[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 28



NIGERIA:

Nigeria's Delta State Governor just announced the total pardon of Moses 
Akatugba!



A day before leaving office, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan posted the announcement 
on social media:

"Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has just granted total pardon to 
Moses Akatugba who was sentenced to death for stealing 3 phones.This decision 
was made known shortly after the last Executive meeting of his administration 
at the government house, Asaba today, 28th May, 2015."

Aside granting total pardon to Moses, Governor Uduaghan also commute dealth 
sentences of 3 others to various terms of imprisonment.

(source: Amnesty Internatnional)








SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi Arabia executes 90th prisoner since start of year----The Kingdom has now 
executed as many people in 2015 as in all of 2014



Saudi Arabia has carried out its 90th execution of this year, equaling the 
total number executed in the country in 2014.

Amnesty International report that the toll is "one of the highest recorded by 
the organization during the same period for more than 3 decades". The toll so 
far this year "marks an unprecedented spike in executions for a country already 
ranked among the most prolific executioners in the world," a statement from the 
group said today.

Saudia Arabia is one of the world's top 3 executioner nations, behind only Iran 
and China. The most common method of execution is beheading, often conducted in 
public squares and occasionally by firing squad.

"With the year yet to pass its midpoint ... this alarming surge in executions 
surpasses even the country's own previous dreadful records," said Said 
Boumedouha, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty 
International.

Today's execution took place in Riyadh, and was of a Pakistani man convicted on 
drug-related charges. Drug-related offences are one of the most common reasons 
for execution, with almost 1/2 of all killings this year in some way 
drug-related. Amnesty International warn that the use of the death penalty for 
drug-related offences international law.

Many of those sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are convicted based solely on 
"confessions", which are obtained under duress. Many trials are also held in 
secret, with the accused parties not made aware of the progress of their case.

The Supreme Court has recently decreed that in cases of crimes punishable by 
death the judge in the trial is free to sentence someone to death without a 
guilty conviction, but merely with suspicion.

"The Saudi Arabian authorities' unwavering commitment to this brutal form of 
punishment is utterly gruesome considering the deep flaws in its justice 
system," said Said Boumedouha.

"The use of the death penalty is cruel and inhumane in any circumstance, but it 
is even more outrageous when meted out as a punishment against someone 
convicted in a trial that itself makes a mockery of justice."

Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland said, "The 
death penalty is never a just response to any crime. It is no particular 
deterrent. Instead of expediting executions and advertising recently for more 
executioners as Saudi Arabia did recently, the Saudi authorities should be 
reversing this very worrying trend.

"Saudi Arabia should establish a moratorium on executions immediately with a 
view to abolishing the death penalty".

(source: newstalk.com)

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

90 executions this year beat 2014's disgraceful record



Saudi Arabia today has carried out its 90th execution so far this year, 
equalling the number of people executed in the Kingdom during the whole of 
2014, said Amnesty International.

The death toll is one of the highest recorded by the organization during the 
same period for more than three decades and marks an unprecedented spike in 
executions for a country already ranked among the most prolific executioners in 
the world.

"With the year yet to pass its midpoint, the Gulf Kingdom has raced towards 
this shocking toll at an unprecedented rate. This alarming surge in executions 
surpasses even the country's own previous dreadful records," said Said 
Boumedouha, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty 
International.

Today's execution carried out in Riyadh was of a Pakistani man convicted on 
drug-related charges. Almost half of the executions carried out so far this 
year were for drug-related offences. These do not fall into the category of 
"most serious crimes", and the use of the death penalty for such offences 
violates international law. The authorities themselves do not categorize 
drug-related offences as crimes subject to divinely ordained punishment under 
Shari'a law, instead they consider the use of the death penalty for such 
offences a discretionary punishment.

Saudi Arabia's most common method of execution is beheading, often conducted in 
public squares. Occasionally prisoners in some southern provinces are executed 
by firing squad.

Many defendants in Saudi Arabia, including those sentenced to death, are 
convicted after flawed court proceedings that routinely fall far short of 
international standards for a fair trial. They are often convicted solely on 
the basis of "confessions" obtained under duress, denied legal representation 
in trials which are sometimes held in secret and are not kept informed of the 
progress of the legal proceedings in their case.

For some crimes punishable by death, the Supreme Court has recently confirmed 
that judges do not need to prove guilt but can sentence someone to death at 
their own discretion based on suspicion alone.

"The Saudi Arabian authorities' unwavering commitment to this brutal form of 
punishment is utterly gruesome considering the deep flaws in its justice 
system," said Said Boumedouha.

"The use of the death penalty is cruel and inhumane in any circumstance, but it 
is even more outrageous when meted out as a punishment against someone 
convicted in a trial that itself makes a mockery of justice."

"The Saudi Arabian authorities' unwavering commitment to this brutal form of 
punishment is utterly gruesome considering the deep flaws in its justice 
system"----Said Boumedouha

Worryingly, a significant number of Shi'a protesters have been sentenced to 
death in the past 2 years. These are often in relation to protests in the 
Kingdom's Eastern Province in the aftermath of the 2011 mass popular uprisings 
which toppled a number of long-standing authoritarian rulers in the region. 
Among those sentenced to death is Saudi Arabia's most prominent Shi'a cleric 
Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death in October 2014 after a deeply 
flawed trial. His nephew, Ali-al-Nimr, a juvenile offender, was sentenced to 
death in May 2014 solely based on "confessions" that he claimed were extracted 
under torture. The imposition of death sentences against individuals who were 
below 18 years of age when the crime was committed is prohibited under 
international law.

