[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 10



BANGLADESH:

Statement on War Crimes Trial ---- Govt asks Amnesty Int'l to apologise


Blasting the Amnesty International over a statement on war crimes trial, the 
government has demanded the rights watchdog withdraw the statement immediately 
and apologise for its highly objectionable pronouncement concerning the 
pro-independence forces.

In a protest note to the Amnesty, the government said the watchdog in its 
October 27 statement has gone beyond its usual stand, and caused widespread 
outrage by suggesting that the "pro-independence forces" in Bangladesh be also 
implicated for committing "serious crimes".

"This egregious comment is just a brazen insult to the valued freedom fighters 
and martyrs of Bangladesh's Liberation War and betrays Amnesty International's 
shallow reading of the history and significance of Bangladesh's Liberation War 
and its aftermath.

"This is exactly the kind of misleading propaganda run by those who opposed 
Bangladesh's independence in 1971, continue to work against Bangladesh's 
sovereignty and independence, and remain on the side of those convicted of 
crimes against humanity and genocide," read the government note which was sent 
to the AI headquarters in London.

The Amnesty in its statement reiterated its principled position against the 
death penalty, and in the process, questioned the trials and appeals in the 
cases against BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Ali 
Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed, who have been convicted of committing crimes against 
humanity and genocide during the Liberation War.

About the AI's stand on war crimes cases, the government note said it is a sad 
reality that the perpetrators of the mass atrocity crimes during the Liberation 
War were allowed to gain political and economic strength over the years and 
make systematic attempts to change the narratives about their past.

They unleashed their full force to create an environment of terror and violence 
to destabilise the country and foil the trials, resort to selective murders and 
attacks on witnesses and campaigners of the trials, and run an international 
campaign through certain quarters to undermine the trials, added the note.

"The government and people of Bangladesh consider it unfortunate that Amnesty 
International has enlisted itself with those quarters. It becomes obvious from 
its latest (as well as previous) statement that, under the pretext of opposing 
the death penalty, Amnesty International has resorted to projecting the trials 
as politically biased and motivated."

In so doing, the AI has moved away from the stand of an impartial observer and 
commentator, and has made a choice to repeat the arguments of the defendants as 
well as the local and international detractors who have a vested interest in 
disrupting the trials, the protest note said.

The fact that most of the defendants happen to be members of different opposing 
political parties is a mere coincidence as far as the trials are concerned. 
Even then, the fact that some ruling party or coalition members are also 
standing trials is conveniently glossed over by the Amnesty, mentioned the 
note.

It said without going into any specificity, the AI made sweeping comments about 
the alleged miscarriage of justice or lack of fair trial standards. "It is 
unacceptable that Amnesty International assumes the prerogative to make value 
judgments about an independent judiciary and its conduct in a manner that reeks 
of utmost irresponsibility, unaccountability, and condescension."

The AI, said the government, opposes the death penalty, but it raises its 
concerns over the death penalty only on a selective basis, especially for 
convicts with finance and international clout.

"There is thus no reason to consider Amnesty International as an unbiased 
arbiter of the judicial process. Any claims it makes, such as calling the 
ICT-BD flawed, must be viewed through that lens, and treated with skepticism."

(source: The Daily Star)






IRAN----execution

West Azerbaijan: Prisoner Hanged by Crane in Public


On the morning of Monday November 9, a prisoner identified as "A.S." was hanged 
by crane in public on rape charges. The hanging was reportedly carried out in 
Khoy, West Azerbaijan.

The news of the hanging, including the photos, were published by Azarnegah, an 
official Iranian state-run news site.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






INDIA:

Book Exceprt----The beginnings of a hangwoman's career managing the noose; The 
1st in a series of excerpts from the books longlisted for the DSC Prize for 
South Asian Literature. First up: 'Hangwoman'.


"Jatindranath Banerjee's hanging will be the 1st to happen in India in 13 
years. But after hangman Phanibhushan Grddha Mullick has made it clear that he 
will not work unless his demands have been met, plans for Jatindranath's 
execution take a new turn." The handsome young man looked into my eyes and 
announced this.

