[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 6



UNITED NATIONS:

Death Penalty Won't Exclude You From UN Human Rights Council


Saudi Arabia is well known for its brutal censorship and oppression of women, 
but its state-sponsored executions are what people point to the most when 
arguing it doesn't deserve a spot on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

But the kingdom isn't the only country on the council that still carries out 
state executions.

Human rights advocates have long focused on the death penalty as a global human 
rights issue, and in the past 20 years, the number of countries carrying out 
executions has dropped almost by half, from 41 countries in 1995 to 22 in 2014.

Notably, of the 22 countries that carried out executions in 2014, the U.S. is 
the only country in the Americas, and it is the only country that's also part 
of the G7 group of advanced economies, including the EU, which includes 
abolishing the death penalty as a prerequisite for membership.

When it comes to the Human Rights Council, 7 out of the 47 represented states 
carried out capital punishment in 2014.

And globally, 3 of the top 5 countries with the most executions in 2014 are on 
the council. Those are China, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

So considering that the U.N.'s own secretary general says this:

"The death penalty has no place in the 21st century," Ban Ki-moon said.

It's especially eyebrow-raising that the U.N. Human Rights Council values the 
opinions of these countries so heavily.

(source: turnto23.com)






SRI LANKA:

Parliament divided on implementing death penalty


Parliament was divided today when the death penalty was discussed with some for 
and others against its immediate implementation.

Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra, who put forward a motion on the death 
penalty, noted that most people in the country feel the death penalty should 
not be implemented as it goes against Buddhist culture.

She insisted that religion and law and 2 different subjects and should not be 
combined together as doing so will prevent the law from taking its course.

"If the law is not properly implemented the country will never develop. All 
mothers and fathers and all those who have feelings must support the death 
penalty being implemented on those who rape and kill children," she said.

Meanwhile Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake, who backed the motion, said that 
the public and the Parliamentarians should not be misled by the motives of the 
motion calling for the death penalty.

He said that the proposal to implement the death penalty is not to use it on 
normal criminals but those who rape and murder children.

Ramanayake proposed that the death penalty be made law at least for 2 years and 
then after that it can be reviewed.

(source: Colombo Gazette)






AUSTRALIA:

What more can Australia do to end the death penalty worldwide?


Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has initiated a parliamentary inquiry into 
Australia's efforts in campaigning against the death penalty. The Joint 
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has sought submissions 
with regard to:

... reviewing how Australia currently engages internationally to promote 
abolition of the death penalty, and further steps Australia could take to 
advocate for worldwide abolition.

This inquiry is a progressive response to the executions of Australians Andrew 
Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia this year. Ideally, it will generate a 
shift in Australia's global abolitionist efforts.

Australia's legal position on capital punishment

Australian law is unequivocal in its rejection of capital punishment. The last 
man hanged in Australia was Ronald Ryan in 1967. In 1973, the federal 
parliament passed legislation prohibiting capital punishment for any federal 
crime.

In 2010, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Torture Prohibition and Death 
Penalty Abolition) Act prohibited capital punishment in all Australian 
jurisdictions.

Australia has enacted the Second Optional Protocol to the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Its legal position demonstrates 
commitment to the global movement to abolish the death penalty. Australia is 
obliged by international and domestic law to strengthen its advocacy.

Australia's engagement in the abolitionist movement

Australia lobbied firmly for clemency for Sukumaran and Chan. Bishop was 
particularly strong in her advocacy. Bishop emphasised the men's rehabilitation 
as a primary justification for sparing their lives.

However, beyond general expressions of "opposition" to capital punishment, 
Australia did not emphasise specific human rights principles in its lobbying of 
Indonesia.

Australia's advocacy was genuine but ultimately ineffective. Chan and 
Sukumaran, along with 6 others, were put to death by firing squad. Indonesia's 
position on the death penalty for drug offenders is unchanged. Australia is now 
stepping back to confront the reality of capital punishment globally.

Strengthening Australia's advocacy

Australia has a very strong legal position in opposition to capital punishment. 
However, its advocacy position is weaker. It could be fairly said to object 
loudly to capital punishment only when Australian nationals are subject to it.

Government MP Philip Ruddock acknowledged this when the inquiry was announced:

We need to go beyond an approach where our voice is loudest immediately prior 
to a planned execution.

