[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 5



AFGHANISTAN:

Step up on Human Rights, Stand down on Death Penalty


The Afghan Government - recently celebrating its 1st year in office - has 
announced an ambitious reform program in the judicial sector. This was 
confirmed at the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on September 5 in Kabul. The 
government has committed to develop and implement a Justice Sector Reform plan 
with a view to improving access to justice and strengthening rule of law all 
over the country. This plan shall be launched before December 2016. This is an 
obvious chance for the Government to improve further their Human Rights record 
especially when it comes to the continued retention of death penalty.

October 10 is the European & World Day against Death Penalty. It is worthwhile 
noticing that 98 countries have abolished fully capital punishment, while 
another 42 have in place a de facto moratorium on executions. We think it is 
time for Afghanistan to join ranks with the vast majority of members of the 
international community and abolish death penalty, a cruel and unnecessary 
punishment.

In countries which still have death penalty, public opinion often considers 
capital punishment as needed to reduce serious crimes. However, there is no 
evidence that death penalty has such an effect. On several occasions since 
2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations has resolved that "there is no 
conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty". This is also 
why, in countries where death penalty was abolished, public opinion has quickly 
evolved on this issue, to the extent that a majority has become adverse to it.

No matter how developed a justice system is, it will always remain exposed to 
human failure. The risk of executing an innocent person exists in any justice 
system. In a weak juridical system, that risk is even higher. Unfortunately, 
there have been and always will be cases of executions of innocent people. 
Unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. One 
case of an innocent person being executed is one to many - a good reason for 
the Government to stand down from this punishment.

The European Union and its member states hold a strong and principled position 
against death penalty. Its abolition represents one of the main objectives of 
our Human Rights Policy - not only in Afghanistan, but worldwide.

To honour the European & World Day against the Death Penalty, we therefore urge 
the Government to establish a moratorium with immediate effect that suspends 
the execution of death sentences in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan needs less - not more violence.

(source: Jean-Michel Marlaud, Ambassador of France to Afghanistan, Emilio Perez 
de Agreda, and Ambassador of Spain to Afghanistan and the European Union 
Special Representative to Afghanistan, Ambassador Franz-Michael 
Mellbin----Pajhwok news)






EGYPT:

Egypt protests teenager faces further three months without trial


Ibrahim Halawa was 17 when he was detained while taking refuge in a mosque near 
Cairo's Ramses Square as the Muslim Brotherhood held a "day of rage" over the 
removal of their elected president Mohamed Morsi.

Now 19, he has been in prison for almost 800 days.

Lawyers for Irish diplomats applied for his release at a mass hearing in Cairo 
but a judge only offered to rule on that at a later date.

Mr Halawa was told his trial has been adjourned until December 15, with the 
potential for the death penalty hanging over him if convicted.

Amnesty International said the latest hearing, the ninth in the case, amounted 
to nothing.

Colm O'Gorman, executive director of the rights group in Ireland, said: "The 
Egyptian criminal justice system has clearly descended into farce."

Amnesty describe Mr Halawa as a prisoner of conscience, detained after 
exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly.

Mr O'Gorman called on the government to redouble efforts to secure his 
immediate and unconditional release.

"He should be at home with his family and friends, where he belongs, not 
languishing in awful conditions in an Egyptian prison," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said diplomats would continue to work 
to resolve the case at the earliest opportunity.

"I have always acknowledged the importance of due process in this case but I 
have also highlighted the government's concern regarding the length of time Mr 
Halawa, an Irish citizen, has spent in detention," the minister said.

"The Egyptian government is in no doubt as to the Irish Government's strong 
interest in Mr Halawa's welfare and our hope that his case can be resolved as 
soon as possible."

Mr Halawa, from Firhouse in south Dublin, has been detained in Cairo since 
August 2013. He was initially arrested with 3 of his sisters.

The Reprieve organisation, which works for people facing death penalty cases, 
branded the trial process totally unjust.

"Today's postponement will cause yet more anguish for Ibrahim and his family, 
as well as hundreds of others unjustly arrested with him over 2 years ago. This 
mass trial makes a mockery of justice," the spokeswoman said.

"Other countries like Ireland and the UK need urgently to demand the release of 
Ibrahim."

Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan today expressed her frustration at Mr Halawa's 
continuing detention in a prison in Egypt.

"Once more, Ibrahim's trial has been postponed; his new trial date is December 
15," she said.

"No doubt we will have the government issuing the usual statement with little 
of comfort to Ibrahim and his family. It is simply not good enough.