Then it was Father's face on TV. Smoothing down the ample grey moustache that 
hung on his bulging cheeks, Father began to speak, holding an unlit cigarette 
between his index and middle fingers.

"In 1982, they had given this to me in writing when they decided to execute 
Jabbar Singh. Government jobs for my childred ... but later, when my son Ramdev 
Mullick was seriously injured ... then they conveniently forgot the promise. 
How did he suffer that injury? The government ought to have had a thought. I 
have sacrificed my life and my family's too, for the sake of this country. 
Doesn't the government have any obligation towards me? This business of 
hanging, is it a picnic? Babu, we don't tie the noose around the neck of a hen 
or a snake. We tie it around a human being's neck. Here, pinch me, and see for 
yourself, I am no block of iron or stone. A raw man, just like you. I too have 
a family. A wife. Mother. Brother. Children. He, the condemned man I am to 
hang, is not even my son's age. I am ending his life. Is that like smoking this 
cigarette? No, brother, no ..."

Father lit his cigarette and let out a puff of smoke. When the camera panned 
sideways, Alipore Central Jail appeared. Father was coming out after seeing the 
IG. Blowing the smoke out, he struck a jatra pose, gazing reverentially at 
something in the distance and folding his hands in salutation. Then he 
continued: "I am a person who calls to god every day. I don't know what lies 
ahead of this life. I have hung 451 people with these hands... not even one of 
those 451 has returned to tell me what death is like and what lies beyond. Look 
here, you, I am an old man. May leave any time... if I leave and reach there, 
will the 451 people be waiting for me? I don't know. Will they fry me in oil? 
That, too, I don't know... Everything ends after death, scientists say. But to 
know if it is really like that, we have to go by ourselves ..."

"Do you believe in life after death?"

"No, brother, that is not the issue. The issue is the big risk I have taken. 
Risk, Babu, risk ..."

Father pointed the cigarette at the camera and puffed hard once more. He wiped 
the sweat with his gamchha.

"Till which class did you study?"

"See? This is the problem with you. Why do you worry about the class up to 
which I have studied? Isn't it enough to ask how much I know? I know enough to 
read an English newspaper. To make sense of it. I know enough of maths and 
chemistry and physics and everything else to do my job. Why, won't that do?"

Father raised his eyelids and laughed mockingly. His face really looked like 
that of a vulture.

"Are you saying that the government must compensate you for the torture you may 
have to undergo in the afterlife?"

"I said I know nothing of afterlife... there is risk even in life till death."

"What risk do you face?"

"My son Ramdev... my son was cut down by the father of Amartya Ghosh whom I 
hanged at the gallows in 1990..."

Father pulled hard on the burning cigarette. Suddenly my heart fell. We never 
spoke of that day. In 1990, Ramu da had been my age, 22. Father's height, 
luxuriant hair and moustache, and Ma's fair complexion and gentle eyes made him 
handsome. All the girls in the neighbourhood were fastening nooses around his 
neck, I would tease; they threw look after look in longing. He was a good 
student. And reluctant to become a hangman. He argued with Father over it all 
night sometimes.

Those days, there were no 24-hour channels. That was the heyday of newspapers. 
The news of Amartya Ghosh's execution continued to appear. Our family was all 
agog, having got a job after 2 or 3 years. But 2 days later, Ramu da, who was 
returning from college, was attacked by Amartya's aged father. The old man 
hacked off his fair, slender, delicate limbs.

"Didn't the government offer compensation for the injury Ramdev suffered?" The 
young man continued to question Father.

"They gave 1500 rupees then... and now a pension for the disabled..."

The image of Father flinging away the cigarette butt appeared on the screen.

I thought it would end there. But the young man's voice rang again. "Only your 
son is disabled. Your healthy daughter is still with you. Are you not keen to 
hand over your job to her?"

I was stunned. Father, too, looked somewhat startled. "I haven't ever thought 
of that..."

Father took out another cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and continued without 
wasting any time. "Uh-uh... why not? She can easily do it. But, brother, that 
is not for me to decide. It is for the government, right?"