Recent reductions in foreign aid could further weaken Australia's advocacy 
position. If Australia is to influence, it must be seen to contribute. 
Australia must also aim for consistency in its human rights orientation.

Australia's advocacy for the abolition of capital punishment may be 
strengthened by reference to human rights principles:

1. Australia must identify the death penalty as a violation of the right to 
life. This fundamental right is not subject to limitation - it must always be 
respected.

2. The ICCPR imposes a pragmatic limitation which requires countries to impose 
capital punishment for only the most serious crimes. It must be unacceptable to 
Australia that some countries execute people for "crimes" that are either not 
crimes or not regarded as "most serious" crimes under Australian law.

3. Australia should decry capital punishment as torture. This is both because 
of the methods used and the length of time convicted persons are kept on death 
row. Australia must also identify and lobby in cases where torture is used to 
extract confessions on which death sentences are based. These arguments must be 
put even to important allies like the US and China. The prohibition on torture 
is an absolute principle in international law.

Clearly, though, not all countries are receptive to human rights arguments. 
Australia can also develop its pragmatic position against capital punishment.

The death penalty has and will continue to be imposed on innocent people. This 
is an even greater risk where a country's justice system is subject to 
corruption. Australia ought to question whether the inevitable killing of 
innocents can be justified to preserve the option of capital punishment.

Australia ought also to emphasise that capital punishment has no demonstrated 
enhanced deterrent value when compared to life imprisonment. The prospect of 
the death penalty can even be a motivating factor for terror offenders who 
aspire to martyrdom.

What Australia may achieve

Bolstered by such arguments, Australia can revitalise its role in the global 
abolitionist movement. A broader-scale advocacy effort would enhance 
Australia's perceived legitimacy on this issue. Australia could follow the lead 
of the UK in developing a foreign affairs public strategy aimed at universal 
abolition.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott was famously dismissive of international 
human-rights-focused advocacy. However, Malcolm Turnbull may encourage a change 
in strategy.

Bishop has just announced that Australia will bid for a seat on the UN Human 
Rights Council in 2018-2020. She sees this as an opportunity for Australia to 
become:

... a leading advocate for global abolition of the death penalty.

Indonesia reacted defensively to Australia's lobbying for Chan and Sukumaran. 
If Australia extends its abolitionist advocacy to key allies like China and the 
US, future lobbying on behalf of Australian nationals may be less likely to be 
received as attacks.

Australia's recent legal action against Japan over its whaling program 
demonstrates that positive relationships may be maintained even while one 
government seeks to persuade its ally to dramatically change policy.

(source: Amy Maguire will be speaking at Amnesty International's World Day 
Against The Death Penalty Forum in Sydney on October 9; theconversation.com)


BANGLADESH:

SQ Chy to file review petition against death penalty


Condemned war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury would file a review petition 
against the verdict of the Supreme Court, said his lawyer Huzzatul Islam on 
Tuesday as reported by the UNB news agency.

Earlier, Huzzatul met his client at a condemned cell of unit No. 1 of Kashimpur 
Jail around 2:30pm and spent about 2 hours there.

He said Salauddin Quader Chowdhury permitted him to file a review petition 
against the verdict.

On 30 September, the Supreme Court released the full verdicts awarding death 
penalty to Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed and BNP leader Salauddin 
Quader Chowdhury for their crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 
1971.

(source: prothom-alo.com)

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

Lawyer to meet Salauddin at Kashimpur jail today


A lawyer of convicted war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury will meet him at 
Kashimpur jail-1 in Gazipur today to discuss filing of a review petition 
against the Supreme Court judgement.

Huzzatul Islam, 1 of Salauddin's lawyer who started for the jail around 
11:30am, told The Daily Star that he was going there to discuss the points 
which Salauddin will mention in his petition to be filed seeking review of the 
apex court verdict that had upheld death penalty for his crimes against 
humanity.

This is 1st time a lawyer for Salauddin is going to meet him at the jail after 
the SC released the full verdict.

On September 30, the SC released full verdict upholding the death penalty 
awarded to Salauddin by International Crimes Tribunal-1 for his crimes in 1971.

On October 1, 2013, the tribunal found the Salauddin, now 66, guilty of 9 of 
the 23 charges brought against him of committing crimes against.

