 2-year absence. The message was clear: Pride 
comes before a fall.

(source: Deutsche Welle)

IRAN----executions

Ghezelhesar Mass-Executions Continue: 11 Executions----11 prisoners charged 
with drug offenses were hanged in Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison (west of Tehran) 
on Wednesday 10 June. This is the 2nd group of executions during this week. On 
Monday June 8, 11 prisoners were executed in the same prison.

According to sources Iran Human Rights (IHR) has been in contact with, 11 
prisoners were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on Wednesday June 10. These 
prisoners, who had mainly been transferred to solitary confinement on Saturday 
June 6, were convicted of drug related charges.

IHR reported on June 6 about the transfer of 25 prisoners with drug charges for 
execution. These prisoners had been transferred from different rooms of Unit 2 
of Ghezel Hesar Prison and the "Anti-narcotic headquarters". 11 of the 
prisoners were executed on Monday June 8.

According to our sources, 10 of the 11 prisoners who were executed on June 10 
were: Reza Mansouri, Mostafa Kouhi, Salar Mahmoudzadeh, Reza Karegari, Behrouz 
Sahraei, Ali Taghipour, Yousef Kounani, Masoud Abbasi, Mohammad Jannati, and 
Hassan Nourmohammadi.

At the present moment 22 of the 25 prisoners have been executed, while 3 of the 
prisoners were reportedly not executed and are still in the quarantine section 
of the prison. These prisoners are identified as Jasem Veysi, Ali Afshari and 
Gholamreza Soltani.

Since May 6 Iranian authorities have executed 77 people in Ghezel Hesar Prison. 
IHR has repeatedly called on the international community to react to these 
executions. However, the international community has still maintained its 
silence.

IHR recently published a video containing testimonies from 2 of the death row 
prisoners of Ghezel Hesar speaking about torture under interrogations.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: "Iranian authorities 
claim that these prisoners belong to groups of armed drug smugglers, but many 
of the prisoners we have investigated belong to the marginalized parts of the 
Iranian society who were arrested in the big Iranian cities. After their 
arrest, these prisoners are systematically subjected to torture until they 
confess to the charges, then they are sentenced to death behind closed doors at 
the Revolutionary Court. These executions are unlawful, even according to the 
Iranian constitution. Iranian leaders must be held responsible for these 
crimes."

(source: Iran Human Rights)

********

PRISON FOR ANTI-DEATH PENALTY ACTIVIST

Anti-death penalty activist Atena Daemi has been sentenced to 14 years in
prison for her peaceful
activism. She has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison since October 2014, when
she was arrested. She
is a prisoner of conscience.

Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format, including case
information,
addresses and sample messages.

Atena Daemi, a 27-year-old anti-death penalty and civil society activist, was
sentenced to 14 years
in prison on 12 May by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran after a
grossly unfair trial.
The trial apparently lasted no more than 15 minutes and took place at the same
time as the trial of
three others. She was convicted of “gathering and colluding against national
security”, “spreading
propaganda against the system”, “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic
of Iran and the
Supreme Leader” and concealing evidence.

The charges stem from her criticism on Facebook and Twitter of executions and
human rights
violations in Iran, as well as her participation in gatherings outside prison
in solidarity with
families of death row prisoners, distribution of anti-death penalty pamphlets
and her association
with human rights defenders and the families of those killed during the
crackdown that followed the
2009 election.

Atena Daemi had been arrested in October 2014, and spent 58 days in solitary
confinement. She was
then transferred to a cell shared with another person, but had no access to a
lawyer.

Since being detained, Atena Daemi has been experiencing weakness in her hands
and feet, and spells
of blurred vision. The authorities refused her family’s request to grant her
leave to receive
specialized medical care outside prison, linking her medical symptoms to
stress-related heart
palpitations which can be treated in prison with anti-anxiety and sedative
drugs.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Atena Daemi was arrested by nine members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on 21
October 2014 and
transferred to Section 2A of Evin Prison. For the first 20 days, Atena Daemi
said she was held in a
cell that was infested with insects and had no toilet facilities. She said her
interrogators offered
to grant her easier access to the toilet in exchange for her “co-operation”.
She was interrogated on
numerous occasions over a period of 58 days, often for several hours at a time.
During these lengthy
interrogations, she had to sit blindfolded, facing a wall.

Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format.

Name: Atena Daemi (f)
Issues: Prisoner of conscience, Unfair trial, Health concern
UA: 127/15
Issue Date: 4 June 2015
Country: Iran

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!

EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 127/15" in the subject
line, and include in the
body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent,

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office
if sending appeals
after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official,
please forward it to us
at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please write immediately in Persian, English, Spanish, French or your own
language:
  *  Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Atena Daemi immediately and
unconditionally as she
     is a prisoner of conscience held solely for the peaceful exercise of her
rights to freedom of
     expression, association and assembly
  *  Calling on them to ensure that Atena Daemi receives any medical attention
she may require;
  *  Reminding them that Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political
     Rights, to which Iran is a state party, protect the right to freedom of
expression, association,
     and assembly.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 16 JULY 2015 TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: (via website http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter)
Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English)
@Khamenei_ar (Arabic)
@Khamenei_es (Spanish)
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter:@HassanRouhani (English),
@Rouhani_ir (Persian)

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency

Also send copies to:
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please
send copies to:

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2209 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990  I  Fax: 202 965 1073  I  Email: info at daftar.org

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