Ma, Ramu da and I sat transfixed as Father turned around and looked at us with 
a smile. The scenes that followed were these: The young man's face appeared. 
"Grddha Mullick made it clear that unless his daughter is granted a government 
job, he will not receive the court order and perform the hanging. While 
committed to the position that the children of a hangman may be given the same 
job, law minister Pallav Dasgupta announced that Grddha Mullick's demand that 
his job be given to his daughter is unacceptable..."

Followed by the minister's face: "No, no, no... this is not a job a woman can 
do... it requires a lot of strength... of mind and body..."

The young man's face: "Do you mean to say that women lack in strength of mind 
and body?"

The minister: "No, not that... but this is not a job like any other..."

Now the young man's face, again. "This is not just a matter of the conduct of 
justice anymore. The question of whether a woman has the right to work as a 
hangman cannot simply be denied, given the backdrop of arguments in favour of 
women's reservation. And this in a context where the death penalty is being 
abolished in many nations of the world. This is the topic of discussion today 
in CNC Face to Face. Viewers may take part in the live discussion. This is the 
question: Can women be appointed executioners to hang criminals? To voice your 
views, call us on..."

I was deeply shocked. Still, I thought it would end there. It didn't. "When we 
reached the house of the country's most famous hangman, Grddha Mullick, his 
first condition was that no images of his family members be made public. But 
CNC channel received images of his daughter secretly. 889-year-old Phanibhushan 
now bargains with the government to make the life of this young woman secure - 
she who passed the Plus Two examination with very high marks but was unable to 
continue her studies because of financial problems."

My image began to roll on screen. Me about to turn right after taking money 
from Kaku. Then turning left. Walking towards the camera. Passing by the 
camera, opening and closing my arms merrily. The camera shows my back till I 
reach Hari da's shop. As I return, my faded and tattered dupatta and the 
breasts it does not fully cover appear on the screen. Then my face comes into 
view on the screen, magnified. I saw the small wart on the left side of my 
nose, the smooth shiny hair of my eyebrows, and the bulging eyes, the same as 
Father's. This is how others see my face - now I saw too.

As I sat there dazed, the young man concluded: "From Bhavanipore, for CNC 
channel, along with cameraman Atul Kishore Chandra, this is Sanjeev Kumar 
Mitra."

"Sanjeev Kumar Mitra!" Father jumped up, furious. "I'll finish him with my bare 
hands!"

Father was wrong. He was to die by my hands. That's why I was attracted to him 
from that very moment. He was special, with his exceptional height, thick 
straight hair, long straight nose. It took me much longer to be convinced that 
the feeling I had for him was what people call love. The kinds of love that the 
likes of us experienced were all like the noose fixed between the 3rd and 4th 
vertebrae. Either the noose tightened and the person died, or the cord broke 
and the person escaped. But even those who broke the cord could never 
completely untie the noose from their necks. Like Chinmayi Devi who married 
Radharaman Mullick, we writhed and flailed without breath, all our lives.

Excerpted with permission from Hangwoman, KR Meera, translated from the 
Malayalam by J Devika, Penguin Books.

(source: scroll.in)






SINGAPORE:

see: 
http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/singapore-halt-kho-jabing-s-execution-ua-10315

(source: Amnesty International USA)






UGANDA:

Proposal To Scrap Death Penalty From Law Books Tabled


The bill proposes amendment of the Penal Code Act, Cap 120, the Anti Terrorism 
Act 2002, Trial on Indictments Act and Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act, 2005, 
which contain several provisions that prescribe mandatory death penalty upon 
conviction.

(source: ugandaradionetwork.com)






NIGERIA:

Ken Saro-Wiwa's Death And Legacy 20 Years On


Editor's note: The world is remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other activists who 
led the movement against Shell's activities in the Niger Delta and were 
executed by the military in November 1995. Naij.com looks at how Nigeria dealt 
with the Ogoni Nine just 20 years ago and at what has become of the people who 
signed the death warrant. The memory of Saro-Wiwa lives on, but has Nigeria 
changed and grown enough to accept the truth he was trying to push through?