The tribunal handed him death penalty on each of 4 charges -- involvement in 
the killing of Natun Chandra Singha, Awami League leader Mozaffar Ahmed and his 
son; and genocide in Raozan.

The tribunal sentenced him to 20 years in jail for each of three charges -- 
acts of genocide at Madhya Gohira Hindu Para, and acts of genocide, persecution 
and deportation at Jagotmallo Para, and the killing of Satish Chandra Palit in 
Raozan.

He was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment on each of 2 charges 
of abducting, confining and torturing Saleh Uddin, who later became 
vice-chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, and 
Nizamuddin Ahmed, who later became a journalist.

(source: The Daily Star)






PAKISTAN----execution

Another death row convict hanged in Lahore


A death row convict has been sent to the gallows at the Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore 
on early Tuesday morning, Dunya News reported.

According to details, death row prisoner Idrees was executed for killing a man 
in 1997. Idrees' dead body was later handed over to his relatives.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty on 
December 17, 2014, a day after Taliban gunmen attacked a school in Peshawar and 
killed 134 students and 19 adults. The killings put pressure the government to 
do more to tackle the insurgency.

(source: Dunya News)

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

Criticising blasphemy laws not blasphemous: SC judge ---- Justice Khosa says 
press clippings presented in court do not provide sufficient evidence to 
maintain that former governor had committed blasphemy


Justice Asif Saeed Khosa of the Supreme Court of Pakistan said on Monday that 
criticism of the blasphemy law did not amount to blasphemy.

The judge gave these remarks while hearing an appeal filed by Mumtaz Qadri - 
the killer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer - against his death 
penalty.

A 3-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa adjourned the hearing till 
today when Qadri's counsel Justice (r) Nazir Akhter is expected to continue his 
arguments.

During Monday's hearing, the bench observed that the entire argument of Qadri's 
counsel would be rendered irrelevant if it is not established that then 
governor Salmaan Taseer had committed blasphemy.

Justice Khosa in his remarks said that criticising a law does not amount to 
blasphemy and the press clippings presented in court do not provide sufficient 
evidence to maintain that the former governor had committed blasphemy.

Qadri, a former commando of Punjab police's Elite Force, was sentenced to death 
for assassinating former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in Islamabad's Kohsar 
Market. Qadri said he killed Taseer over the politician's vocal opposition to 
blasphemy laws of the country.

He had confessed to shooting Taseer dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close 
to the latter's residence in Islamabad.

Following the sentencing, Qadri's counsels had challenged the ATC's decision 
through 2 applications the same month.

The 1st petition had demanded that Qadri's death sentence be quashed and the 
2nd asked for Section 7 of the ATA to be declared void.

In its ruling on the appeal, the IHC rejected Qadri's application against his 
death sentence under the PPC but accepted his application to void ATA's Section 
7.

Qadri's counsels then challenged IHC's decision to uphold his death penalty in 
the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Justice (r) Nazir Ahmed to conclude his 
arguments in the case till Tuesday (today).

The 3-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, 
Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Dost Muhammad Khan heard the plea filed by 
Mumtaz Qadri.

Justice Asif Saeed asked Qadri's counsel how many witnesses appeared before the 
high court and how many accused were nominated in the case.

Justice (r) Nazir Ahmed told the bench that initially many accused were 
nominated in the case but challan was not filed against most of them. As many 
as 14 witnesses appeared before the high court, he added.

He said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) announced its verdict on March 09 and 
upheld Mumtaz Qadri's death sentence under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal 
Code for killing Salmaan Taseer but Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 
was declared void from the sentencing.

He said the high court in its verdict ignored many points in the case. He said 
his client killed Salman Taseer in rage. He said that Mumtaz Qadri assassinated 
Salmaan Taseer for defending Asia Bibi, allegedly involved in blasphemy. "That 
is why, the security personnel present on the venue did not take any action 
against Mr Qadri while considering his action accurate and appropriate. 
Therefore, the ATC section should be declared void."

The killing of Salmaan Taseer was the most high-profile political assassination 
in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto died in a gun and 
suicide attack in December 2007.

Taseer had supported a Christian mother of 5 sentenced to death in November 
2010 for alleged blasphemy in Punjab.

2 months after Taseer's killing, a government minister for minority affairs who 
had vowed to defy death threats over his opposition to the blasphemy laws was 
also shot dead in Islamabad.