6 other Shi'a protestrs were sentenced to death in the past year and scores of 
others await trial on charges for which the prosecution has called for the 
death penalty. Many of them have complained of ill-treatment in detention and 
of unfair trials.

The claim by the Saudi Arabian authorities that the death penalty is a 
deterrent to crime is unfounded.

"There is no convincing evidence that the death penalty is a particular 
deterrent to crime, or that it is more effective than other forms of 
punishment. Instead of expediting executions the Saudi Arabian authorities 
should immediately establish a moratorium on executions with a view to 
abolishing the death penalty," said Said Boumedhoua.

Background

In Amnesty International's latest global report on the death penalty, published 
in April 2015, Saudi Arabia ranks among the top 3 executioners in the world, 
surpassed only by China and Iran.

As of 31 December 2014, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law 
or practice. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases 
without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; the 
guilt or innocence of the individual; or the method of execution.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Rights Groups: Saudi Death Penalty Rate Surges



The number of executions in Saudi Arabia has surged in the past 9 months. The 
kingdom on Wednesday announced its 89th execution this year, roughly as many as 
in all of 2014, according to human rights groups.

"It's absolutely scary what we're seeing in terms of the numbers of executions 
in Saudi Arabia," said Amnesty International's Saudi Arabia researcher Sevag 
Kechichian.

The rise began last August after Islamic State militants attacked cities and 
towns in Iraq and Syria, gaining control of large areas with alarming speed.

The increase in executions could be a show of force by Saudi authorities as 
they seek to keep a regional security crisis outside their borders, Kechichian 
said.

"The theory is: the reason why the Saudi authorities have been carrying out 
executions at such a rate," he explained, "is because they want to signal to 
ISIS, to others throughout the region, that they are quite in charge ... and 
they will punish transgressions extremely harshly. It is sort of a show of 
power."

There are alternate theories to explain the surge, like increased efficiency in 
the judiciary, Kechichian added.

A public act

Most executions are carried out in public spaces, like town squares, and the 
condemned are beheaded. On rare occasions, the decapitated bodies are left on 
display.

"It is pretty much within the logic of the method of execution and the 
reasoning behind the execution that it is meant toward spectacle, as a 
deterrent," Kechichian said. "So that is partly why they do it in public."

The Saudi government has not commented on the practice or the surge in numbers, 
other than saying capital punishment is within Islamic law, according Human 
Rights Watch Middle East researcher Adam Coogle. Trials in Saudi Arabia, he 
added, do not appear to meet international standards of fairness.

"Some people allege that they were coerced into confessing," Coogle said. "Some 
people claim they had difficulty accessing lawyers. One of the big issues is 
the defendants not actually initially knowing the charges against them ... 
before they are actually brought before a judge."

22 countries in the world still use capital punishment, according to Amnesty 
International. Saudi Arabia is consistently among the top 5 countries that 
perform the most executions, along with China, Iran, Iraq and the United 
States.

Nearly 1/2 of all executions in Saudi Arabia are for non-violent crimes related 
to drug trafficking, and occasionally people are executed for other crimes like 
adultery or sorcery, said Coogle.

"Under international law [the death penalty] should be reserved for only the 
most serious crimes," he argued. "In terms of the way Saudi Arabia carries out 
the death penalty the most problematic aspect are all the drug-related 
executions."

Sheikh Nimr case

Last year, popular Shi'ite Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was sentenced to death after 
being accused of disobeying the ruler, inciting sectarian strife, and 
encouraging, leading and participating in demonstrations. His case has sparked 
protests around the world and, if carried out, the sentence could increase 
Sunni-Shia tensions in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

But recent Saudi efforts to appease its discontented Shia minority suggest the 
execution is unlikely to go forward, according to Kuwait-based analyst Haider 
Ghadhanfari.

"Saudi Arabian government's policy is to heal the nation and there have been 
several signs that the rulers plan to grant amnesty," said Ghadhanfari.

The potential for political upheaval could delay or cancel the execution, but 
al-Nimr's trial was politicized and lacking evidence, according to Amnesty's 
Kechichian, and some authorities appear to be determined to carry out the 
sentence.

"It's a mix of signals," he said. "The authorities are very much insisting on 
this and they seem to want to go forward with it."

"At the same time," he added. "There are these question marks on the meaning 
and significance of carrying out an execution on such a very well-known person 
on basis of a flawed trial."

(source: Voice of America)








CHINA----execution

China executes patient who killed doctor over botched nose job



China on Monday executed a man who stabbed a doctor to death over what he 
considered a botched nose operation, media reported, in a case that spotlights 
the country's overburdened health system.

Lian Enqing was sentenced to death last year for a fatal attack on an ear, nose 
and throat specialist in Wenling, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Lian attacked the doctor because he "felt displeased with his nose and claimed 
to be suffering respiratory problems," the official news agency Xinhua said.

The death sentence was carried out Monday, the Chengdu Business Daily newspaper 
reported, citing family members who said they had met the condemned man briefly 
before his execution.

The attack last October prompted dozens of the doctor's colleagues to protest 
outside the hospital in Wenling, urging stronger safety measures to deal with 
violent patients.

Doctors in China, the world's most populous nation, are often poorly paid and 
overburdened with too many cases. Taking bribes for better care is reportedly a 
widespread practice.

Authorities have introduced security guards at some hospitals to protect staff 
from attacks.

(source: Japan Times)