Tuesday, November 10 will mark 20 years to the day since the hanging of the 
writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 others.

Convicted by a military tribunal of inciting the murder of four Ogoni elders, 
Saro-Wiwa and 8 other leaders of the Ogoni people's rights movement, MOSOP, 
were hanged in Port Harcourt prison on November 10, 1995, in the face of 
international outrage. The executions, described by Nelson Mandela as "a 
heinous act", led to Nigeria's 3-year suspension from the Commonwealth days 
later, and to economic sanctions from the EU and the USA.

The men were brought from an army camp where they had been held since their 
conviction and coralled in a single room in Port Harcourt prison where they 
were shackled. Then they were blindfolded and led one by one to be hanged, 
beginning with Saro-Wiwa. According to one report Saro-Wiwa's own execution was 
bungled and only succeeded at the fifth attempt. "Why are you people treating 
me like this? Which type of country is this?" he is reported to have asked his 
executioners.

Only 10 days earlier on October 31, 1995, the Ogoni 9, as they came to be 
known, had been condemned to death by a 3-member military tribunal handpicked 
by the kleptomaniacal military dictator General Sani Abacha. The death penalty 
was sanctioned by the military junta's Provisional Ruling Council on November 
8, 1995, strong armed by Abacha???s determination not to look weak 
internationally.

The men's final months had been a torment of beatings and torture, and of the 
knowledge that the military had unleashed a murderous campaign against the 
Ogoni people. In an interview with the BBC in 2013, Ledum Mitee, a senior MOSOP 
member who was arrested with Saro-Wiwa and acquitted by the tribunal, told how 
Ogoni women would be brought to the army camp where the men were held, and 
raped by soldiers in neighbouring cells, the detainees seemingly exposed 
deliberately to the women's shouts and screams.

A richly endowed land

When Royal Dutch Shell discovered oil in the Niger Delta in 1956, the Ogoni 
people lived in what has been painted, perhaps fancifully, as a pastoral Eden 
reliant on agriculture and fishing. Saro-Wiwa wrote in his statement to the 
tribunal: "Ogoni was a blessed land at that time. The fertile alluvial soils of 
the plain provided a rich harvest of yam, cassava and vegetable. The pure 
streams and seas brimmed with fish and other sea food."

Shell started extracting oil in 1958. By the 1990s over 100 million dollars of 
oil and gas had, in Saro-Wiwa's words, been "carted away from Ogoniland". "In 
return for this," he told the UN in 1992,"the Ogoni people have received 
nothing."

Indeed, in return for watching in increasing poverty while a fortune was pumped 
from their land, the Ogonis' fragile Eden was despoiled by oil spills and gas 
flaring: the dark marauding beast of commercial greed.

In 1996 Bopp van Dessel, Shell's former head of environmental studies in 
Nigeria, admitted that Shell had ignored repeated warnings that its operations 
in Nigeria were causing massive environmental damage. "They were not meeting 
their own standards; they were not meeting international standards. Any Shell 
site that I saw was polluted. Any terminal that I saw was polluted. It is clear 
to me that Shell was devastating the area," he said.

Agents of death

The Ogonis were by no means the only people of the Niger Delta to suffer the 
rapacity of the oil companies. As the environmental devastation continued into 
the 1980s, other peoples of the delta were provoked into humble protest to and 
against Shell. The only response they received was police violence.

In 1990 the Ogoni elders signed the Ogoni Bill of Rights calling for a measure 
of Ogoni political control of economic resources and "the right to protect the 
Ogoni environment and ecology from further degradation". That year the Movement 
for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) was formed. Saro-Wiwa was among 
the founders, and he declared the movement's ethos of non-violent protest.

In January 1993 300,000 people attended a MOSOP-organised march and 
demonstration against Shell's operations in Ogoniland. "We have woken up to 
find our lands devastated by agents of death called oil companies. Our 
atmosphere has been totally polluted, our lands degraded, our waters 
contaminated, our trees poisoned, so much so that our flora and fauna have 
virtually disappeared," an Ogoni leader told the crowd.