While no one has ever been sent to the gallows under Pakistan's blasphemy law, 
activists say it is used to attack others out of personal enmity or because of 
business disputes.

(source: Daily Times)






IRAN----execution

Man hanged in Iran, 9 others at imminent risk of execution


Iran's fundamentalist regime has hanged a prisoner in southern Iran and 
transferred at least nine other death-row prisoners to solitary confinement in 
preparation for their impending execution.

Mr. Aziz Maktabi was hanged on Sunday in the prison courtyard of Adel-Abad 
Prison in Shiraz.

In Karaj, north-west of Tehran, at least nine prisoners were transferred on 
Monday to solitary confinement in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison.

The 9 prisoners have been identified as: Hamidreza Azhdari, Mohammad 
Aziz-Abadi, Morteza Bayat, Mohammad Bigi, Mohammad Bik Mohammadi, Majid Javan 
Khalil-Pour, Mohammad Mikaelzadeh, Alireza Rahimi, and Dariush Shirazi.

Reports have surfaced that the regime plans to hang all nine men on Wednesday, 
only three days before the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

The mullahs' regime in Iran continues to execute more of its citizens per 
capita than any other U.N. member state. Some 2000 people have been executed 
during Hassan Rouhani's presidency in the past 2 years.

A statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on August 5 said: "Iran has reportedly executed 
more than 600 individuals so far this year. Last year, at least 753 people were 
executed in the country."

Amnesty International said on September 7 that "the Iranian authorities must 
end their unprecedented killing spree - more than 700 people have been executed 
so far this year."

(source: NCR-Iran)

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

More Than 2500 People Executed for Drug Offences in Iran


Iran Human Rights (IHR) participated in a panel discussion on World Drug 
Problem under the UN Human Rights Council's 30th Regular Session on September 
28. in Geneva. In a joint statement referring to the execution of more than 
2500 alleged drug offenders since 2011, the IHR spokesperson Mahmood 
Amiry-Moghaddam called on the United Nations' Office for drugs and Crimes 
(UNODC) and its funding countries to condition their cooperation with Iran on a 
moratorium on the death penalty for drug offences.

The joint statement at UN/HRC 30th Session: "Panel on the impact of the world 
drug problem on human rights" (HRC resolution 28/28)

Mr. President,

International Educational Development (IED) and its working partners Iran Human 
Rights (IHR), Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) and the Kurdistan Human 
Rights-Geneva (KMMK-G) have followed closely the use of the death penalty for 
drug-related charges. We particularly have been concerned about the large 
number of executions for drug offences in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Most executions in Iran stem from drug-related charges. According to IHR more 
than 2500 people have been executed for drug-related charges in the last 5 
years - more than 500 in 2015 alone. Most of the victims belong to the poor and 
marginalized groups in the Iranian society. According to the official reports, 
the executions have not deterred crime. Rather, trafficking and addiction are 
increasing.

Some of those convicted are in fact innocent. For example, Mahmood Barati was a 
school teacher executed on September 7, 2015, solely based on false testimony 
by a drug convict, who had withdrawn the testimony twice.

The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) continues to cooperate 
with Iran on law enforcement against drug trafficking, in part funded by 
Germany, France and Italy leading to increased arrest of alleged drug offenders 
and increased executions.

We call on the UNODC and its donor countries cooperating with Iran to condition 
their cooperation on a moratorium on the death penalty for drug-related crimes, 
and

We call on the Iranian authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on the 
death penalty for drug offences.

Thank you.

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

10 Prisoners Transferred for Execution in Rajai Shahr Prison


According to Iran Human Rights' sources 10 death row prisoners were transferred 
to solitary confinement in the Rajaishahr prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) on 
Tuesday. They are scheduled to be executed on Wednesday.

According to the sources three of the prisoners are identified as Morteza 
Baiat, Dariush Shirazi and Mohammad Michaeel.

All the prisoners are convicted of murder and sentenced to "qesas" 
(contribution in kind).

Many of the murder convicts who are executed are not charged with premeditated 
murder but all murder cases are sentenced to retribution according the Iranian 
penal law which is based on the Sharia.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)






INDIA:

Nitish Katara's mother seeks death penalty for Vikas and Vishal


Neelam Katara, mother of Nitish who was brutally murdered by Vikas and Vishal 
Yadav in February 2002 as they disapproved of his affair with their sister 
Bharti, has moved the Supreme Court seeking death penalty for the 2.