"I have said it before, the government must act now. Enda Kenny must lift the 
phone to his Egyptian counterpart. The time for fudging on this issue is long 
gone. It is time for some real action and less of the soundbites."

(source: Belfast Telegraph)






UNITED NATIONS:

Costa Rica Joins 7 Nations in Resolution Against Death Penalty


Within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, Costa Rica joined 
Belgium, Benin, France, Mexico, Mongolia, the Republic of Moldova, and 
Switzerland in presenting a resolution against death penalty. Belgium was 
selected to present the resolution; the following press release on this matter 
was issued by the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Cooperation agency of 
the Kingdom of Belgium:

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders is 
pleased that the United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted, today in 
Geneva, a new resolution submitted by Belgium on the death penalty.

The initiative, presented jointly with Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, 
Mongolia, the Republic of Moldova and Switzerland was supported by over 60 
countries from the 5 continents.

The Belgian resolution focuses on the possible consequences of the use of death 
penalty on the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or 
degrading treatment. It provides for the organization of a High Level Panel 
discussion on this issue at the March 2017 session of the Human Rights Council. 
The resolution also requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report 
in 2017 on the application of the death penalty and the right to equality and 
non-discrimination. In countries that still apply the death penalty it is 
observed that the death penalty is applied mainly to people belonging to 
minority groups or to vulnerable people.

This initiative demonstrates the dynamism of Belgium in the protection and 
promotion of human rights. It is in this context that our country is also 
candidate for a seat on the Human Rights Council for the period 2016-2018.

One nation that has already voiced its opposition is Egypt. According to a 
recent news report published by AllAfrica.com:

Egypt has objected to a UN Human Rights Council resolution on prohibiting the 
death penalty, Egypt's permanent delegate to the UN said on Saturday. The UN 
Human Rights Council adopted the resolution which was submitted by Belgium on 
Thursday, with 26 votes in favour, 13 against and 8 abstentions.

According to state news agency MENA, Amr Ramadan, Egypt's delegate to the UN in 
Geneva, expressed Egypt's deep concern over the use of economic sanctions and 
conditions to development aid to shape the choices of developing countries over 
the use of the death penalty.

(source: news.co.cr)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Rumor 'tweeters' face execution: report----Depends on seriousness of the 
offence in Saudi


People who cause public confusion by spreading rumors on Twitter could be 
executed in Saudi Arabia as such acts amount to terrorism, a newspaper reported 
on Monday.

'Makka; Arabic language daily said a source at the justice minister was 
reacting to reports that the Gulf Kingdom has intensified penalties against 
those who cause seditions and public confusion in the Gulf Kingdom, with a 
population of 30 million.

"The source affirmed that such offences involve the maximum punishment, which 
could reach the death penalty," the paper said.

"The sentence depends on the seriousness of the offence. It could be jail and 
lashing but those involving acts of causing sedition and confusion could 
involve execution."

(source: emirates247.com)



JAPAN:

Justice denied: Japanese prisoner dies after 46 years on death row----The death 
in prison of a Japanese man who spent more than 46 years facing execution, 
after a conviction based on a forced "confession", underlines the urgent need 
for a review of all similar cases, Amnesty International said today.

"Japan's justice system totally failed Okunishi Masaru. It is outrageous he was 
denied the retrial his case unquestionably merited."----Hiroka Shoji, East Asia 
Researcher at Amnesty International.

Okunishi Masaru passed away at Hachioji Medical Prison on Sunday, aged 89. He 
maintained his innocence and was determined to seek a retrial. 8 previous 
requests for a retrial were rejected. He was moved to the medical prison from 
Nagoya Detention Centre in 2012 after his health deteriorated.

"Okunishi Masaru may not have gone to the gallows, but Japan's justice system 
totally failed him. It is outrageous he was denied the retrial his case 
unquestionably merited and instead was left to languish on death row for more 
than 46 years," said Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty 
International.

"It is too late for Okunishi Masaru but others remain on death row convicted 
primarily on the basis of forced "confessions". The Japanese authorities must 
urgently review their cases to ensure that time does not run out for them to 
see justice."

Okunishi Masaru had been on death row since 1969, after being convicted of the 
murders of 5 women. He "confessed" to the crime after being interrogated by 
police for many hours over 5 days and with no lawyer present.

During his 1st trial he retracted his "confession" and was acquitted due to 
lack of evidence. However, a higher court reversed the verdict and sentenced 
him to death.