The demonstration was peaceful, but seriously alarmed Shell executives. Arrests 
and imprisonment of MOSOP leaders followed, including Saro-Wiwa twice. 
Demonstrations by Ogonis were suppressed violently, and MOSOP alleged the 
collaboration of Shell in the violence.

General Abacha came to power in Nigeria in the autumn of 1993, and established 
the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force under the military governor 
Lt.Col Komo and Major Okuntimo, the operational commander.

A series of secret communications between Komo and Okuntimo suggests that one 
of the task force's missions was to make Ogoniland safe for the conduct of 
"business ventures": the reopening of Shell's drilling operations, suspended 
earlier in the year.

As Okuntimo remarked weeks later: "Shell operations still impossible unless 
ruthless military operations are undertaken for smooth economic activities to 
commence." His recommendation was "wasting operations during MOSOP and other 
gatherings making constant military presence justifiable".

Wasting operations

9 days later on May 21, 1994, 4 Ogoni elders, who had had strategy disputes 
with MOSOP and Saro-Wiwa, were hacked to death by a mob.

The security services responded slowly, suspiciously slowly some have said. The 
mob was allowed to disperse, and the actual killers were never identified.

Instead, the government immediately accused MOSOP of responsibility, and its 
leaders were arrested. They were charged, much later, with inciting the 
killings.

Saro-Wiwa challenged the accusation in detail in his submission to the military 
tribunal. He pointed out that 2 of the dead were his in-laws; that there were 
no serious disagreements between MOSOP and the murdered men; that the security 
forces had prevented him from being anywhere in the vicinity on that day.

Subsequent witness reports attest to a significant military build-up across 
Ogoniland the day of the murders, but before they occurred, as if in 
anticipation.

Nevertheless, there are those in the Ogoni community who have always blamed 
Saro-Wiwa for the murders. Donu Kogbara, now a prominent journalist with 
Vanguard, knew Saro-Wiwa well growing up. She wrote in 2011: "Saro-Wiwa took 
exception to those who urged caution and, according to witnesses whom I've met, 
ordered the hotheads who surrounded him to take harsh action against them."

She wrote that she supported Saro-Wiwa's campaign and condemned his execution, 
and struggled to believe that he had directed the killings, but that he "had a 
dark, power-hungry, rabble-rousing side that led to the deaths of 4 Ogoni 
moderates".

Whatever the degree of Saro-Wiwa's, or the military's, involvement in the 
killings, the security services seized upon the opportunity with relish. 
'Wasting operations' commenced. "Ostensibly searching for those directly 
responsible for the killings", Okuntimo's men began "deliberately terrorising 
the whole community, assaulting and beating indiscriminately", according to 
Amnesty International.

Hundreds were killed, many women were raped, villages were destroyed and 
thousands of people were displaced across Ogoniland.

Business as usual

Shell maintained complete innocence and lack of involvement in all this. They 
claimed, and still claim, that the company bore no responsibility for the 
actions of the Nigerian military government.

But there were indications otherwise. Shell was accused of financing and 
supplying vehicles for military operations. Okuntimo allegedly told a British 
environmental activist he briefly detained that he was "doing it all for Shell 
... But he was not happy because the last time he had asked Shell to pay his 
men their out-station allowances he had been refused which was not the usual 
procedure".

Shell has always denied that the company had any power to save the Ogoni 9. The 
company claimed to have appealed to the Nigerian government for clemency for 
the men.

Between May and July 1995 Saro-Wiwa's brother met Brian Anderson, Shell 
Nigeria's managing director, several times to try to find a way to secure his 
brother's release. Owens Wiwa said he was shocked to be told at 1 meeting that 
Anderson would intercede with the Nigerian government if Owens promised to stop 
all campaigns, nationally and internationally, against Shell. Owens, appalled, 
objected that he did not have that power.

The trial which began in February 1995 was, in the eyes of most observers, 
seriously flawed. 2 key prosecution witnesses later claimed that they were 
bribed by Shell to testify against the MOSOP leaders. After the defence counsel 
refused to participate any longer, the fifteen defendants were left without 
legal representation. The decision was in any case never in doubt. In October 
nine of the fifteen were condemned to death: 6 others were acquitted for lack 
of evidence.