Her petition comes at a critical point. The SC has already held Vikas and 
Vishal guilty of Nitish's murder and was scheduled to hear arguments on the 
quantum of sentence on Monday. The Delhi high court had awarded life 
imprisonment to both.

As the counsel for Vikas sought adjournment of hearing by four weeks on the 
ground of illness of the lead lawyer, Neelam's counsel Harish Salve said she 
wanted to be heard in the determination of quantum of punishment for the 
guilty.

Neelam has pitched her son's killing in the 'rarest of rare' category and 
pleaded that death penalty to the duo would serve as a deterrent to 
self-appointed custodians of society from indulging in wanton and brutal 
killings of young couples who dare to marry out of caste and community.

She said the HC had returned a specific finding that Nitish's murder was an 
"honour killing" as Vikas and Vishal disapproved of his intimacy with their 
sister Bharti, who is politician D P Yadav's daughter. She narrated how her son 
was mercilessly beaten by the 2, then strangulated and set afire on February 
16, 2002. She said when the crime was committed, Vikas was on bail in the 
Jessica Lal murder case.

"Caste hatred and acts of caste-based domination need to be eradicated from 
society, and crimes based on baser instincts such as this need to be dealt with 
more sternly," she said.

Neelam's petition, filed through advocate Aparajita Singh, said the HC had 
rightly concluded, while convicting Vikas and Vishal, that the case fell within 
the 'rarest of rare' category, which ordinarily warrants imposition of death 
penalty but awarded life sentence.

"The notion of 'rarest of rare' crime is that of categorization of the offence 
based on its degree of brutality and its tendency to shock societal conscience 
- not that the nature of the crime shows that it is rarely committed," she 
said, attempting to point out the process in which the HC ended up awarding 
lesser punishment.

"Those who practice honour killings have to be eliminated from society in order 
to demonstrate complete intolerance to these abhorrent practices. Applying this 
yardstick, the only sufficient punishment, considering the overwhelming 
evidence on the basis of which the accused have been convicted, was the death 
penalty," she said.

Neelam submitted that "in the present case, death penalty is justified not 
merely in the interest of serving the cause of justice but also as an assertion 
of complete supremacy of rule of law over antiquated practices which are today 
considered abhorrent to civilized existence".

(source: The Times of India)

***********

Death Penalty Becomes Stumbling Block for India-Germany Mutual Legal Assistance 
Treaty


Germany has refused to sign a pact for cooperation on criminal matters with 
Indian due to the death penalty provision in Indian law.

Since 2007 both India and Germany has been negotiating to sign the Mutual Legal 
Assistance Treaty in criminal matters but has not been able to reach a 
conclusion due to Berlin's strong reservation to the provision of death penalty 
in Indian law.

"Its (MLAT) importance has been underscored by our Prime Minister (Narendra 
Modi) and Chancellor (Angela Merkel). The negotiations have not been 
progressing on account of differences on the issue of 'death penalty'.

"I am aware that this matter is handled by your Ministry of Justice, however, 
we seek your active support so that the treaty is concluded at an early date," 
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told his German counterpart Gunter 
Krings in Delhi on Monday.

Mr Krings is in Delhi as part of the delegation of Ms Merkel, who is on a 3-day 
visit to India. Mr Krings and Mr Rijiju on Monday signed 2 MoUs on security 
matters.

An MLAT is an agreement between 2 or more countries for the purpose of 
gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public laws or 
criminal laws.

Mechanisms have been developed among nations for requesting and obtaining 
evidence for criminal investigations and prosecutions.

When evidence or other forms of legal assistance, such as witness statements or 
the service of documents, are needed from a foreign sovereign, states may 
attempt to cooperate informally through their respective police agencies or, 
alternatively, resort to what is typically referred to as requests for 'mutual 
legal assistance'.

The Law Commission has already recommendation for abolition of death penalty 
except in terror-related cases.

However, the Home Ministry is believed to be against it maintaining that time 
was not ripe yet to remove it completely from the statute book keeping in mind 
the threat from terrorism.

(source: ndtv.com)