For more than 4 decades, he lived in constant fear that each day could be his 
last. Death row inmates in Japan are only informed hours ahead of their 
execution, which takes place in secret. Like most prisoners facing execution, 
he spent nearly all his time locked up in solitary confinement.

Hakamada Iwao

One of the most pressing cases that demands a retrial is that of Hakamada Iwao, 
79, who also spent more than 4 decades on death row. In March 2014, a court 
ordered his immediate release and a retrial. However, prosecutors immediately 
appealed the court decision to grant a retrial and a decision is pending.

"Prosecutors should allow Hakamada's retrial to proceed before it is too late. 
By further delaying his quest for justice, prosecutors are only adding to the 
decades of psychological torture Hakamada and his family have endured," said 
Hiroka Shoji.

Following an unfair trial, Hakamada was convicted of the murder of his boss, 
his boss's wife and their two children. Hakamada "confessed" after 20 days of 
interrogation by police. He retracted the "confession" during the trial and 
told the court that the police had beaten and threatened him.

According to Hakamada's lawyers, recent forensic tests results show no match 
between Hakamada's DNA and samples taken from clothing the prosecution alleges 
were worn by the murderer. 1 of the 3 judges who convicted Hakamada in 1966 has 
publicly stated he believes him to be innocent.

Hakamada developed a mental disability as a result of the decades he has spent 
in isolation.

Tortured to confess

The Japanese justice system continues to rely heavily on "confessions" obtained 
through torture or other ill-treatment. There are no clear limits on the length 
of interrogations, which are not fully recorded and which lawyers are not 
permitted to attend.

12 people have been executed since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in 
December 2012. The number of death row inmates, at 128, is at one of the 
highest levels in Japan in over half a century. Amnesty International has 
called on the Japanese government to introduce a moratorium on executions as a 
1st step towards abolition of the death penalty, and for reforms of Japan's 
justice system in line with international standards.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the individual or the method used by the state to 
carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is 
the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

(source: Amnesty International)






INDIA:

33% of 69 who were awarded death by SC got amicus aid----According to a data 
3/4 of those given death penalty belonged to backward classes, religious 
minorities and 75% were from economically weaker sections


Over 1/3 of the 69 people handed death penalty by the Supreme Court between 
2000 and 2013 had amicus representation (where an advocate is appointed by the 
court if an accused is unrepresented).

The SC had in three recent cases (Santosh Kumar Bariyar vs State of 
Maharashtra, Sangeet vs State of Haryana and Shanker Kisan Rao Khade vs 
Maharashtra) acknowledged error in granting death penalty in 16 cases involving 
20 individuals. Disturbingly, in over half these cases in which the court found 
error, the accused were represented by amicus curie.

These instances have been cited in a report on death penalty to strike a note 
of caution regarding the "over-representation'' of amicus curie, indicating 
that effective legal aid continues to be a concern for the socially and 
economically backward.

Earlier, TOI had front-paged an article on how the law was loaded against the 
poor and minorities. Data from interviews with 373 death row convicts over a 
15-year period had found that 3/4 of those given death penalty belonged to 
backward classes, religious minorities and 75% were from economically weaker 
sections.

Another study cited by the Law Commission in its report on death penalty 
'Hanging in Balance: Arbitrariness in Death Penalty Adjudication in India' 
reaffirms this bias against the socially-economically disadvantaged. The study 
shows that out of 281 persons who were awarded death penalty by at least one 
level of court between 2000 and 2013, and whose cases went up through all tiers 
of the judicial system, 128 persons were given death sentence only by the trial 
court. Both the high court and the SC either commuted the sentence or acquitted 
the person in these cases. Of these, 7.03% of such accused were represented by 
amicus curie.

In the same period, 79 accused were given death penalty by both the trial court 
and the high court but were either acquitted or had their sentences commuted by 
the SC. Amicus representation of this was 22.8% and finally, of the 69 persons 
who were given death penalty by the SC itself, 36.2% has amicus representation.

"The over-representation of amicus curie in cases relating to error and to the 
imposition of death penalty is a cause for caution, not least because it may 
signal the impact of structural and systemic biases on the imposition of death 
penalty. Merely because a person is represented by amicus before the SC does 
not imply that the person did not get good legal representation. However, the 
fact that an accused is represented by amicus does indicate the person's 
economic circumstances, the ability to hire quality legal representation before 
trial courts, and to ensure that a robust record is created at the trial stage 
level, is likely to be compromised in such instances,'' the report said.