The international outcry that followed cut little ice with Shell. The following 
year the company attempted to resume oil operations in Ogoniland after Ogoni 
elders 'invited' them to return to "clean up the pollution in the area" and 
"start community assistance projects". MOSOP alleged that the invitations were 
procured by large payments.

Ecological war

The story since 1995 is depressingly familiar to most Nigerians. Human rights 
abuses and environmental damage continued in the Niger Delta. Minorities in the 
area, principally the Ijaw, turned increasingly to armed resistance, 
culminating in widespread armed conflict in the early years of the 21st century 
until the amnesty in 2009.

In June 2009 Shell settled a lawsuit brought against the company by the 
families of the Ogoni Nine in the USA on the eve of trial for $15.5 million. In 
the lawsuit, Shell was accused of conspiring with the military government to 
capture and execute the men, in addition to a series of other alleged human 
rights violations, including collaborating with the army to cause killings and 
torture of Ogoni protesters.

The company was alleged to have provided the Nigerian army with vehicles, 
patrol boats and ammunition, and to have helped plan terror raids on villages. 
Shell stressed that the payment did not imply guilt.

Oil pollution has continued to devastate the Niger Delta. A report to be 
published this week co-authored by Amnesty International and the Port 
Harcourt-based Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development accuses 
Shell of falsely claiming to have cleaned up oil spills in Ogoniland. It 
alleges that the sites are still massively polluted despite Shell publicly 
claiming to have cleaned them in 2011.

Contractors employed by Shell admitted simply burying the oil. "This is just a 
cover up. If you just dig down a few metres you find oil. We just excavated, 
then shifted the soil away, then covered it all up again," 1 contractor told 
Amnesty.

Shell routinely blames thieves and saboteurs for oil spills, but there is a 
wealth of evidence from internal documents that the company has known for years 
that its pipelines are old and dangerous.

Amnesty recently renewed its call for a reform of the spill inspection system. 
"Instead of being in the dock when there is an oil spill in Nigeria, Shell gets 
to act as judge and jury. The Niger delta is the only place in the world where 
companies admit to massive oil pollution from their operations and claim it is 
not their fault. Almost anywhere else they would be challenged on why they have 
done so little to prevent it," said Audrey Gaughan of Amnesty.

Come the day

In his statement to the tribunal which condemned him to death, Saro-Wiwa wrote: 
"Shell and the Nigerian military dictatorship are violent institutions and both 
depend heavily on violence to control those areas of Nigeria in which oil is 
found." He added: "The military do not act alone. They are supported by a 
gaggle of politicians, lawyers, judges, academics and businessmen, all of them 
hiding under the claim that they are only doing their duty, men and women too 
afraid to wash their pants of their urine."

What has happened to the representatives of the Nigerian military government 
who participated in the "judicial murder" of the Ogoni 9 20 years ago?

General Sani Abacha died in 1998 of a heart attack, variously attributed to 
poison or to his exertions with 2 Indian prostitutes.

General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was chief of defence staff in Abacha's junta 
and therefore responsible for the activities of the military as well as being 
one of those who approved the executions, succeeded Abacha as head of state and 
oversaw the return to democracy. Today he is a respected elder statesman in 
Nigeria.

Dauda Musa Komo, the military governor of Rivers state in 1995, was a contender 
to be the PDP candidate in the 2003 governorship election in Kebbi state.

The notorious Major Paul Okuntimo, he of the "wasting operations" and Shell 
"allowances", retired as a brigadier general, and has occasionally given 
incoherent interviews since, including one with The Sun in 2010 in which he 
said: "No, no, Ken deserved to die, if you were to be the president of the 
Republic of Nigeria, you will know, Ken had to die because he had to be 
eliminated at that time".

Justice Ibrahim Auta, who headed the 3-member tribunal which passed the death 
penalty, later became the chief judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, and 
typically was both praised as a "rare gem" in the judiciary and accused of 
corruption.

The other member of the judiciary on the tribunal, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu, was 
the president of the Nigerian Bar Association from 2010 to 2012, and the 
secretary general of the International Council of Jurists.

And what of the 3rd member, the military's representative on the tribunal? 
Colonel Hamid Ali (rtd) was appointed the new comptroller general of the 
Nigeria Customs Service in August 2015 by President Buhari. He has said that he 
has no regrets over his participation in the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the 
other Ogoni activists.

On November 5 it was reported that a sculpture created as a memorial to 
Saro-Wiwa and the others was impounded - by Nigerian customs - who cited its 
"political value".

(source: naij.com)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia's New King Likes Beheading People Even More Than His Predecessor


Saudi Arabia has executed at least 151 people this year, the most since 1995 
and far above the annual figure in recent years, which rarely exceeded 90.

On Monday Amnesty International criticized the wave of executions, calling it 
"a grim new milestone in the Saudi Arabian authorities" use of the death 
penalty.

"The Saudi Arabian authorities appear intent on continuing a bloody execution 
spree which has seen at least 151 people put to death so far this year - an 
average of 1 person every 2 days," said James Lynch, deputy Middle East and 
North Africa director at Amnesty International. "The use of the death penalty 
is abhorrent in any circumstance but it is especially alarming that the Saudi 
Arabian authorities continue to use it in violation of international human 
rights law and standards, on such a wide scale, and after trials which are 
grossly unfair and sometimes politically motivated."

The last time Saudi Arabia executed more than 150 people in a single year was 
when 192 executions were recorded in 1995. No one at Saudi Arabia's Justice 
Ministry was immediately available to comment on the surge in the numbers of 
executions. But diplomats have speculated it may be because more judges have 
been appointed, allowing a backlog of appeals cases to be heard.

Saudi Arabia's current King Salman rose to power after the death of King 
Abdullah in January 2015, and has moved to consolidate authority among his own 
branch of the royal family. Upon assuming power, he shook up the cabinet, 
appointed a new minister of justice, and placed functionaries loyal to him in 
positions of power throughout the state bureaucracy.

Saudi Arabia has long been ranked among the top 5 countries to use capital 
punishment. It ranked number 3 in 2014, after China and Iran, and ahead of Iraq 
and the United States, according to figures from Amnesty International. The 
same 5 countries executed the most prisoners in the first 6 months of 2015.

Defenders of the Saudi death penalty say beheadings, usually with a single 
sword stroke, are at least as humane as lethal injections used in the United 
States.

Concerns over the increase in executions have been further compounded by the 
apparent use of the death penalty as a political tool to clamp down on Saudi 
Arabian Shi'a Muslim dissidents.

In one of the most high profile death penalty cases, last month the Saudi 
Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a 
prominent Shi'a Muslim cleric who is a longtime critic of the ruling regime. 3 
other Shia activists - Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon 
and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaherwere were also arrested in recent months. Their 
lawyers report they have been tortured and are facing the death penalty.

Amnesty said the in general, the death penalty is disproportionately used 
against foreigners in Saudi Arabia. Of the 63 people executed this year for 
drug-related charges, 45 were foreigners. The total number of foreigners 
executed so far this year is 71. These Foreigners are mostly guest workers from 
poor countries, and they are particularly vulnerable, Amnesty said, since they 
typically do not know Arabic and are denied adequate translation in court.

On Sunday, Iran summoned Saudi Arabia's charge d'affaires in Tehran to complain 
about the recent execution of three Iranian nationals on charges of drug 
smuggling. Just a day before, a video leaked online showing what could be that 
execution: a grainy cell-phone video showing a group of men gathering to watch 
as an executioner beheads three unidentified men.

In the video, the men kneel on the pavement in what appears to be a public 
square which the unverified video says is located in the Saudi port city of 
Jeddah. The executioner wields a long curbed sword, raises it above his head, 
and with a quick chop to the back of each man's neck, decapitates them before a 
crowd of onlookers and near a busy street.

For its part, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly insisted that it provides fair trials 
for all defendants in death penalty cases.

(source: vice.com)