"The impact of the lack of access to quality legal representation particularly 
at the trial stage is also likely to be compounded by the existence of 
inconsistencies in the death penalty jurisprudence, which result in ill-trained 
lawyers having to argue before inadequately guided judges on an incoherent area 
of law. This may be partially responsible for the higher presence of amicus 
representation in cases in which the death penalty is upheld by the SC," the 
report added.

(source: The Times of India)






PAKISTAN:

Death Penalty Re-evaluation


A group of United Nations human rights experts have reiterated their call on 
Pakistan to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty - especially 
investigating cases where uncertain age determination processes have resulted 
in children being sentenced to death. They have made it clear that it is 
appalling that in a country where age determination techniques remain 
rudimentary, courts are confirming death sentences on children based on visual 
assessment by the police.

8,300 people are currently on death row in Pakistan ??? hundreds of them 
reportedly sentenced for offences committed as children. This week Ansar Iqbal, 
who claimed to be of 15 years old when arrested, was condemned to death. The 
execution was carried out only a few months after the hanging of Shafqat 
Hussain, Aftab Bahadur and Faisal Mahmood, all who claimed to be children at 
the time of their alleged offences.

In light of public opinion and widespread terrorism, the penalty seems to be 
one element that can deter murder and crime. However, the list of crimes can be 
changed or reduced so that only the worst crimes on the list result in a death 
sentence. In our hurt and rage over terrorist attacks, we forget that removing 
the death penalty does not mean that criminals will not be punished.

It is not immediately clear why the state should have the right to take the 
lives of prisoners, especially when depriving them of their liberty remains a 
significant punishment, incarceration serves to eliminate any threat that they 
might pose, and rehabilitation opens up the possibility of enabling them to 
eventually become constructive members of society.

Evidence suggests that the death penalty does not actually deter criminality. 
Since the moratorium was lifted, the government has been indiscriminate in its 
pursuit of 'justice', resolutely ignoring the fact that the serious issues with 
the criminal justice system in Pakistan all but guarantee innocents are being 
subjected to state-sanctioned murder. If the death sentence is to continue, as 
a nation we need to be sure that death is the answer when a man commits a 
crime, and that the answer is ethical, moral and just.

(source: The Nation)

***********

Pakistani Taliban says hanged military officer as revenge for executions


The Pakistani Taliban has hanged a military intelligence officer in retaliation 
for recent executions of militants by Pakistan, the militant Islamist group 
said in videos released on Sunday.

Reuters could not independently authenticate the two videos and a Pakistani 
military spokesman was not immediately able to comment on them.

Pakistan reinstated the death penalty last December after Taliban gunmen 
massacred 134 school children. Since then the Taliban have staged several 
deadly attacks, but the videos of the hanging appear to be the first staged 
execution of a military officer since the restoration of the death penalty.

In the 1st video, a man identifies himself as Bashir Ahmad Khan, originally 
from the 19th army air defense unit and later recruited by Pakistan's military 
intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.

"We were trained to trace the Taliban's training camps," said the man 
identified as Khan. He was dressed in plain brown traditional Pakistani clothes 
and surrounded by armed men wearing masks and camouflage. One unmasked man in 
white robes kneels beside him.

2 men hold a black banner in the background that is embroidered with the kalma, 
a Muslim declaration of faith.

In the 2nd video, Khan is shown wrapped in a Pakistani flag, his eyes bound 
with black cloth and a noose around his neck. One of the masked men says: "The 
hanging of Bashir Ahmad is our response to the Pakistani government who are 
busy hanging our group members. This is just the beginning and all those who 
are in our custody or those who have any links with the Pakistan government 
will face the same treatment."

After the masked man finishes speaking, he pushes Khan off a rock. As Khan 
dangles from the rope around his neck, other militants shoot at his body and 
shout: "God is great."

The videos were provided by Maqbool Dawar, a Taliban commander in the 
mountainous border region of North Waziristan who is known to Reuters. He did 
not comment on when or where the video was shot.

Taliban violence in Pakistan has fallen overall since the military launched an 
offensive in North Waziristan in June 2014. But the militants have demonstrated 
that they are still able to carry out sophisticated attacks.

In December, Taliban gunmen killed 134 school children at an army-run school in 
the northern city of Peshawar. In September, the Taliban killed 39 people when 
they attacked Badaber air base in the same city.

The school massacre was the deadliest militant attack in the history of 
Pakistan. The air base attack was the deadliest by militants on a military 
installation.

(source: Reuters)